TRANSCRIPT
Dr. O’Connor
After you get home from the hospital, you’ll need to pay particular attention to what you body is telling you.
Be sure to call your provider if you experience:
- Fever over 100.4° F, or 38° C
- A foul smell or an unexpected change in your lochia flow. There should not be any bright red blood or clots in the lochia after about the fourth postpartum day.
- Heavy lochia or bleeding, saturating a sanitary pad in one hour or passing blood clots larger than a ping-pong ball
- Sharp pains in your perineum, abdomen, breast, or chest
- Blurred vision or dizziness, appearing alone or with a headache
- Pain in your legs, particularly in the calf muscles when you walk or extend your feet
- Appearance of a large blue or purple lump on your vulva or vaginal area or around the perineum. These lumps may be blood clots called hematomas. Small lumps may disappear on their own. However, lumps greater than a quarter size usually need medical treatment.
- Any sign of swelling, redness, or pus around your cesarean incision or your genitals, especially at your episiotomy site
- Separation of your episiotomy or abdominal incision
- Swelling, red streaks, and tenderness in your breasts, accompanied by fever over 100.4° F, or 38° C. This may indicate an infection of your breast tissue.
- Discomfort or burning when you urinate, inability to urinate, or the inability to completely empty your bladder
- Feeling weak, lightheaded, or confused and having cold or clammy skin
- Any sense that something is wrong with you physically
- Crying spells or mood swings that leave you feeling out of control, or
- Any thoughts of harming yourself, your baby, or any other family members