If you feel pressure to get back to normal, ignore it. No one should expect you to go to the supermarket or drive anywhere.

If you have visitors, make it clear you don't expect to entertain them. If they want tea or coffee, they can make it themselves. And if you get offers of help, accept them. You're bound to need a hand with the washing, cooking, shopping or cleaning.

In the first week you may notice the following:

Your tummy looks and feels soft and round - you won't look pregnant, but your body won't 'spring' back to how it was, either.

You feel some pain in your uterus - breastfeeding, in particular, can stimulate 'afterpains' as your uterus contracts.

Your breasts increase in size - they'll get bigger from day two or three as your milk 'comes in'. They may feel a bit uncomfortable, but this should be pass.

A lot of vaginal discharge - for a few weeks, the uterus sheds the rest of its lining. At first this discharge, or lochia, is red. It then changes to a pinkish brown, then cream.

Use sanitary towels to protect your clothes (not tampons, as there's a risk of infection).

You feel tired and occasionally weepy - this is normal and isn't postnatal depression.

All babies are unique, but in the first few days you can expect the following:

After the first hours, your baby's skin will seem smoother. The vernix will also disappear. Any bruising or slight misshapenness will lessen.

Some babies sleep a lot in the first days, then perk up and are hungry and wakeful, while others are alert and feed well from the beginning.

Your baby will have routine checks to ensure she's healthy. A doctor or midwife will listen to her heart and test some of her reflexes. Her hip joints will be checked to make sure they work as they should do.

At some point in the first week, your baby will be screened for a rare condition called PKU (phenylketonuria) and other rare conditions. Several drops of blood from the heel are collected. This is sometimes known as the Guthrie test.

Your baby may be given vitamin K shortly after the birth, either orally or by injection. This is to prevent a rare condition called haemorrhagic disease of the newborn, when the blood fails to clot. The oral form needs to be given more than once make sure the dose is complete.

Many babies have mild jaundice in the first week or so, caused by a substance called bilirubin still present in the blood. If there seems to be a problem, your baby will have a blood test to see how high the level really is. Jaundice can make some babies a little sleepy.

Almost as soon as your baby is born, she'll be given an Apgar test. This gives a score of zero, one or two for the following: breathing, colour, muscle tone, reflexes and heart rate.

The maximum score is ten; most healthy babies get at least seven. Different maternity units do the test at different times. Commonly, it's carried out at between one and five minutes after the birth.

A midwife will visit you in the hospital and once you're home to:

Feel if your uterus is getting back to its pre-pregnancy size
Check any stitches
Take your blood pressure
Ask about how you're feeling
Give advice on minor problems, such as constipation
Help establish feeding

Your pelvic floor exercises - you can start these as soon as you like, even the day after the birth.

You'll be visited at home in these first ten days, but not necessarily every day.

You have the option of midwifery care up to 28 days after the birth. The midwife can extend this as long as they think it's necessary. In practice, a community midwife often signs over your care to a health visitor about ten days after the birth, if all's well. You'll be visited at home in these first ten days, but not necessarily every day. You should be given a midwife's contact details in case you need help outside normal working hours.