Before You Go Home

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After labor and delivery, you can use your time in the hospital to rest, recover and bond with your new baby. Norton Healthcare will help you every step of the way to ensure your transition from hospital to home goes smoothly.

On the day you go home, you’ll receive discharge instructions about your recovery and the immediate care needs of your baby.

Here’s what else you can expect before you go home:

Mom – Our team will make sure you’re healing properly after childbirth. This includes verifying that bleeding is slowing and that your uterus is contracting. We’ll also ask how you’re feeling emotionally and provide additional resources as needed.

Baby – A pediatrician will examine your baby, and we’ll test your baby’s hearing and administer the hepatitis B vaccine.

Skills – We’ll make sure your baby is able to breastfeed or bottle-feed successfully and that you understand how to care for the cord stump, change diapers and bathe your baby.

Forms – You’ll need to fill out a birth certificate and possibly other forms before leaving the hospital.

Appointments – Now is the time to set up your baby’s first pediatrician visit. Your doctor also will tell you when to schedule your own follow-up appointment.

Car seat – As required by law, you must have a proper car seat installed before driving your baby home.

What to Expect from Norton Women’s Care

More mothers in Louisville and Southern Indiana choose to deliver their babies at Norton Hospital or Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital than with any other hospital system in the area.

We deliver more than 8,000 babies a year. We’re close to you with more than 90 providers at more than 25 locations around Louisville and Southern Indiana. Choosing Norton Women’s Care gives you many options for how delivery day could go — all with the confidence of knowing that our obstetrics and pediatric specialists are there to help. With Norton Women’s Care you’ll find:

  • The birth experience you want. You can choose natural childbirth, a midwife, labor tub, nitrous oxide and other birthing options. We’ll recommend a C-section (cesarean section) or induced labor only if it’s medically necessary.
  • Preparation. Our specialists offer the support you need, including free Lamaze and other childbirth classesnew parent classesbreastfeeding supportchild safety classes and more.
  • Confidence and quality in care. Norton Women’s Care has been recognized as High Performing — the highest rating available — for maternity care with fewer complications and C-sections, plus breastfeeding support and other benefits.
  • The highest level (Level IV) neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Louisville and Southern Indiana at Norton Children’s Hospital, and a sophisticated Level III NICU at Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital.
  • Around-the-clock OB/GYN care at Norton Hospital and Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital emergency departments.
  • Board-certified maternal-fetal medicine specialists who can help guide you through a high-risk pregnancy, from preexisting diabetes to a fetal echocardiogram to diagnose a congenital heart defect before a baby is born.
  • Convenient access to your medical record. Communicate with your health care provider, get lab results, renew prescriptions and more through your free MyNortonChart account.

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