# Warning signs after birth

Care topic · id `maternal:postpartum-warning-signs` · Maternal & Newborn Atlas · release `c7fb95f1d15a7d13` (public)

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Browse, life stage: Postpartum  
Browse, care area: Recovery after birth  

## In plain language

Symptoms in the weeks and months after birth that need urgent care. This page does not list them, because the CDC page that does refused automated access and the nurses' programme that teaches them is copyrighted. MedlinePlus points to a CDC page of urgent maternal warning signs. WHO says women should be told to watch for worsening perineal or uterine pain, which can signal complications such as infection.

## Technical summary

No list of maternal warning signs is recorded. The CDC Hear Her page that MedlinePlus links returned HTTP 403 to a script, and the AWHONN POST-BIRTH page offers its program materials under a permissions policy, so neither was read beyond the program description. What is recorded: WHO's remarks that women should be advised on danger signs including worsening perineal and uterine pain (examples, not a full list), and the list of danger signs for the newborn in WHO Recommendation 25, which is on the postnatal care page. US surveillance finds pregnancy-related deaths up to 1 year after delivery (see the outcome page). The AWHONN page is cite-only here.

## Claims, with the population each applies to

## Context: Women in the weeks and months after birth, as addressed by health education pages

Recipient: Maternal; Population: Women after birth, as the audience of patient and clinician education pages. The pages describe education and information, not outcomes in a sample of women.; Care setting: Not applicable: education material; Geography: United States (the pages are from US organisations); Life stage: After birth, up to the first year postpartum; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable

### The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses runs the POST-BIRTH Warning Signs Education Program, a course with program resources that teaches nurses and clinicians about serious illness and death of mothers in the postpartum period, and gives them ways to teach patients and families to recognise warning signs. The page says the course was updated in December 2023.

- Category: Description
- Evidence stage: Evidence stage not applicable
- Certainty: Certainty not assessed
- Applies to: Recipient: Maternal; Population: Women after birth, as the audience of patient and clinician education pages. The pages describe education and information, not outcomes in a sample of women.; Care setting: Not applicable: education material; Geography: United States (the pages are from US organisations); Life stage: After birth, up to the first year postpartum; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable
- Limitations: This describes a training programme from its own program page, which is cited and not quoted because the organisation asks for permission to reuse its copyrighted material. The page was not tested against any outcome, and the program materials and the course itself were not read.
- Last checked: 2026-10-15
- Sources:
  1. Supports: POST-BIRTH Warning Signs Education Program (AWHONN) (Webpage, edition The program page as shown on 2026-10-15; the page lists an update stamp of 2026-07-20. The handouts, the course and the linked PDF files were not read.) <https://www.awhonn.org/education/post-birth-warning-signs-education-program/>
     Locator: Why Is Postpartum Discharge Training Essential, paragraph 1. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:52:49Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: bb567bf0e1b96659e80d4bd884ca5a950c57148f2afb12990156fa2633547b2d.
     How it applies: AWHONN program page; cite only.
  2. Supports: POST-BIRTH Warning Signs Education Program (AWHONN) (Webpage, edition The program page as shown on 2026-10-15; the page lists an update stamp of 2026-07-20. The handouts, the course and the linked PDF files were not read.) <https://www.awhonn.org/education/post-birth-warning-signs-education-program/>
     Locator: Revised POST-BIRTH Warning Signs Education Now Available. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:52:49Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: bb567bf0e1b96659e80d4bd884ca5a950c57148f2afb12990156fa2633547b2d.
     How it applies: AWHONN program page; cite only.

### The MedlinePlus Postpartum Care topic, under its Symptoms heading, links to a page from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called Signs and Symptoms of Urgent Maternal Warnings Signs. That CDC page returned an access error to a script, so its contents are not recorded here.

- Category: Description
- Evidence stage: Evidence stage not applicable
- Certainty: Certainty not assessed
- Applies to: Recipient: Maternal; Population: Women after birth, as the audience of patient and clinician education pages. The pages describe education and information, not outcomes in a sample of women.; Care setting: Not applicable: education material; Geography: United States (the pages are from US organisations); Life stage: After birth, up to the first year postpartum; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable
- Limitations: This records that a pointer exists on a government health information page. It says nothing about which signs the CDC page lists. The MedlinePlus page was read as shown on 2026-10-15.
- Last checked: 2026-10-15
- Sources:
  1. Supports: Postpartum Care (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The page carries no edition date. The summary is credited on the page to the Dept. of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health.) <https://medlineplus.gov/postpartumcare.html>
     Locator: Symptoms section, first link. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:50:49Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 3cf394f87d512987af681ddf5d66a078422d5fe2b74ebc5fef56826562bba7ae.
     How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic page; short quotation.

