Postnatal care at the LYC Health confinement center in Malaysia is given to the mother and newborn baby within six weeks after birth. This is the onset of a new phase in women’s lives for their partners. It also marks the birth of the newborn health record (or neonates) for babies.
While most babies and women experience a relatively easy postnatal period, effective postnatal healthcare (PNC) is about recognizing any deviations from the expected recovery and intervening promptly. It is alarming that less than 60% of Malaysian women give birth in hospitals, and only 50% receive postnatal care at the confinement center in KL within the first two days. As a Health Extension Practitioner, your role is vital in improving the situation, identifying potential danger signs, and reducing adverse outcomes for newborns and mothers.
What makes effective postnatal care so important?
Effective postnatal care is most effective in the early neonatal stage, which begins immediately after birth and continues for seven days. The risk of death increases throughout the entire neonatal period (delivery to 28 days after birth).
All countries report the neonatal death rate, the number of newborns who die within the first 28 days of being born alive, per 1000 live births. Reports of maternal mortality also include women who die from complications after giving birth, not only those that occur during pregnancy. These rates are important indicators of effectiveness in confinement care. Discover more here!
What is the risk to newborns and women post-natally?
Post-partum hemorrhage is the most severe type of complication for a postnatal mother. It occurs within the first 4 to 6 hours after delivery. This is due to blood loss at the placenta attachment site or a ruptured uterus during labor and delivery. If the bleeding occurs before delivery, the baby can be seriously ill.
If the physiological changes that occur in the body after birth are not adequately managed at the confinement center in Puchong, both the mother and baby could be at risk for other complications. This could lead to loss of function or interruption of vital nutrients and oxygen essential for life.
Physiological changes after a mother give birth.
Most women can tolerate some loss of blood or other fluids during labor and delivery. This is normal. Dehydration can also occur when women labor without eating or drinking enough fluids for prolonged periods. If they don’t get rehydrated soon after giving birth, there are more chances of developing physiological complications.
Activity in nearly all of the mother’s body system changes during pregnancy. This includes the heart, lungs, and blood volume, as well as the reproductive system, breasts, and immune system. All of these systems are constantly changing from their pre-pregnant state to the pregnant state in the postnatal period. There is always the risk of complications.
Examples include breast infections and deep vein embolisms (blood clots in veins of the legs). The puerperium is the period during which physiological adjustments occur in the mother after giving birth.
For many women, especially those who are giving birth for the first, labor is painful. You also have anxiety and tension about what will happen during labor and delivery. Although having a baby at the confinement center Petaling Jaya can be a wonderful experience, it can also bring you anxiety. Postnatal women often have to cope with stressful situations and need psychological support. Locate our confinement care centre here!
Actions during the postnatal period
It is impossible to assume that a healthy delivery and a healthy mother and baby will ensure that their lives will be in good shape away from the Bukit Jalil confinement center. There are potential complications due to the physiological changes in the mother and baby described above. You will also discuss the rapid adaptations that the baby has to the outside environment. It would help if you were alert for signs of danger in the first and second postnatal periods. If the baby was delivered at the Health Post, you should watch the baby for six hours before sending them home. Visit them as soon as possible, ideally within the first 24 and six hours, if you cannot attend to the delivery. Schedule your appointment today!