Maternal health refers to the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period.
Each stage should be a positive experience, ensuring women and their babies reach their full potential for health and well-being Each stage should be a positive experience, ensuring women and their babies reach their full potential for health and well-being.
Antenatal care is essential for protecting the health of women and their unborn children. Through this form of preventive health care, women can learn from skilled health personnel about healthy behaviors during pregnancy, better understand warning signs during pregnancy and childbirth, and receive social, emotional and psychological support at this critical time in their lives.
Read more...It recognizes a “positive postnatal experience” as a significant end point for all women giving birth and their newborns, laying the platform for improved short- and long-term health and well-being. A positive postnatal experience is defined as one in which women, newborns, partners, parents, caregivers and families receive information, reassurance and support in a consistent manner .
Read more...The days and weeks following childbirth—the postnatal period—are a critical phase in the lives of mothers and newborn babies. Most maternal and infant deaths occur in the first month after birth: almost half of postnatal maternal deaths occur within the first 24 hours,1 and 66% occur during the first week.2 In 2013, 2.8 million newborns died in their first month of life─1 million of these newborns died on the first day
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Prenatal care is when you get checkups from a doctor, nurse, or midwife throughout your pregnancy. It helps keep you and your future baby healthy. Prenatal care is an important part of staying healthy during pregnancy. Your doctor, nurse, or midwife will monitor your future baby’s development and do routine testing to help find and prevent possible problems. These regular checkups are also a great time to learn how to ease any discomfort you may be having, and ask any other questions about your pregnancy and the birth of your future baby.
It is important to tell women about the changes to her body after childbirth that may affect resuming sexual relations. The tiredness that many women feel after childbirth means that they often have little desire for intercourse. The first time they have sex may be painful especially if they had stitches to their perineum. Damage and strain to their internal pelvic muscles which happens during childbirth will mean that sex may ‘feel different’. Many women will need information about these normal changes and some reassurance that these things usually.
Swaddling has been used in different forms throughout the world since 4000BC and around 1 in 5 babies in the UK are swaddled in the first few weeks of life. Some parents say it helps their baby to sleep, reducing crying and stress, but there are risks to be aware of. Here we talk about tips for safe swaddling.Swaddling is a traditional practice of wrapping a baby up gently in a light, breathable blanket to help them feel calm and sleepy. They should only have their body wrapped and not their neck or head, to reduce the chance of suffocation.