## Context: Women after birth, remarks beside WHO 2022 recommendations 4 and 6

Recipient: Maternal; Population: Women after birth who have perineal pain or pain from uterine cramping. The statements are remarks the guideline group added beside its recommendations on perineal pain relief and on pain from uterine cramping.; Care setting: Facility- or community-based postnatal care; Geography: Global (WHO guidance); Life stage: The weeks after birth; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable: guideline remarks

### In remarks beside two recommendations, on perineal pain relief and on pain from uterine cramping, WHO says women should be told about danger signs and symptoms. Its examples are worsening perineal pain, which can point to complications such as haematoma, haemorrhoids or infection, and worsening uterine pain, which can point to complications such as endometritis.

- Category: Description
- Evidence stage: Guidance
- Certainty: Certainty not assessed
- Applies to: Recipient: Maternal; Population: Women after birth who have perineal pain or pain from uterine cramping. The statements are remarks the guideline group added beside its recommendations on perineal pain relief and on pain from uterine cramping.; Care setting: Facility- or community-based postnatal care; Geography: Global (WHO guidance); Life stage: The weeks after birth; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable: guideline remarks
- Limitations: These are examples WHO gives in remarks, not a full list of postpartum warning signs. The guideline does not set out one list of maternal danger signs. The remarks were read from the English PDF.
- Last checked: 2026-10-15
- Sources:
  1. Supports: WHO recommendations on maternal and newborn care for a positive postnatal experience (Guideline, edition First edition, 2022. The date is the who.int page date, 30 March 2022, which the atlas uses for WHO sources and decisions; the WHO IRIS record 10665/352658 lists an issue date of 2022-03-29 for the same document. The English PDF was read from IRIS (bitstream 73dec697-c033-449c-8323-1cd04a8d8f20). The who.int page lists a corrigendum dated 26 May 2022 beside the web supplement on the evidence base (ISBN 978-92-4-004617-7), not beside the guideline; the corrigendum (mk-who-9789240046177-corrigendum.pdf) changes one source citation on page 93 of that supplement, and the supplement was not read.) <https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240045989>
     Locator: Recommendation 4, Remarks. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:51:32Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: f4cbef197fdf40d33e1c53987ba6f4e099265fe0d867724c8c2e4fb91051a071.
     How it applies: WHO guideline PDF (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO); short quotation.
  2. Supports: WHO recommendations on maternal and newborn care for a positive postnatal experience (Guideline, edition First edition, 2022. The date is the who.int page date, 30 March 2022, which the atlas uses for WHO sources and decisions; the WHO IRIS record 10665/352658 lists an issue date of 2022-03-29 for the same document. The English PDF was read from IRIS (bitstream 73dec697-c033-449c-8323-1cd04a8d8f20). The who.int page lists a corrigendum dated 26 May 2022 beside the web supplement on the evidence base (ISBN 978-92-4-004617-7), not beside the guideline; the corrigendum (mk-who-9789240046177-corrigendum.pdf) changes one source citation on page 93 of that supplement, and the supplement was not read.) <https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240045989>
     Locator: Recommendation 6, Remarks. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:51:32Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: f4cbef197fdf40d33e1c53987ba6f4e099265fe0d867724c8c2e4fb91051a071.
     How it applies: WHO guideline PDF (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO); short quotation.

## Connected pages

- MedlinePlus links to a CDC page of urgent maternal warning signs (the CDC page was not read): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (`core:cdc`)
- Eclampsia, which can also happen after the birth (page on the condition; not a list of warning signs): Eclampsia (mother) (`maternal:eclampsia`)
- Education before and after discharge is part of postnatal care: Postnatal care for the mother (`maternal:postnatal-care`)
- Filed under this front: Care programmes and follow-up (`maternal:front-care-programmes-and-follow-up`)
- Related to: Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) (`maternal:awhonn`)

## Provenance

Content hash: 4492f07f49d2a057fa6fa8ead4db96457cf78a9ca150cd20cee37f70717e0a32
Last substantive edit: 2026-10-15
Evidence last checked: 2026-10-15