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Resources

Joanne Yarrish: Postpartum Uterine Changes

Joanne Yarrish discusses the changes the uterus undergoes in the initial postpartum period as it transitions from an abdominal to a pelvic organ, which typically completes by day eight. On the first day postpartum, the fundus of the uterus should be felt just below the belly button. As the uterus descends, bleeding patterns change, starting as heavy bleeding, then moderating, and transitioning from red to pinkish-brown "old blood" known as serosa, and eventually turning white. Perineal care should continue throughout, even when the discharge is white.

Joanne Yarrish: Co-Sleeping

Joanne Yarrish discusses the topic of co-sleeping with babies, highlighting a study that found 75% of parents engage in the practice, despite often not admitting it to healthcare providers. She mentions safety concerns associated with co-sleeping and suggests using protective devices to prevent accidents. Joanne emphasizes the importance of avoiding co-sleeping if under the influence of substances like alcohol, drugs, marijuana, or smoking, and suggests that co-sleeping can be safe if the parent is sober and the baby is in a protected area.

Joanne Yarrish: Postpartum Depression

Joanne Yarrish discusses postpartum depression and differentiates it from postpartum blues, which is a normal and temporary emotional state occurring shortly after childbirth. Postpartum blues typically last up to two weeks, but if symptoms persist, it may indicate postpartum depression, a more serious condition that requires attention and intervention. Joanne emphasizes the importance of recognizing symptoms early, often noticed first by those close to the new mother, and seeking help promptly. She highlights the significance of treating the mother to ensure the well-being of both the mother and baby. Joanne also underscores the role of hormonal changes and life transitions in contributing to these emotional challenges, advocating for open discussion and support through behavioral health services.

Joanne Yarrish: Postpartum Vaginal Care

Joanne advises against inserting anything into the vagina for the first six weeks after childbirth to ensure vaginal health. She emphasizes avoiding sex, tampons, and douching during this period and clarifies that perineal wash is meant only for external use.

Joanne Yarrish: Birth Certificate

Joanne explains that birth certificate information should be completed at the birthplace and suggests consulting a provider for information on obtaining a copy of the birth certificate, as procedures vary by state.

Joanne Yarrish: Umbilical Cord Care

Joanne Yarrish discusses two approaches to caring for a newborn's umbilical cord. In a hospital setting, parents are usually advised not to do anything special as hospital staff manage cord care. However, for home births, the speaker recommends using a product called Angel Magic from the Secret Garden Birth Pack. The product is applied every two hours and helps the cord dry and fall off quickly without any issues such as pus, unpleasant odor, or redness. Joanne emphasizes the effectiveness of Angel Magic for home cord care.

Joanne Yarrish: Car Seats

Joanne Yarrish discusses the importance of properly installing a car seat for a baby, highlighting that a significant percentage of car seats are improperly installed. She explains the process of clipping the car seat into its base and notes that hospital staff will demonstrate this during discharge. Joanne emphasizes the necessity of ensuring the car seat base is correctly installed and mentions resources for car seat inspections, such as appointments with a clinic specialist or visits to police or fire stations. She also stresses that legally, a baby cannot be discharged from the hospital without being placed in a car seat.

Joanne Yarrish: Diapering & Clothing

Joanne Yarrish provides guidance on the proper care of newborns, specifically focusing on diapering and clothing. She emphasizes the importance of folding the diaper away from the umbilical cord to ensure it dries out and falls off properly. For boys, this is particularly crucial due to their urination patterns. In terms of clothing, Joanne stresses the need to keep newborns warm to help them conserve calories and gain weight. She advises against dressing newborns in light clothing, even during summer, and recommends layers such as an undershirt, diaper, onesie, blankets, and sometimes an additional outer onesie for warmth.

Joanne Yarrish: Newborn Nasal Congestion

Joanne Yarrish discusses how newborns often experience stuffy noses due to exposure to new air, which can have varying quality. The recommended solution for relieving nasal congestion in babies is using saline drops. Joanne suggests brands like Little Noses, Ocean, and Equate, emphasizing that only a couple of drops are needed in each nostril and advises against using a syringe to avoid irritation. The saline helps reduce inflammation by allowing the baby to naturally clear the congestion by sniffing it back.

Joanne Yarrish: Sleep & SIDS

Joanne Yarrish provides guidance on reducing the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) by highlighting safe sleep practices for infants. She emphasizes the importance of placing babies on their backs to sleep, avoiding fluffy items in the crib, and dressing them warmly instead of using blankets or decorative items. The focus is on prioritizing safety and functionality over aesthetics once the baby is born.

