Following birth

After birth

The Lulluby Trust: The Lullaby Trust raises awareness of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), provides expert advice on safer sleep for babies and offers emotional support for bereaved families

UNICEF Baby Friendly: Advice for parents on infant feeding

Pregnancy

Weight gain in pregnancy can vary greatly. Much of the extra weight is due to your baby growing, but your body will also be storing some fat, ready to make breast milk so most women will gain a few extra pounds.

However eating for two is not necessary and will leave you with excess weight after your baby is born.

The NHS has some good information on a healthy diet in pregnancy.

Post pregnancy diet

Once you have had your baby it is very important to eat regularly. Skipping meals in the postnatal period can slow your recovery.

Maintaining a stable blood sugar with three meals a day including a wide variety of fresh fruit, vegetables, carbohydrates, dairy, protein and unsaturated fats will maintain your physical and mental health.

Processed foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar should be avoided or eaten in very small amounts. Drink plenty of water, low caffeine and sugar free fluids.

Eating a varied diet will give you all the vitamins and nutrients which are needed to support the body to stay healthy.

For dietary advice visit the NHS website.

Your body

Your body has gone through some amazing changes and the challenges of delivering a baby.

Many women are left with a body that is different than before, and after your six weeks postnatal check you should be able to start a gentle exercise programme and begin to regain our pre pregnancy figure.

For others it can be more life changing particularly for women who have experienced some birth trauma.

Homerton physiotherapy department have a specialist service for women in the antenatal and postnatal period and can give you further support particularly with regaining your pelvic floor muscles if you experience any difficulties.

POGP (Pelvic Obstetric Gynaecolocigal Physiotherapy) also has some useful information.

For other questions about your post pregnancy body your health visitor and GP can support you.

Exercising after birth

If you had a straightforward birth, you can start gentle exercise as soon as you feel up to it. This could include walking, gentle stretches and pelvic floor exercises. Your health visitor can direct you to information on exercise groups and ways to get healthy and stay fit in Hackney and the City.

Healthier Together Hackney offer a free 12 week exercise programme for fitness or weight management.

0207 749 7645

hths@gll.org

Contraception

For many women, contraception does not feel like a priority after childbirth as they and their families are busy looking after the new baby and settling into new routines.

Sex may also not be something you and you partner are thinking about at this stage and therefore contraception seems less necessary.

However thinking about contraception early after you have had your baby means there is one less thing to worry about at this busy time. You and your partner can then have space to think about whether becoming pregnant again is what you both want and when the best time for this is.

Remember

contraception can be stopped at any time you are ready to try for a baby and your fertility will come back to what it was before. This happens immediately with all methods except the injection when it can take up to a year.
it is recommended that you do not try for another pregnancy for at least the first year after having your baby to enable you to prepare as well as you can physically and mentally for another child.
women can get pregnant from three weeks (21 days) following childbirth, especially if they are not breastfeeding. You could start contraception straight after you have had your baby. Bear in mind that you will need contraception from when your baby is 3 weeks old if you start having sex again.
your midwife, health visitor or doctor can advise you which methods are available for you to choose from. The most suitable method will depend on a variety of factors, including whether or not you are fully breastfeeding, your medical history, your life style and how soon you would like to become pregnant again.

Where to get contraception following birth?

you may be offered a method of contraception on the postnatal ward before you go home.
your GP
Homerton Sexual Health Service At Homerton or the Ivy Centre you don’t need an appointment unless you would like an implant or IUD.
Postnatal Contraception Service (for women in the first six months after birth) at the Ivy Centre (Wednesday afternoons). Call 020 7683 4103 to book an appointment or just drop in.

If you are unsure what choices there are you can get up to date information from the Family Planning Association, Sexwise or Contraception Choices.

Smoking and vaping

Babies and children are very vulnerable to the effects of ‘second hand’ smoke . Second hand smoke is a mixture of smoke from the burning end of a cigarette and the smoke breathed out by the person smoking.

If a child lives in a house where one or more people smoke, it more than doubles the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) or cot death.

Second hand smoke can also increase the risk of:

wheezing and coughing
asthma
ear infections and glue ear
Sudden Infant Death (cot death)
respiratory infections (bronchiolitis)
bacterial meningitis

Second hand smoke during pregnancy

Second hand smoke can also harm your baby before they are even born. When you inhale smoke you’re putting chemicals into your body, including tar and carbon monoxide (which is a poisonous gas). These chemicals damage both your body and your unborn baby, and can cause a wide range of health problems.

