Postpartum and Newborn Care

The postpartum units at BC Women’s Hospital provide after-birth care for birthing parents and newborns.

Our program works collaboratively with the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Mother Baby Unit (MBU).

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About

We have a number of maternity units where we deliver care:
  • Cedar: single-room units. Birthing parents delivering on this unit will stay in the same room for postpartum care.
  • Arbutus and Dogwood: postpartum units. We admit birthing parents who deliver in non-Cedar units or in the obstetrical operating room to these units for postpartum care.
Birthing parents who deliver outside of BC Women’s Hospital and whose babies require care in BC Women's NICU, may be transported to our hospital from their home communities to maintain mother-baby togetherness. 

​Resources

Your stay

Your baby will stay in your room with you 24 hours a day unless they require extra care. Keeping your baby with you, with lots of skin-to-skin contact, will help you get to know your baby and help your milk to come in, if you choose to breastfeed.

We provide support and teaching for feeding your baby, with a focus on breastfeeding as the best source of nutrition for your baby.  

We may care for babies who are premature or have health concerns in the NICU. If your baby is in the NICU and you decide to breastfeed, you can start expressing your breasts within the first hour after birth. Though you may not express drops of milk right away, you soon will. Try to express milk every 2-3 hours in order to provide early milk to your baby and help get your milk supply established. You can also ask your nurse about oral immune therapy (OIT) and kangaroo mother care.  

More information is available on our health resources page.
Preparing to go home

Your primary care team will discuss your discharge before you go home, including topics such as comfortable positioning for breastfeeding, expressing breast milk, mood changes and postpartum depression, and where to seek help if needed.  

When you arrange to go home, it is important to have a plan for how you will get home from the hospital. We suggest going home by car for you and your baby’s comfort. If you do not have a car, you can take a taxi or have a friend/family member drive you. If you are going home from the hospital by car, you must bring a rear-facing car seat to the hospital for your baby to go home in. Please make sure that you know how to use and install your car seat to keep your baby safe.

After you go home

There will be many adjustments to make and lots to learn after you go home with your baby. You may feel nervous or feel alone, but there are services available to support you during this time. 

If you normally see a doctor for your pregnancy care, a public health nurse will call you soon after you get home to see how you are doing and to offer you an at-home or nearby public health unit visit. We encourage you to see the public health nurse to continue your health checks and learning. 

If you had a midwife for your pregnancy care, a public health nurse will contact you 6-8 weeks after birth. 
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