Joanne Yarrish: Breast Engorgement

Joanne Yarrish discusses breast engorgement, which is a typical experience when milk first comes in after childbirth. Mild fever and sweating can accompany this, but treatment with medications like Tylenol or Ibuprofen is only recommended if the fever exceeds 101°F. Engorgement should be managed by breastfeeding rather than pumping, as pumping can signal the body to produce more milk than necessary, potentially leading to oversupply and related issues. Joanne underlines the sensitivity of the breasts and the importance of correctly managing engorgement to avoid significant health problems.

Joanne Yarrish - Jaundice in Newborns

Joanne Yarrish discusses jaundice in newborns, explaining that jaundice is normal if it occurs after the first 24 hours. However, if it appears within the first six hours, it's considered pathological and needs urgent medical evaluation and treatment. Typically, jaundice starts around the third day of life, coinciding with various changes, such as the mother’s milk coming in. Jaundice progresses from the head downwards and clears from the feet upwards, with the head remaining yellow the longest. If a baby's jaundice appears to be receding from the feet upwards, it is generally normal.

Joanne Yarrish: Breastfeeding Schedule pt. 1

Joanne Yarrish discusses the importance of frequent breastfeeding throughout the day and night to help train a baby's sleep patterns. Babies do not naturally distinguish between day and night, so it is important for mothers to wake their babies every two hours during the day to encourage them to sleep more at night. This routine helps change the balance of foremilk and hindmilk produced, with more hindmilk available in the evening, which satisfies the baby for longer and promotes longer sleep periods at night. The goal is to establish this pattern within the first two weeks after birth to ensure that babies sleep more during the night rather than the day, reducing the impact on the mother's sleep schedule.

Joanne Yarrish: Burping for Babies

The video discusses the importance of burping babies frequently during nursing, suggesting doing so every 5 minutes, although some babies may not need it as often. Signs that a baby needs to be burped include fussiness and discomfort. Proper technique for detaching a baby from the nipple is also mentioned to avoid discomfort. The common burping position is over the shoulder, which applies gentle pressure to the baby's stomach. Most babies will burp within 3 minutes, but if they take longer, they may not need to burp. In such cases, alternative methods can be tried to alleviate any stomach upset.

Joanne Yarrish: Abdominal Exercises

Joanne discusses the importance of performing specific gentle exercises postpartum to encourage the reunion of separated abdominal muscles. The exercises aim to help the muscles pull back together after childbirth, as the muscles naturally separate during pregnancy. Joanne advises to avoid overdoing the exercises to prevent excessive bleeding and mentions that consistent exercise can lead to successful recovery, as indicated by patients who have had positive outcomes. The progress of muscle recovery is checked during a two-week postpartum visit.

Joanne Yarrish: Sibling Dynamics

Joanne discusses sibling rivalry and how it manifests differently based on the age of the older sibling. She suggests that very young children, especially those aged two and under, may not exhibit rivalry due to their lack of understanding but can be curious and inadvertently rough. Joanne emphasizes the importance of highlighting the privileges of being an older sibling to foster a positive identity and minimize rivalry. Children aged around three start to comprehend their separate roles better and that parents should reinforce the benefits and responsibilities of being the "Big Brother" or "Big Sister" to help them embrace their new role.

Joanne Yarrish - Hand Hygiene

Joanne emphasizes the importance of proper hand washing to prevent infections in infants, particularly when caring for babies and breastfeeding. She advises washing hands thoroughly before and after breastfeeding and diaper changes, and suggests avoiding alcohol-based sanitizers if hands are likely to contact the baby's mouth. Most newborn infections, such as thrush and RSV, are transmitted from the mother, and good hand hygiene is crucial in reducing these risks.

Joannne Yarrish: Positioning your Breastfeeding Baby

Joanne Yarrish discusses the importance of correct positioning and latch-on while breastfeeding. She highlights that the baby's mouth should be level with the nipple, and suggests using pillows to achieve this positioning. She advises against holding the baby in the arms for breastfeeding, as it can cause discomfort. Proper positioning involves supporting the baby's body and head with your hands, allowing the baby to latch correctly and stay anchored. Joanne also emphasizes the need for the mother to stay hydrated during breastfeeding.

