Episiotomy care nursing procedure explained

After birth, a nurse may ask about pain, inspect the perineum for swelling or bruising, check the stitches and bleeding, and observe how you pass urine. These checks help distinguish expected tenderness from a haematoma, infection, urinary difficulty, or a wound problem. Your privacy, comfort, and consent should be respected during an examination.

Nursing support may include helping you position yourself, offering an approved cold pack, giving prescribed analgesia, and teaching hand hygiene and front-to-back cleaning. You may be encouraged to drink, walk gently when able, and report bladder pressure or difficulty emptying your bladder. Staff can discuss fibre, fluids, and prescribed bowel medicines. Keep the pad and wound area under observation and tell the team if pain is not improving with the agreed plan.

Tell a nurse or doctor without delay about severe or rapidly increasing pain, one-sided swelling, heavy bleeding, fever, chills, foul-smelling discharge, pus, wound separation, or difficulty controlling urine or stool. Emergency assessment is needed for collapse, severe weakness, or bleeding that feels uncontrolled. Do not wait for a routine appointment when symptoms are worsening.

Ask what the wound looks like, which symptoms are expected, how often it will be reviewed, whom to call after discharge, and whether any medicines need adjustment for breastfeeding.