If you or someone who may pick up your baby smoke

wash your hands before handling the baby
leave picking up your baby for 25 mins after smoking a cigarette as your breath contains nicotine
go outside to smoke and cover your indoor clothes with a coat or jacket

Vaping or e-cigarettes

An estimated 2.9 million adults in Great Britain currently use e-cigarettes and of these, 1.5 million people have completely stopped smoking cigarettes. They carry a fraction of the risk of cigarettes and can be particularly effective when combined with extra quitting support. See the NHS Smokefree website for more information on e-cigarettes.

Stop smoking support

For help to stop smoking speak to your health visitor who can put you in touch with the Tobacco Treatment Dependence Service. They will offer you expert support to help you manage nicotine withdrawals and share hints and tips on how to reduce or stop smoking. They will also talk through the various medication options available.

Alcohol and drug use

Drinking alcohol while pregnant and with a new baby

Medical experts are still undecided exactly how much - if any - alcohol is completely safe for you to have while you’re pregnant, so the safest approach is not to drink at all. Drinking in pregnancy can lead to long-term harm to the baby, and the more you drink, the greater the risk.

How does alcohol affect my unborn baby?

Drinking heavily throughout pregnancy can cause your baby to develop a serious condition called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and other difficulties.

Drinking with a newborn baby is particularly risky at night for both parents. Parents are often unable to be as attentive to their infant and they can also fall asleep holding the baby which leaves them at greater risk of suffocation. The Lullaby Trust has good information on safe sleep.

Illegal drugs

Using illegal or street drugs during pregnancy, including cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine and heroin, can have a potentially serious effect on your unborn baby. Medical advice is clear that all drug use should be stopped during pregnancy.

Depending on the level of drug use there will be different routes you may take. For example, if you are using drugs very rarely, you may find it easy to stop, whilst where drugs are used more regularly or for socialising, stopping may be harder.

If you or your partner regularly use drugs or worry you may have developed a dependency, it is important to tackle this now you’re pregnant. You can speak to a professional to find out the best way to go about it. This is important as in some cases, stopping without medical support can cause withdrawal problems or other side effects.

Keeping drugs (or medicines) in the home where children live also risks the children finding them and mistaking them for sweets. This can be dangerous and have serious consequences for their health.

What if I took drugs before I knew I was pregnant?

If you took a drug without realising when you were pregnant on a one-off occasion, try not to worry - it’s very unlikely to have affected your baby.

However, if illegal drugs are part of your life, getting help can really improve the outlook for you and your baby.

Getting help

You can get help from

Your GP or maternity team
Hackney Recovery Service
Young Hackney Substance Misuse Service for under 25s
Square Mile Health (alcohol & drug services in the City)
FRANK helpline - 24 hours a day - 0300 123 6600

If you use drugs, it is important to seek help straight away so you can get the right advice and support.

Health professionals will not judge you and can help you access a wide range of other services, such as antenatal and family support.

For more information about what drug treatment entails, see the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse website.

Returning to work

Returning to work after you have had your baby can be a big decision and there are lots of things to consider. You may be hoping that you can reduce your hours to accommodate child care; lots of parents also worry about leaving their baby.

This is all normal but can be overwhelming. Talk to other parents and colleagues at your work place to see how they manage and speak to your employer about how they can accommodate you and your new responsibilities

Choosing Childcare

Once you know what your working pattern is likely to be when you return to work, you can begin your search for childcare. Choosing the right childcare can be really challenging for parents.

Looking for Childcare information?

Hackney Family Information Service offers children, young people, families, carers and professionals information, advice and guidance on local services and support available to them.

There is a telephone help-line as well as web-based information on a range of services including:

information on local children centres, early years nurseries, pre-schools and childminders
childcare funding options
activities for children and young people

Family Information Service contact details:

Telephone 020 8820 7590, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
Email fis@learningtrust.co.uk
Visit our Facebook or Twitter or Instagram page

For information about free childcare for two, three and four year olds, please watch the video below.

Tips to help you chose childcare

start early - most childcare places have a waiting list, so it is best to start your search as soon as possible.
identify which type of childcare you want
- home-based childcare - can be a registered childminder or a nanny
- childcare on domestic premises or group-based childcare - can be a pre-school, day nursery /day care, school nursery or nursey classes
make a shortlist of available childcare in your area (childcare in Hackney, childcare in the City)
make contact to arrange a visit and ask questions in person, if it helps take a friend or speak to other mothers who are already using the child care provider. It may help to prepare a list of things you would like to find out or questions that you would like to ask.
check the quality/grade and read report of the childcare provider you are considering. Ofsted have background check reports available.
find out what support with childcare cost you might be entitled to at Childcare Choices and Childcare Calculator

PACEY is a charity which supports childcare and early years providers, they have a really useful section for parents on how to choose great childcare.