Joanne Yarrish: Jaundice & Bilirubin

Joanne discusses the cause and management of jaundice in newborns. She explains that babies are born with excess red blood cells, which break down into bilirubin after birth. High bilirubin levels can be harmful, so monitoring these levels is important. Effective breastfeeding is highlighted as a key way to help manage and reduce bilirubin levels by promoting regular bowel movements and hydration.

Joanne Yarrish: Managing Breast Engorgement

Joanne discusses methods to alleviate breast engorgement, a condition that can occur when a breastfeeding mother's breasts become overly full. She suggests manually expressing milk in a hot shower to ease discomfort and help the baby latch on. Joanne emphasizes the importance of allowing the baby to naturally relieve engorgement by feeding, leading to the breasts adjusting to the baby's needs within three to five days. She advises against using a pump to relieve engorgement to avoid future issues.

Joanne Yarrish: Newborn GI Remedies

Joanne Yarrish discusses ways to soothe a baby's gastrointestinal discomfort. She mentions using a product called baby burp, which is a herbal remedy. She cautions against using gripe water from certain countries due to the potential presence of alcohol. Joanne also suggests using homemade rice packs, heated in the microwave, to provide warmth to the baby's belly or back, which can help soothe their digestive system.

Joanne Yarrish: Monitoring Temperature

The video provides guidance on how to monitor temperatures for newborns and mothers during the first week after birth. It recommends taking the baby's temperature under the arm once a day at the same time each day and advises against using rectal or ear thermometers for newborns. It also mentions that thermometers measuring across the femoral artery are suitable only after the baby is four months old. Additionally, it suggests that mothers should also take their own temperatures daily during this period.

Joanne Yarrish - Bowel Movements and Perineal Relief

Joanne Yarrish provides guidance on managing bowel movements and perineal care postpartum. She highlights the importance of ensuring regular bowel function within two to three days after delivery, recommending a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and plenty of water. Joanne also suggests using stool softeners like Colace or Miralax if necessary. She notes that constipation is less common now due to reduced use of pain medication postpartum. For perineal care, it advises using Tucks pads for soothing relief.

Joanne Yarrish: Postpartum Recovery

Joanne provides guidance for postpartum recovery over the first six weeks after childbirth. She emphasizes the importance of rest during the initial two weeks to prevent feeling overwhelmed and to enhance recovery. From two to six weeks, activities should be limited, particularly heavy lifting and tasks involving forward motion like vacuuming or raking. Light activities such as climbing stairs sparingly and sideways sweeping are generally permitted.

Joanne Yarrish: Sunbaths

Joanne discusses a preventative measure for managing bilirubin levels in newborns through sunbathing. She suggests giving babies sunbaths twice a day, with the room being warm and the baby undressed down to a diaper. The baby should be placed face down for 20 minutes and face up for another 20 minutes, both in the morning and afternoon. The importance of adult supervision during the face-down position due to the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is emphasized. The routine can be started soon after birth and continued as long as the baby enjoys it. Sunlight acts similarly to a bililight in preventing high bilirubin levels.

Joanne Yarrish: Preventing Tender Nipples

Joanne Yarrish discusses the prevention of tender nipples during breastfeeding. She emphasizes the importance of a good latch to prevent soreness and blisters, suggesting that proper positioning of the baby is crucial. Elevating the baby's bottom with a pillow or towel can help achieve a better latch. Additionally, preventing engorgement involves maintaining clean hands to avoid blisters and infections.

Joanne Yarrish: Postpartum Warning Signs

Joanne Yarrish discusses warning signs to watch out for after childbirth. She highlights that unusual, foul-smelling bleeding, excessive bleeding resembling hemorrhaging, severe abdominal pain, or a high fever could indicate complications such as retained placenta or membranes in the uterus. These symptoms often appear around the third day postpartum and require immediate medical attention.

Joanne Yarrish: Postpartum Perineal Care

Joanne Yarrish provides instructions for perineal care postpartum, emphasizing the use of a Perry wash bottle filled with a specially prepared herbal tea and warm water. This soothing wash should be used until bleeding and discharge cease, typically within four to six weeks postpartum. Herbal tea is recommended for the first two weeks, followed by plain water, and the use of products like Hexol is discouraged due to their lack of soothing and healing properties for the perineum and vaginal tissue.

Joanne Yarrish: Postpartum Nutrition

Joanne Yarrish focuses on the importance of nutrition for new mothers, specifically emphasizing the need for adequate water and protein intake to support breastfeeding. She highlights the necessity of consuming plenty of fluids and increasing protein intake, recommending a protein drink around mid-morning as a simple but effective dietary adjustment.

