During pregnancy and after childbirth, it is possible to benefit from Home Hospitalization or HAD. What you must remember.

Hospitalization at home can take place in the event of a pathological pregnancy (pre-existing maternal pathology such as arterial hypertension or diabetes, pathology that appeared during pregnancy such as gestational diabetes, risk factors linked to pregnancy or to an obstetric history) when a medical supervision is necessary without hospitalization being essential. A HAD is also possible for the follow-up of a mother and her baby in the context of a pathological postpartum, when complex care is necessary after childbirth (perineum wound, difficult healing or abscess after a cesarean section) or to manage a risk of postpartum depression.

The conditions of the HAD:

• reside in the geographical area in which the HAD structure is authorized.
• Have a home with a technical minimum (telephone, electricity)
• Possibility of an emergency transfer
• Not to be isolated
• The hospitalized woman and her entourage must have a good understanding of the treatment protocol and adhere to it.

Admission to HAD gives rise to a contract: the hospital-to-be mother or young mother and the HAD structure must sign this contract.

HAD is offered on medical prescription, most often by a health professional in the maternity hospital in which the woman is being followed. The ADH can sometimes be implemented at the request of another worker who has followed the pregnancy, in particular the attending physician (general practitioner or specialist).

This prescription is made antepartum (during pregnancy) following a short or medium stay hospitalization, a hospital consultation or a visit to the emergency room, and / or postpartum (after childbirth). since the establishment where the childbirth took place. The prescriber draws up the monitoring and care protocol defining the procedures and the frequency of visits and he also fills out an application form for admission to HAD.

HAD provides medical and paramedical care, which differs from care usually provided at home by its complexity and frequency.

It is the midwives who are the main interveners.

The different treatments

The care carried out in HAD in ante or postpartum can be wall care or injections of anticoagulants after a cesarean section, blood samples, intravenous treatment …

State-of-the-art equipment can be used in HAD: twin cardiotocograph, fetal remote monitoring, devices measuring blood pressure (hypertensive pregnant women) or glucometers (diabetic pregnant women), Doppler, etc.

If the birth went well and the young mother wants to leave the maternity hospital early, she can benefit from the home return support program (PRADO), with a liberal midwife. She makes a home visit the day after returning home, then a second 24 or 48 hours later.