Recovery is a wound, not just an emotion.
C-section incisions, perineal repairs, cracked nipples, and hemorrhoids are real wounds that need real care. The Materna Health Solutions wound program is bilingual, photo-friendly, and home-visit ready. You do not have to wait for the 6-week visit.
Call us today if you have any of these.
Fever above 100.4°F (38°C)
Take your temperature any time you feel hot, chilled, or sweaty. A fever after delivery is not normal and should be checked the same day.
Increasing redness, warmth, or pain
Some redness around an incision is normal in the first week. Redness that is spreading, getting hotter, or hurting more is not.
Drainage that is yellow, green, or bad-smelling
A small amount of clear or pink fluid is normal. Pus, foul odor, or sudden new drainage is a sign of infection.
A wound that is opening or pulling apart
If your incision feels like it is "popping" or you can see deeper tissue, take a photo, call us, and avoid lifting until we have seen it.
Heavy bleeding from a wound
Apply firm pressure with a clean cloth and call your provider. If bleeding will not stop in 10 minutes, call 911.
Sudden severe headache, vision changes, or trouble breathing
These are not wound symptoms but they are serious postpartum warning signs. Call 911 right away.
By wound type
What to expect, and how to care for it.
Each wound has its own healing schedule and its own warning signs. The pages below are written by perinatal wound nurses, in plain language, in English and Spanish.
C-section incision
A horizontal cut, usually 4 to 6 inches long, just above your pubic hairline. Most fully heal in 6 to 8 weeks. Internal layers take longer than the skin.
Care
- Keep the incision clean and dry. Pat dry after a shower, do not rub.
- Wear loose cotton underwear and high-waisted pants that do not press on the scar.
- Avoid lifting anything heavier than your baby for 6 weeks.
- No tub baths, swimming, or sex for 6 weeks or until cleared by your OB.
- Take pain medication on schedule for the first 5 to 7 days. It is easier to stay ahead of pain than to chase it.
Perineal repair (vaginal birth)
Stitches to a tear or episiotomy. Most are dissolvable and disappear in 2 to 4 weeks. The area can be tender for 6 to 8 weeks.
Care
- Use a peri bottle with warm water every time you use the bathroom for the first 2 weeks.
- Sitz baths twice a day for the first 7 to 10 days, especially for second or third-degree tears.
- Cooling pads (witch hazel or Tucks) for the first 72 hours, then warm sitz baths.
- Take a stool softener for the first 2 weeks. Avoid straining.
- Lie on your side rather than sitting upright when comfortable.
Breast engorgement and cracked nipples
Not a surgical wound but a common source of postpartum pain and a frequent infection site (mastitis). Worth treating like a wound.
Care
- Frequent feeds or pumping. Empty the breast every 2 to 3 hours.
- Cold compresses between feeds. Warm compress just before feeds.
- Lanolin or pure breast-milk drops on cracked nipples after feeding.
- Watch for fever, red streaks, or a hard hot lump. Call us same day.
- Materna ships free lanolin and silver nipple shields to lactating patients.
Hemorrhoids and rectal pain
Common after vaginal delivery, often more painful than the perineal repair. Almost always improves within 6 weeks.
Care
- Witch hazel pads (Tucks) tucked between hemorrhoid and underwear.
- Sitz baths and ice packs.
- Stool softener and high-fiber diet.
- Topical hydrocortisone or lidocaine if your provider recommends.
- See us if pain is severe or there is bleeding more than spotting.
How wound care works in Materna
Three ways to get checked, none of them require a clinic visit.
Photo review
Take a clear photo from inside the app, add a note about how it feels, and we triage within 4 business hours. Your photo is encrypted, and only your care team sees it.
Video visit
Same-day video with a wound-trained nurse practitioner. Bring the wound to the camera. We can prescribe topical antibiotics, order labs, or escalate to the surgeon who did the procedure.
Home visit
For complex wounds, dehiscence, or patients who cannot leave home: a wound nurse comes to you. Bilingual. Within 24 hours. Covered by AHCCCS, PA Medicaid, and most commercial plans.
Pain management
Pain that is treated heals faster.
For the first 5 to 7 days after delivery, we recommend taking acetaminophen and ibuprofen on schedule, not just when pain is severe. This is true for both vaginal and C-section deliveries. Around-the-clock dosing reduces total opioid need by about half.
- Acetaminophen 1000 mg every 6 hours (max 3g/day if no liver disease)
- Ibuprofen 600 mg every 6 hours with food (skip if you have kidney issues)
- Opioids only if needed, in addition to the above. Stop as soon as you can.
- A heating pad on the abdomen helps with C-section pain. Cold helps with perineal pain.
When to call vs. when to come in
Call us (we triage):
- • Increasing pain that is not relieved by your medication
- • New or worsening drainage
- • Wound that looks different than yesterday
- • Fever between 100°F and 101°F
Go to the ER (do not wait):
- • Fever above 101.5°F (38.6°C)
- • Heavy bleeding from a wound
- • Wound that is split open with deep tissue showing
- • Severe abdominal pain, chest pain, or trouble breathing
For providers and home-health agencies
Materna's wound module ships with photo-attached SOAP notes, ICD-10 mapping (T81.30, O90.0, O90.1, O90.2, T80.211A), and direct routing to the OB or surgeon of record. Home-health agencies in our network can document visits, request orders, and close the loop without a separate portal.
Recovery is the easiest thing to neglect. We will not.
Your nurse line is staffed every day. Photos. Calls. Home visits. Whatever it takes.