Joanne Yarrish: The Postpartum Bible

Joanne provides guidance for new mothers, referred to as the "Postpartum Bible," emphasizing the importance of rest and self-care in the postpartum period. In the first week after childbirth, mothers are advised to focus solely on themselves and their baby, ideally having nighttime support to ensure sufficient rest. By the second week, light housekeeping tasks may be introduced, but the focus remains on managing time effectively due to frequent breastfeeding and other demands. Joanne underscores the importance of planning support in advance to avoid potential stress or health issues.

Joanne Yarrish: Postpartum Exercises

Joanne Yarrish provides guidance on post-pregnancy exercises that aid in recovery after childbirth. She suggests starting these exercises the day after giving birth. The regimen includes two main exercises: mild abdominal crunches and a supported tabletop position for performing kegel exercises. Abdominal crunches begin with five repetitions, increasing by five daily. Kegels are described as exercises for pelvic muscles with both fast and slow variations, starting with one slow kegel and five fast kegels, increasing daily. Emphasis is placed on gradually increasing repetitions to support recovery without overexertion.

Joanne Yarrish: Sitz Baths

Joanne Yarrish discusses her disagreement with a hospital's advice against sitz baths after childbirth. Joanne advocates for sitz baths, suggesting that they help alleviate soreness, promote cleanliness to prevent infection, and reduce inflammation. Her recommendation is to take a sitz bath daily, or twice daily if there are additional concerns like tears or an episiotomy, to encourage better healing.

Joanne Yarrish: Follow-up Visits

Joanne Yarrish emphasizes the importance of scheduling early postnatal care for newborns with their healthcare provider. She suggests a clinic visit within the first week to check bilirubin levels and conduct a hearing screening for babies born in the facility. The most crucial check-up is recommended between two weeks to a month, often coinciding with a visit for the mother. Parents are advised to arrange these appointments prior to being discharged from the hospital or birth center.

Joanne Yarrish: RSV Vaccine

Joanne Yarrish discusses the importance of the RSV vaccine, which is now available for all full-term babies, not just preterm ones. She emphasizes the need for mothers to vaccinate their babies against RSV, a potentially dangerous virus, ideally within the first week after birth, either while still in the hospital or during the three to seven-day post-birth visit.

Joanne Yarrish: Bulb Syringe

Joanne Yarrish provides instructions on the proper use of a bulb syringe, specifically the blue one given at hospitals, which is ideal for suctioning mucus from a baby's throat. She advises against using the bulb syringe in a baby's nose and explains the correct method: squeeze the bulb, insert it into the side of the mouth about two-thirds back, and release to collect mucus, then squeeze again to expel the contents.

Joanne Yarrish: Circumcision

Joanne Yarrish discusses the importance of following proper care guidelines for circumcised boy babies, as provided by the practitioner who performed the procedure. She highlights that different methods of circumcision require different care instructions and stresses the importance of monitoring for any excessive bleeding, advising immediate professional help if it occurs.

Joanne Yarrish: Understanding Foremilk and Hindmilk

Joanne Yarrish discusses the composition of breast milk, explaining that there are two types: foremilk and hindmilk. Foremilk, which comes first, is thin and rich in glucose, providing energy primarily for a baby's brain. It may appear watery, but it is crucial for brain development. Hindmilk follows and is thicker with a higher fat content, which helps babies gain weight and feel full. Understanding the differences can help dispel misconceptions about breast milk quality.

Joanne Yarrish: Newborn Warning Signs

Joanne Yarrish lists critical health concerns for newborns that require immediate medical attention. These include abnormal body temperature, with an emphasis on low temperature, vomiting characterized by projectile vomiting, diarrhea, a floppy or listless baby, continuous crying, any form of bleeding, severe jaundice turning the baby's skin pumpkin orange, and rapid breathing exceeding 60 breaths per minute. She stresses the importance of daily temperature monitoring for the first week and highlights that any deviation from normal behavior or appearance should prompt consulting a healthcare provider.

Joanne Yarrish: Infant Immunizations

Joanne Yarrish discusses the importance of immunizations for infants, starting at the two-month mark, although some vaccines like the hepatitis B vaccine can be administered at birth. Joanne mentions that in their birth center, they do not give the hepatitis B vaccine at birth but encourage considering the RSV vaccine. Parents are advised to have a discussion about vaccinations to decide the best plan for their family, with the general recommendation being to start immunizations at two months.

