November 19, 2025
What to Expect During Your Hospital Postpartum Stay: Podcast Episode #317
In this episode of the Ask the Doulas podcast, we’re joined by Kristin Morter, a Certified Elite Postpartum Doula and Certified Lactation Consultant, for a clear and reassuring look at what really happens during your hospital postpartum stay. Kristin walks us through the typical timeline from immediate recovery and newborn assessments to feeding support, rest, and those first big milestones. Kristin is a hospital lactation consultant in addition to her work with Gold Coast Doulas as a postpartum doula.
Whether you’re preparing for your first birth or looking for a smoother experience this time around, this conversation offers practical tips, insider insights, and the support every family deserves during those early hours and days after delivery.
This episode is sponsored by Cozy Earth. Use the code GOLDCOAST to receive a discount in addition to their Black Friday sales.
Hello, hello! This is Kristin Revere with Ask the Doulas, and I am excited to bring back our own Kristin Morter to the podcast, the daughter of a NICU postpartum nurse. She is an amazing overnight and daytime postpartum doula with our team. She also works in lactation in an area hospital as a certified lactation consultant who is on the path to becoming an IBCLC. So welcome, Kristin!
Thank you so much!
So our topic today is what to expect at the hospital postpartum, and since you work in the hospital, you’re the perfect one to help guide us, not only our listeners who are expecting or new parents and planning for other deliveries down the road, but also the birth workers who listen who may not fully understand what the postnatal experience is for their client.
Yeah, that’s actually why I want to talk about this, because I think going from being somebody who had been attending births, and also having my own, now we’re hitting the postpartum side. I’m starting to see a whole new light on what actually happens postpartum, and I was like, oh, wow, I didn’t even know that before. And I didn’t know how to help my clients know what to expect as far as what postpartum care looks like, what those hours look like, and what to ask for and what to expect.
Exactly, yes, because before you worked in the hospital system, you were a birth doula with us, so you had that perspective. And the follow-up postnatal visit, as well as, of course, supporting postpartum clients. But to fully understand how they can better prepare for the hospital experience after baby – I know with my own births, even working with birth doulas, I wasn’t fully prepared.
It’s kind of one of those things that you’re not in it until you’re in it, and then you fully understand.
And it changes over time. Certainly, the pandemic changed the postnatal hospital experience. Our clients were getting released a lot sooner than in the past. Often, a night sooner than they had before, and certainly, there were restrictions with visitors. That’s always a common question with my childbirth students and my birth doula clients is how the visitor process would go and what sort of things they should even pack in their hospital bag and all the things that might be given to them postpartum. So you have firsthand experience of what’s in the room, what’s important, and how to maximize all the experts, like lactation consultants, who are coming in and out of the room, and the nurses and how to have the best experience possible.
I think that’s a great place to start, too, what to pack, because I think that’s one of the hot topics of what should you bring with you to the hospital. Because we’re packing that bag weeks before we even have the baby. Is it all right if I talk on that just for a little bit?
Yes!
I would say especially now working with postpartum, I think I would have had this whole list of what to bring in your hospital bag, but in reality, you don’t really need as much as you think, just because with all of the nurses coming in to check on you, to do vitals on your baby, really the hospital provides more than you think it does. So I have a lot of people that bring swaddling blankets and outfits for their babies. One thing that we don’t realize, especially as first time parents, is how messy little newborns are. So let the hospital do your laundry. They have little cute shirts for your baby to wear, and they have all the swaddling blankets and all the burp cloths and everything. So I would say leave your good ones at home for at first and let the hospital provide all that for you. They have diapers and wipes available that you don’t have to pay for. It’s all included in your room, and you can even take some of them home with you. I would say just make sure that you have something packed that’s comfortable for you to be in, as those gowns really are not the most comfortable. I think they’re kind of awkward and weird. So for yourself, absolutely pack something comfortable, but the baby is going to be fine in the little hospital shirts and blankets.
Yeah, other than the going home outfit or unless you’re taking advantage of the hospital photographer, for example, or have fresh photos while you’re still in the hospital, then you don’t have to worry about it. And certainly, there are all of these fancy swaddles versus the swaddle that the hospital provides, so some of my clients want to bring their own, which is totally fine. But like you said, there are so many things that are provided, everything from the bulb syringes to Vaseline to nipple cream and things like that for the mother. It’s not just baby supplies like diapers and wipes and things like that.
