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Johns Hopkins Health - New Moms, Take Care of Yourselves

Fall 2014
Issue No. 26

New Moms, Take Care of Yourselves

Date: October 9, 2014


fall2014_postpartum

When you have a baby, you have your hands full. And in this hectic time, if you’re thinking twice about whether to see your doctor for a follow-up, you’re not alone. A study of more than 30,000 women at Maryland hospitals found that nearly half failed to go to their doctors for postpartum visits.

“Women are much more likely to attend to their baby’s needs than their own,” says Johns Hopkins internist Wendy Bennett, M.D., who led the study.

But Bennett says postpartum visits are important for all women after pregnancy, particularly for those who suffered complications like diabetes or high blood pressure. Though the conditions may have eased when the pregnancies ended, those women remain at higher risk of developing chronic illnesses later in life, Bennett says.

At postpartum visits, doctors can plan preventive care, discuss birth control, screen for postpartum depression and answer new-mom questions.

More Postpartum Advice from Johns Hopkins
Go to the Johns Hopkins Health Library for more information on postpartum care—and thousands of other health topics. Visit hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary.

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