Support from our community team

The community midwife may visit you the day after you get home from hospital between 8.30am and 5.30pm or they may telephone you to see if you require a visit. Unfortunately they cannot give you a specific time as they will be unsure of their other commitments until the day of the visit. If you need to go out when a visit has been planned, please telephone the community midwives office to let them know.

If your named community midwife is not working, another member of the team will come and see you.  Following this initial contact, they will discuss with you your next appointment, normally held at a postnatal clinic.

Routine appointments

Day 5: weigh the baby and perform the blood spot test

Newborn blood spot screening identifies babies who may have rare but serious conditions. Most babies screened will not have any of the conditions but, for the small number that do, the benefits of screening are enormous.

All babies are screened for 6 inherited metabolic disorders.

The midwife will prick the heel of your baby using a special device to collect some drops of blood onto a card. The sample will be sent to the lab for testing and the results of the tests will be sent to your health visitor and GP.

Day 10: weigh the baby

If you and your baby are well and day 5 and day 10 fall over a weekend, or on days when your community midwife is not working, these visits/appointments may be postponed for one or two days.

The midwife normally hands your care over to your health visitor from day 10, but we can continue to see you if you have any problems we are helping you with.
You may be offered an appointment to attend one of the postnatal clinics rather than waiting at home for the midwife to come to you.

At each visit the midwife will talk to you about any physical or emotional problems or if you have any concerns with the baby. She will treat any concerns appropriately or refer you to someone who can help. Maternity support workers undertake some visits, especially if you require extra support with breastfeeding.

Should you require a postnatal appointment or have a query between the routine visits/appointments, please contact the community midwives office (see numbers below) or telephone the labour ward or Wycombe Birth Centre if telephoning out of hours.

Tel: 01296 316120 (Aylesbury Office)
Tel: 01494 425172 (Wycombe Office)