Absolutely, and the hospital has great disposable underwear for you to use and wonderful pads. Ice pads are amazing at the hospital, and they have heat packs, too. Really, there’s a lot there. We have pump kits that are available, too. A lot of people think they need to bring their own personal pump to the hospital with them. In reality, we have a whole pump system that’s hospital grade. The nice thing about our pumping system, too, is that it comes with colostrum collectors. Typical personal pumps don’t come with that. And that’s going to save all that colostrum in one little section of the pump instead of losing it in little bits and pieces, because colostrum is thick, but there’s not a lot of it. Being able to use that hospital grade pump while you’re there – you get to take all the parts home with you, so if you did have the same type of pump at home, then you can use those parts on your pump at home, as well, which is great.
That’s such a good point, Kristin. And my daughter was in the NICU due to glucose issues for four days, and I briefly breastfed her after the birth, but then went right to pumping in my room. So as you mentioned, all of those pumping supplies are given, and when I had lactation support, it was for pumping, since my daughter wasn’t with me in the room. So I really appreciated the advice from lactation about how to transition from pumping to my goal of breastfeeding. I ended up going back and visiting with lactation consultants and my friend even rented me a hospital grade pump at home, because I went home without my daughter, and that helped keep my supply up for when I did transition to breastfeeding exclusively.
Absolutely. And it’s so hard to go home without your baby. What a great way to be able to still prepare for baby while you’re at home and to give you physical ways to be able to still provide even when it’s really difficult emotionally to go home without your baby.
Yes. And then nipple shields are something that our clients occasionally need for that extra support with the latch. That is something that you have in the hospitals.
Yes. Anything as far as helping you out with breastfeeding. We have multiple sizes of nipple shields. Most hospitals have various sizes of flanges, but they’re only going to be for the pump that they have an agreement with. So every hospital has an agreement with a certain brand of pump. So at the hospital that I work at, we work with Medela. All of our stuff would be able to go along with that pumping system. But we also have something called nipple everters, which is a good step to try before you use the nipple shield, too. We’ll teach you how to use them, teach you how to clean them, and we even have little wash basins and soaps that you can use to make sure that those are clean and it’s all safe for baby.
Yes. And then certainly milk storage, colostrum storage, is something that I took advantage of, as well. So I didn’t need to bring all of those supplies, either.
Right. Especially at a baby-friendly hospital, they’ll have a breastmilk fridge that is designated for breastmilk only. And they have a system where they are going to have a sticker, which is just a patient sticker. It matches the same bracelet that you have on, and exactly how they do the system of checking your baby in and out of your room when they need to do testing in the NICU or in the nursery, they also do the same system with your breastmilk as well. So they’re going to make sure that it’s yours. They’re going to double check that it’s yours, and it’s very safe and well done.
Good point. And for our listeners who don’t know what a baby friendly hospital is, and I know you work in one, would you be able to elaborate on maybe the difference in the support that’s given and how your postpartum stay might be a bit different in a baby friendly hospital?
Yes, so baby friendly is an initiative that’s really trying to promote keeping the babies in an environment that is the best for them, which would be in the same room with their parents. We’re trying to encourage breastfeeding as much as possible and limited separation of mom and baby. There are certain guidelines that we need to follow, and a person actually comes to the hospital to make sure that we are doing everything and following those guidelines to make sure that minimal separation is done, the golden hour is being held to, and that babies are rooming in with parents as much as possible.
Now, for families who medically can’t breastfeed or choose not to, how does that work in a baby friendly hospital?
So back when I had my kids, which seems like a long time ago, we would go home with bags that had formula in it, right? It was almost like that was your gift on your way out the door was to give you cans of those trial-size formulas and different bottles and pacifiers and stuff. In a baby friendly hospital, we’re not advertising formula, and we’re not freely gifting it to everyone. However, we do have formula available, an we support every type of feeding style. So even though we are trying to promote breastfeeding because according to the CDC, breastfeeding for the first six months is the recommendation, but we still know that’s not a possibility for everybody. So we have various different forms of formula. You can choose between two different brands that we have, and if your baby has any dietary issues or anything, we do have other things that they can also have.
