Maternity Triage (Pregnancy)
Discharge
This handout has prenatal care resources and information to support you after you leave the maternity triage department or the emergency department for concerns related to your pregnancy. Learn what to watch for, when to return to the hospital, and when to call for help for pregnancy concerns.
Important phone numbers
- Call 911 for any medical emergency.
- Call Health Link at 811 for other medical concerns or if you need health advice.
- Call or text 988: Canada’s Suicide Crisis Helpline if you have any thoughts of harming yourself or others.
Pregnancy, parenting, and newborn resources
- For Alberta Health Services pregnancy resources, visit ahs.ca/prenatal.
- Healthy Parents, Healthy Children is Alberta’s guide for pregnancy, postpartum, parenting, and child development. Start with the overview of pregnancy to learn about pregnancy basics and starting off healthy. Ask your healthcare provider how to get a copy of Healthy Parents, Healthy Children.
Follow-up care
After going home from the maternity triage department or emergency department:
- Contact your maternity care provider or family doctor and talk with them about your visit to the hospital.
- Continue to attend your regularly scheduled prenatal appointments.
- Follow any instructions that you got at discharge (when you left the hospital).
If you have questions or concerns about your health or pregnancy, talk with your maternity care provider or call Health Link at 811 anytime, day or night.
When to call 911
Call 911 right away if you have:
- difficulty breathing or chest pain
- loss of consciousness or a seizure
- severe pain in your abdomen (belly) that doesn’t stop
- severe vaginal bleeding (soaking one pad in 1 hour)
- a gush of fluid or leaking and feel something bulging into your vagina
- thoughts of harming yourself or others
When to go back to the hospital
Go back to the nearest maternity triage department or emergency department if you have any concerns or if you have any of the following:
Contractions happening more often or getting stronger
Bright red bleeding
Feeling your baby move less than usual (fewer than 6 movements in 2 hours, or as appropriate for your stage of pregnancy)
Leaking thin, watery fluid, or if you think your water breaks
Very high blood pressure (160/110 or higher) or having a new headache, vision problems, or right upper belly pain that doesn’t go away
If you are not sure if you should go back to the hospital, call Health Link at 811 to talk to a registered nurse and get advice and instructions.
When thinking about going back to the maternity triage department or emergency department, plan for weather conditions, travel times, traffic, and the distance from your house to the hospital.
Procedures
If you had a procedure during your hospital visit that requires you to return to the hospital at a specific time, review and follow the information that your healthcare provider gave you. Examples of procedures include cervical ripening or fetal monitoring.
Medicines
If you received a narcotic like morphine before leaving the hospital:
- You may have side effects such as dizziness, confusion, unsteadiness, and drowsiness within a short period of time.
- Be careful when doing activities that need you to be alert, like driving, using power tools, and signing legal documents, for up to 24 hours after taking the medicine. Operating a motor vehicle while using a narcotic may be against the law.
- Sedatives (sleeping pills) may also add to the effects of a narcotic. Avoid using sedatives until the effects of the narcotic are gone.
To see this information online and learn more, visit MyHealth.Alberta.ca/health/aftercareinformation/pages/conditions.aspx?hwid=custom.ab_obs_triage_pregnant_discharge_inst.
For 24/7 nurse advice and general health information call Health Link at 811.
Current as of: August 27, 2026
Author: Provincial Perinatal Group, Women's Health
This material is not a substitute for the advice of a qualified health professional. This material is intended for general information only and is provided on an "as is", "where is" basis. Although reasonable efforts were made to confirm the accuracy of the information, Alberta Health Services does not make any representation or warranty, express, implied or statutory, as to the accuracy, reliability, completeness, applicability or fitness for a particular purpose of such information. Alberta Health Services expressly disclaims all liability for the use of these materials, and for any claims, actions, demands or suits arising from such use.
