Postpartum Checklist: The Appointments, Paperwork, and Plans to Line Up Before and After Birth

Third-trimester postpartum prep

• Choose the pediatrician now. The AAP suggests that expectant parents contact and interview pediatricians "during the final months of your pregnancy," and notes that "many pediatricians are happy to fit such preliminary interviews into their busy schedules." Ask about office hours, which insurance they accept, and how they handle after-hours emergencies (HealthyChildren.org).
• Ask your OB or midwife how postpartum follow-up works in their practice. March of Dimes, summarizing ACOG's guidance, says new mothers should "have contact with their health care provider within 3 weeks of giving birth" and "get a complete and full medical checkup no later than 12 weeks after giving birth" (March of Dimes). Find out whether that first contact is a phone call, a video visit, or an office appointment, and whether you can book it before delivery.
• Find out your insurance deadline for adding the baby. On a HealthCare.gov Marketplace plan, having a baby is a qualifying life event and "your coverage can start the day of the event—even if you enroll in the plan up to 60 days afterward" (HealthCare.gov). If your insurance comes through an employer, that plan sets its own window, so ask HR for the exact deadline and write it down.
• Install the car seat. The AAP says to install a rear-facing car safety seat in the back seat before you leave the hospital, and notes that "all U.S. hospitals will check to make sure you have one" (HealthyChildren.org).
• Set up the safe sleep space. The same AAP guide calls for a crib, bassinet, or play yard with a firm mattress, kept free of blankets and pillows (HealthyChildren.org).
• Save the warning-signs list and the hotline number (both are further down this page) somewhere you and your partner will both see them. On the fridge is not a joke; it is the one surface everyone in a newborn household walks past at 3 a.m.
• Decide who is helping, and when. MedlinePlus is direct that the job in the first six weeks is to "get as much rest as possible" and that focusing only on eating, sleeping, and caring for the baby is "perfectly okay" (MedlinePlus). That is not possible if one recovering person does every feed alone. Line up a partner's leave, a relative's shifts, a meal train, or paid overnight help now, not on day four.

Before discharge

• Give the birth-certificate information carefully. The hospital collects it and sends it to your state. Later, when you need a certified copy for a passport or daycare, you contact "your birth state or territory's vital records office" to order it online, by mail, or in person (USA.gov). The exact spelling you give in the hospital is the spelling that lives on that certificate.
• Say yes to the Social Security number. USA.gov says "the easiest time to apply for a Social Security number for your baby is at the hospital after they are born" — you request it when you give the information for the birth certificate. Your child needs their own number to be claimed as a dependent on your taxes, to be added to medical coverage, and to open a bank account (USA.gov). If you miss it, you can begin an application online afterward, but the hospital route saves you a trip.
• Know that the newborn screenings happened. Every baby gets two screenings in the hospital, for hearing and for blood, and your pediatrician will review the results at the first visit (HealthyChildren.org). Ask whether the hepatitis B vaccine was given; if not, the AAP says the baby receives it at that first checkup.
• Book the first pediatrician visit before you walk out. The AAP says the first visit "should be scheduled within the first week after birth" (HealthyChildren.org), and its checkup checklist places it at 3 to 5 days old. Calling from the hospital bed is easier than calling from the couch two days later.

Days 1 to 7

• Get to the 3-to-5-day pediatric visit. The doctor will "measure and weigh your baby to make sure their growth is on track, observe their development and behavior, and perform a physical exam," review the hospital hearing and blood screenings, and give the hepatitis B vaccine if it was not given at the hospital (HealthyChildren.org). Bring your questions; the AAP's own examples include "How many diapers should I be changing?"
• Expect bleeding, and know its shape. MedlinePlus says to expect "spotting or bleeding, like a menstrual period, off and on for up to six weeks," along with swelling in the legs and feet, constipation, menstrual-like cramping, and breast fullness or tenderness even if you are not breastfeeding (MedlinePlus). None of that is a complication. What is a complication is in the warning-signs box below.
• Feed on the baby's schedule, not the clock. Newborns typically "eat every 2 to 3 hours," per the AAP (HealthyChildren.org), which is why the help you lined up in the third trimester matters this week more than any other.
• Check the warning-signs list, every day, for you. Not just the baby. The CDC's list is below, and its point is that a headache that will not quit or a fever of 100.4 or higher is a call to your provider, not something to sleep off.

Weeks 2 to 3

• Have your first postpartum contact with your OB or midwife. ACOG's standard, as summarized by March of Dimes, is contact "within 3 weeks of giving birth" (March of Dimes). If nobody has reached out by the end of week two, call them. The old single visit at six weeks left a lot of people alone during the hardest stretch; the three-week contact exists to close that gap.
• Apply the two-week rule to your mood. The Office on Women's Health says the baby blues, with their mood swings and crying, typically resolve within days, while postpartum depression "lasts longer, is more severe, and may require treatment by a health care professional." Call your provider if the blues have not resolved after two weeks, if they are very intense, if you are struggling with daily functioning, or if you have any thoughts of harming yourself or your baby (Office on Women's Health). Our guide to baby blues vs. postpartum depression goes deeper.
• Add the baby to your health insurance. The Marketplace window is 60 days from the birth (HealthCare.gov); an employer plan's window is whatever HR told you in the third trimester. Either way, do it this week rather than testing the deadline.
• Watch the mail for the Social Security card, and if the birth certificate copy has not arrived, know that you can order a certified one from your state's vital records office (USA.gov).

Weeks 4 to 12

• Have the comprehensive postpartum checkup no later than 12 weeks after birth. March of Dimes describes what it covers: a physical exam of blood pressure, weight, breasts, and abdomen, plus a pelvic exam to check healing; a conversation about your feelings as a new mother, including sadness or worry that lasts a long time; your "reproductive life plan, including birth control"; and a check on any conditions you had during pregnancy, such as diabetes or high blood pressure (March of Dimes).
• Bring the birth-control question, even if it feels early. MedlinePlus notes that doctors usually recommend abstaining from intercourse for four to six weeks after birth (MedlinePlus); the comprehensive visit is where the plan for after that gets made, so it is worth thinking about beforehand.
• Expect to be screened at the baby's visits, too. The AAP recommends that pediatricians screen mothers for depression at the infant's 1, 2, 4, and 6 month well visits. Its policy statement estimates that 15 to 20 percent of new mothers are affected by perinatal depression and that about half of women who are depressed during and after pregnancy go undiagnosed and untreated (HealthyChildren.org). Answer the questionnaire honestly; it exists because the OB visits alone were missing people.
• Partners: this includes you. The same AAP statement quotes Dr. Michael Yogman that "fathers also experience a high rate of postpartum depression and need to be supported, identified and referred for treatment" (HealthyChildren.org). The two-week rule and the hotline below apply to everyone in the house.