Joanne Yarrish: Breastfeeding Schedule pt. 2

Joanne Yarrish discusses a breastfeeding schedule for newborns, recommending feeding every two to two and a half hours during the day, with efforts made to wake the baby if necessary. At night, parents can let the baby sleep longer but should set alarms to feed every three to four hours in the first week. After the first week, nighttime feedings can occur when the baby naturally wakes up.

Joanne Yarrish: Vernix

Joanne Yarrish explains why hospitals and caregivers no longer give baths to newborns. She emphasizes the benefits of vernix, the white substance on a newborn's skin, for temperature regulation and moisturization. Parents are advised to rub any vernix found in skin folds onto the baby's skin to aid in maintaining body temperature during the early days.

Joanne Yarrish: Three Breastfeeding Positions

Joanne discusses the recommended positions for nursing babies, emphasizing three key positions: across the body and the football hold. It highlights the importance of rotating these positions to ensure the breast is fully emptied and milk ducts remain open, which is particularly crucial for first-time mothers. The football hold is beneficial for women with larger breasts, allowing for better control of the breast and baby's mouth. A laying down position is mentioned but is advised only for more experienced mothers as the baby grows older.

Joanne Yarrish: Brew for Postpartum Blues

Joanne discusses a specific postpartum brew used to alleviate postpartum blues, not deep postpartum depression. It's recommended to take 2 teaspoons of the brew twice daily, morning and night, for 10 days. Afterward, a gradual weaning process is advised, starting by eliminating the morning dose and later reducing the evening dose every other day. It's crucial not to abruptly stop the brew during the immediate postpartum period. Many women find it useful to keep some for occasional use, especially during winter, even after the initial 10 days.

Joanne Yarrish: Breastfeeding (Intro)

Joanne discusses the challenges women face with breastfeeding after giving birth, emphasizing the need for commitment and the availability of tools and resources to help overcome difficulties.

Joanne Yarrish: Three Breastfeeder Types

Joanne describes three types of newborns based on their breastfeeding behavior. The first type is the "get down to business" breastfeeder, who is very focused and determined to feed without getting distracted. The second type is the "snacker" baby, who feeds intermittently—nursing for a few minutes, falling asleep, and then waking up shortly to nurse again. This behavior often changes once breastfeeding is well established. The third type is the "social" baby, who is generally focused unless distracted by someone entering the room. These babies are best fed in a quiet and undisturbed environment. Each type of baby requires a slightly different approach to breastfeeding.

Joanne Yarrish: Day Nine

Joanne discusses the importance of accurately counting postpartum days to manage the risk of hemorrhage after childbirth. The first critical risk period is within the first 24 hours, followed by another significant risk between days 10 and 14. Joanne emphasizes the need for rest on the 9th postpartum day, known as the "9th day rest," to prevent major bleeding. During this time, it's advised to stay horizontal and avoid strenuous activities to support the uterus as it transitions back into the pelvis, thereby reducing bleeding risks.

Joanne Yarrish: Baby Breathing Patterns

Joanne Yarrish discusses a phenomenon related to how babies breathe irregularly, featuring fast breaths followed by pauses, which can be alarming to parents. She highlights that this is normal and that parents often sync their breathing with the baby's, leading to moments of concern when both experience pauses. Joanne reassures that keeping the baby close can help protect against breathing issues.

Joanne Yarrish: Breast Pumps

Joanne provides advice on using breast pumps, emphasizing the importance of choosing a good electric pump over battery-operated or hand-operated ones. She highlights the significance of following storage and care guidelines for breast milk, using Lanzanol cream for nipple care, and maintaining hygiene by washing hands before handling equipment. Joanne also advises against pumping more frequently than a baby nurses, recommending a schedule of every two hours.

Joanne Yarrish: Achieving a Good Latch

Joanne provides guidance on how to properly breastfeed by achieving a good latch. It explains that the baby's mouth should form a C shape to encompass not just the nipple but the entire areola, which allows for effective nursing and prevents discomfort such as soreness and blisters. The transcript emphasizes the importance of the baby latching onto the breast correctly to avoid pain and suggests flattening the breast if engorgement makes latching difficult.

Joanne Yarrish: Producing Milk

Joanne provides guidance on breastfeeding techniques for new mothers. Initially, when only colostrum is available, mothers should breastfeed every hour to hour and a half for 3 to 5 minutes on each side to stimulate milk production. Once milk comes in, breastfeeding frequency decreases to every two to two and a half hours. Each session starts on one breast and finishes on the other, ensuring the starting side alternates with each session. This helps manage milk supply and ensure the baby gets enough nourishment.