We also have access, and a lot of hospitals have access, to donor milk, which is great for parents who don’t want to use formula but also aren’t able to breastfeed. So you can always ask your provider if you are eligible to use the donor milk, as well.
Yes. That is a good point. And of course, for our listeners who may be in a rural area or may have a smaller hospital that doesn’t have, say, the amenities that a large metro hospital would, then certainly you’re going to get a lot of those basic supplies, and certainly not only are there lactation consultants that go room to room, but there are also nurses that are trained to support lactation and all types of feeding in the postpartum days.
And also with lactation, too – lactation works different for every hospital, so I think especially coming in to the L&D setting, ask what the hospital situation is for lactation. Smaller hospitals probably have a more limited lactation team who only have a certain amount of hours, whereas a bigger, more metro hospital is going to have almost round the clock lactation available to them. At one hospital, you may have to ask more readily for lactation, whereas at another hospital – like at the metro hospital that I work at, we have a team that is there for 20 hours a day. So every one of our patients that is choosing to breastfeed will be seen by lactation without even needing to request it. So if you are at a bigger hospital, you don’t necessarily have to request lactation the minute you get to a postpartum floor, whereas at a smaller one, you might have to do that.
And some smaller ones, depending on when the baby is delivered – lactation may not work weekends, for example.
Exactly, yeah.
Now, as far as the different breastfeeding pillows – this is always the question my students have. Should they bring their own pillow, like My Breast Friend pillow or the one that they registered for? Or will the hospital have things that can work? I often just take pillows and fold them over and that will work if my client either doesn’t have a pillow or doesn’t want to cart it from home, because they’re quite big.
They’re big and clunky, and they’re not the most easy to transport. So that’s one funny thing, I think, as a lactation professional that I never thought of before working in this field. My Breast Friend pillows and the boppy pillows and breastfeeding pillows in general – when you’re home in a comfortable chair or couch or even in your own bed – they are 100% wonderful. I absolutely loved using them myself and found them very beneficial. In those hospital beds, though, it’s kind of 50/50. Sometimes they’re just a big pain. They don’t fit in the bed very well. Like you said, we call them pillow forts. We just build up support with all the hospital pillows we can get, and that usually works a lot better than a breastfeeding pillow does.
Yes, unless you’re seated on a couch or a different spot. When I was going back and forth to the NICU, you may be on a chair or couch and have those timed feedings that way, but you’re right, in the bed where we spend most of our time postpartum when we’re in the hospital, it is a little bit more clumsy and isn’t set up for that.
And postpartum hospital beds are great for what they are. They have to be that way, right? They’re going to be the best way for you to get the care that you need. So it’s not that it’s the bed’s fault or anything. It’s just that in that setting, it doesn’t always work real well. There are hospitals that do provide – if they have certain grants for funding, they do have breastfeeding pillows that are available for you to use. So depending on where you are, that’s a great question when you’re doing your hospital tour. Do you have breastfeeding pillows available? Do I have to bring my own? And then you can kind of weigh it out; is that something that you really want to bring with you? Obviously, every family is different, so you have to do what’s right for you.
Exactly. And some hospitals, your birthing room will be your postpartum room, so you don’t transfer over. But the larger ones tend to have different floors for labor and delivery than postpartum.
Yes. I know that the hospital that my mom worked at, your birthing room was your postpartum room. And then the hospital that I work at, we have two labor and delivery floors, and we have three postpartum floors. So it’s completely different.
And just thinking about what you’re bringing, knowing that you likely have to transfer to a different room. You can always leave things in the car and have your partner or family bring them up later if you want to bring more than just the basic hospital bag.
Absolutely. Yeah, that’s a really good idea, actually. If you have a labor bag, and then also a postpartum bag. Sometimes that makes a big difference, to have two separate bags.
Yeah. Let’s talk about what your patients wear and bring for their own self-care and for themselves.
I’ve seen a lot of those – they’re kind of like a knit or T-shirt material, gowns that have their own snaps that go up to the shoulders. I think a lot of people buy them on Amazon, and they are absolutely wonderful. They’re still kind of a gown. They’re very comfortable and cozy, but the nurses and providers can get to whatever they need to get to without you being in a scratchy hospital gown.
