Did you know that giving birth is the equivalent to running a marathon? The first few weeks after giving birth are when the most dramatic shifts are taking place in your body. So whether you had an epidural or went drug-free, had a vaginal birth or caesarian, your body will be undergoing some slightly baffling but absolutely normal adjustments before you can consider yourself ‘recovered’ from the enormity of labour day.
Fluid
Your new baby isn’t the only weight you’ll lose from giving birth. For 9 months you’ve been harbouring fluid to keep baby safe and fed in the watery depths of your stomach, but now that bubs has moved from water to earth, the fluid will naturally need to be released too.
It's important to note that:
- Whether you have a vaginal birth or caesarian, you will bleed bright red blood for at least 3-4 days after giving birth, so have lots of maxi pads on hand. Then you can expect lochia loss for up to six weeks - it will gradually fade in colour and volume.
- Expect to wee frequently, and in large quantities, in the days after giving birth. This is one way your body will release the extra fluid needed for blood and tissues for baby. It’s completely normal. You may even lose a bit of bladder control for awhile and wee when you’re coughing, laughing or sneezing. Again, completely normal. Your pelvic floor muscles, which were under strain in the last few months of pregnancy, should recover within 3-4 weeks. If the incontinence continues longer than this, you may need to speak to your Doctor.
- Doing daily pelvic floor exercises can help you recover quicker from the incontinence.
- Expect also to sweat quite a bit in the days after giving birth
- You may also have extra swelling in your feet and ankles after giving birth. This is completely normal too. Try a cooling footbath with some juniper oil, or an Epsom salt bath, to reduce swelling. Epsom salts draw the swelling from your muscles and are an excellent aid to fluid retention.
- Even though you’re losing lots of fluid, you need to still keep drinking plenty of water, so keep a jug of water handy wherever you plan to breastfeed baby.
Stitches
If you had a vaginal birth you may have sustained a small tear to the area between your vaginal opening and back passage (perineum), or even an anal tear (fissure), which will need stitching. Thankfully the stitches these days dissolve (and don’t need to be removed), phew!
Here are some hints to help soothe yourself
- Make sure you have the softest toilet tissue possible stocked in your house and rinse the area to prevent infection. For the first few days use a hair dryer on the cool setting to try the area - and when you start using toilet paper pat, rather than wipe, the vaginal area clean and dry.
- Eat fibre rich foods (wholegrains, apples, cruciferous vegetables) to prevent constipation which makes going to the toilet even more painful.
Caesarian
A caesarian (or C-Section) is basically major surgery, so don’t be shocked by the feeling that you’ve been run over by a truck. You’ll be discharged from the hospital after 2-4 days.
How to recover from a c-section:
- Rest where possible!
- Your immune system will need extra help as you’ve been under a general anaesthetic also, so stock the house with Probiotics, vitamin C and a general herbal tonic to help aid recovery.
- It may hurt to cough, sneeze or even make small movements for over a week, and placing a pillow over your incision when you need to make small movements like these can help ease pain.
- Keep plenty of maxi pads on hand as you may bleed more than you would from vaginal labour.
- You’ll need help moving rising from a chair, sitting, and making basic movements for up to 2 weeks.
- Also make sure you’ve got some knickers in a size larger than you usually wear, for comfort.
- After your caesarian stitches have dissolved, and the wound has scabbed and closed, it can help to gently rub rosehip oil or Bio C oil on the wound each day, to reduce scarring.
- It’s said you should avoid driving for a few weeks after a caesarian, until it doesn’t hurt to put full pressure on the brake.
- You can take nurofen and Panadol for pain relief after leaving the hospital.
Nausea
Expect to feel very nauseous in the 48 hours after giving birth, whether by vaginal labour or caesarian. Peppermint tea, and ginger tea, are some natural ways to help you feel better.
Exercise
Although the rate at which you recover will much depend on how fit you were before the birth, unless there were huge complications, you should be able to at least go for small walks after the first week.
- Walking and other gentle exercise is recommended to help you sleep, relax and recover as soon as you feel able. The vitamin D from walking outside will also help regulate your moods and sleep again.
- Yoga and pilates can be useful for getting your back, stomach and pelvic floor muscles back to normal, so perhaps buy a couple of DVD’s you can do in the home a couple of weeks after the birth. But don’t push it, listen to your body, and be gentle.
Vitamins
Vitamins which can aid and assist your body to recover after labour include vitamin C and zinc for tissue repair and wound healing, and to prevent infections.
- Avoid too much caffeine as this will interfere with your sleep and can affect vitamin absorption.
- If you lost a lot of blood during labour or surgery you may need iron supplementation, there’s lots of great liquid naturopathic versions on the market these days.
To sleep, perchance to heal
Remember how you just ran the equivalent to a marathon? In just a few weeks your body is recovering from nine months of huge changes. Exhaustion during this period is completely normal.
- Sleep is more important than ever, because it’s when we rest and repair, create breast milk, increase our immune system, and adjust to the enormous life change which has just taken place. Simplify your life to just care for yourself and your baby, and put your own rest and peace first. People will understand.
- Don’t take too many visitors in the first few weeks so that you and baby can establish a good sleep routine. Or, when really good friends and family come around, ask them to keep an eye on bub while you catch a wee cat-nap.
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<h4>This article was written by Louisa Deasey for Birth, Australia's favourite pregnancy, labour and childbirth site.</h4>
Last revised: Friday, 21 October 2011
This article contains general information only and is not intended to replace advice from a qualified health professional.