And I agree, they’re so cute for photos. Pretty Pushers was the first brand to come out, and now Amazon has a lot of options. There are so many that are accessible for feeding and comfortable and also allow for any sort of monitoring or cords that would need to be utilized postpartum.
Yes. And I even saw the other day for the first time ever, there was a gown that matched the baby’s little swaddle. It was so cute! They were adorable.
That is adorable! And then thinking about temperature – hormone fluctuations can have you feeling hot one minute and cold the next. Are you seeing robes or other layers, especially in a cold area like Michigan as we’re entering fall and winter?
Yes. A lot of robes; however, I do feel like a lot of the rooms that I go into, especially in the postpartum – you know, I usually see people between six and twelve hours after they have delivered their baby, and they are usually very warm, and the rooms I go to are extremely warm.
Much different from labor and delivery where they’re freezing! Intentionally, because you’re so hot in labor, so it makes sense.
It’s funny because I’ll come out sweating because I’m not hormonal. Definitely bring layers, because you’re going to want to take things off and put things on. Bringing your own slippers, as well. You’ll get those little socks that have those grippy things on the bottom, but definitely bring nonslip slippers to wear, too.
I agree. So much more comfortable. And I tell my students and clients to bring a sleeping mask, because even though you can control the lights in the room, people come in and out, and if you’re trying to get a little bit of rest, that can also be helpful, if you’re someone that needs a completely dark room to sleep.
Yes. I think a lot of people think that once you’ve had your baby, that you get to just rest in your room and enjoy your baby. The truth is, there are people who need to come check in on you, and it is a little bit more frequent than I think most people would expect it to be. Your room is not this quiet place that you kind of get to just hunker down until you get to go home. I think keeping in mind that bringing a mask, making sure that you’re intentional about times that you get to rest, and just noticing that there are going to be a lot of people in and out of your room, but there’s a purpose and a reason for it. It’s not just to bother you. It’s to do good things and check up on you and do your vitals and make sure everything is going well.
Agreed. And depending on the hospital, sometimes the pediatrician will come in, if they have rounds and access to the hospital, or there would be a hospitalist pediatrician to check the baby out. And then of course the OB or midwife that’s on call would come in to also do that check out visit. And there are teaching hospitals, so you might have nursing students come in your room, as well, depending on the hospital or what your birth plan allows.
Absolutely. You also have birth records, which are going to come in and go over paperwork and stuff with you. And a new thing that I’ve been seeing a lot, too, is that certain hospitals are getting hospitality groups, and those hospitality people come – it’s different than the environmental services people that come and clean your room. These people help you order all your meals, make sure you’re comfortable, that you don’t need anything extra. It’s just kind of going above and beyond in your hospital experience. If you don’t want them to come in, you can absolutely tell your nurse, hey, that’s really nice, but I don’t need that right now. Advocating for yourself doesn’t stop in the labor and delivery room. It can go into the postpartum room, as well. So making sure that you’re communicating well with your care team that, hey, I need a break. I need to take a nap. I need two hours of nobody coming into my room. Some hospitals have stop signs that you can put on your door to make sure that you’re going to get that time of rest.
Yes. Now, one thing that I know a lot of our area hospitals are working on is educating – in our case, our clients, but their patients, to ask for assistance from a nurse or their partner before getting up out of bed, trying to reduce the slip and falls, and of course, trying to make sure that partners and patients are not falling asleep with baby in the bed or couch.
Even if you think you’re not going to, I think we underestimate how tired our bodies are. You just went through something huge and life changing, and your body needs rest. And a lot of times, those sweet moments of snuggling can turn into, oh, you fell asleep because it was so comfy. So making sure that if you’re feeling the littlest bit of drowsiness, put your baby back int the bassinet. And again, like you said, getting out of bed, too – it’s really hard to know, if you’ve had an epidural or a C-section – it’s hard to feel exactly how much of your legs have feeling back. You could still be really wobbly. Also, your blood pressure can change really rapidly going from a laying down position to automatically standing up. So always ask for help until your care team is confident that you can get to and from the bathroom by yourself.
Yes, it’s their job to help, so it’s not an inconvenience to hit that button and ask for assistance.
No. And there’s more people – nurses have multiple patients, but there are also nurse techs and other people on the floor that want to help you and that are there for you, as well. You’re not being a burden. You are doing the right thing by calling and asking for assistance.
Exactly. So what else should our listeners expect from their postpartum stay in a hospital?
I think one thing that we go into and that we talk about a lot is what to expect as far as feeding your newborn in the first 24 hours. The hospitals will tell you to feed your baby every two to three hours. So I would love to spend some time to clarify, what does feeding your baby in those first two days look like?
In that golden hour right after delivery, that’s probably going to be your baby’s best feeding for their first day. I hear that often, that the first feeding is wonderful, that the latch is great, and that they fed for like a half an hour down in L&D. And then parents get up to postpartum, and their babies are sleepy, and that’s very normal. Babies go through something called a period of nonreactivity for 12 to 24 hours where you’re going to have to attempt to feed your baby every two to three hours, but it’s not a guarantee that they’re going to wake up for you and feed for you. So I think “attempting” is the name of the game for that first day. Don’t expect your baby to be feverishly hungry every two to three hours. They’re probably going to be sleepy, and latching might be 50/50, and that’s okay, because they’re learning. It’s their first time feeding with their mouths. They’ve had 24/7 room service for the last nine months, and now all of a sudden they have to do something they’ve never done before.
Exactly. And you don’t need to produce a lot. There isn’t that kind of pressure for weight gain that you would have once you get home and your milk has fully come in.
Right. Yeah, colostrum is a baby superfood. It’s absolutely wonderful, and it comes in small amounts, but that’s because your baby’s tummy starts out as 5mLs big, so they don’t need a lot. Also after delivery sometimes they have amniotic fluid that’s kind of still in their bellies that they have to work out of their systems over the next few days. Some babies spit up. Some babies gag a little bit. A lot of babies have a lot of wet and dirty diapers that first day, and then the diapers kind of drop off a little bit by the second day because of that residual amniotic fluid that still lasts. But every baby is different, too. Some babies might be sleepy on the first day. Some babies might be really fussy. But there are probably reasons, and a lot of it has to do with how much amniotic fluid they swallow before they came out.
Typically, on the second day, babies start to be a little bit more alert and awake. They start to actually feed for you every two to three hours and then going into that second night, that’s when babies do something called cluster feeding, and that’s when you should expect your baby to be up all night long. I usually tell people, get your favorite snacks. Get some good, hydrating beverages, whether you love water or you want something like Propel or something, and then find a really funny show to binge watch all night and plan on cat napping, because that baby is not going to let you sleep. So don’t try to go to bed.
Good tips! So Kristin, as we navigate visitors and family and friends who want to come in to the hospital to meet baby and support the couple, how do we best optimize the education, the need for, say, a lactation consultant like yourself, along with needing rest and time to focus on feeding and bonding with baby? There are so many concerns as far as protecting time and focusing on rest but also wanting to celebrate this very important occasion.
Yeah. I think if guests are willing to wait until after you guys get home from the hospital, I think that’s probably one of the best decisions, just because nobody knows exactly how they’re going to feel after delivery. There are all kinds of situations that can come up, so allowing your family to rest, allowing you to bond with your baby, work out all of the feedings – that would be the best situation. However, I do know that people are going to want to come see you and bring you cards and flowers and good snacks. So I would say to the best of your ability, feel it out for you and your family. Talk with your partner about what he can handle, but maybe for that first day after baby comes, have it just be the family unit, and then allow visitors to come maybe the second day. Obviously, you have to do what’s right for you and your family, but taking a lot of grace into consideration and all the different things that can come up. There’s a lot that goes on in that room. Holding space for family is not a problem. I think that’s a good thing to do.
I agree. Any final tips for our listeners on what to expect at the hospital?
Yeah, just have grace for yourself. Expect to enjoy your time as much as you can with your baby in those first few days. It’s a wonderful two days. You’re getting to know them. You’re watching them change. They change so much in this short little period of time. Just focus on your baby as much as you can and getting as much rest as you can and kind of soak it all in. It’s a wonderful experience.
Well, thank you, Kristin! And for our listeners who are local, Kristin is available for day and overnight postpartum support with us. She’s a baby registry consultant and a lactation consultant. You can connect with her in many ways. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge, having worked internally in hospitals for years, and also knowing what your clients are asking you during pregnancy, if they’re hiring you for postpartum well in advance versus after baby arrives.
Thank you for having me on here!
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