Challenges faced in Postpartum Period(after Delivery) | NextMamas.
Congratulations on the birth of your baby. Like pregnancy, the newborn period can be a time of excitement, joy, and exhaustion. You may look at your wondrous little baby and feel happy. You may also be overwhelmed by your new sleep hours and new responsibilities.
At first, babies often sleep during the days and are awake at night. They do not have a pattern or routine. They may make sudden gasps, jerk themselves awake, or look like they have crossed eyes. These are all normal, and they may even make you smile.
At first, babies often sleep during the days and are awake at night. They do not have a pattern or routine. They may make sudden gasps, jerk themselves awake, or look like they have crossed eyes. These are all normal, and they may even make you smile.
In these first weeks after delivery, try to take good care of yourself. It may take 4 to 6 weeks to feel like yourself again, and possibly longer if you had a cesarean birth. You will likely feel very tired for several weeks. Your days will be full of ups and downs, but lots of joy as well. Follow-up care is a key part of your treatment and safety. Be sure to make and go to all appointments, and call your doctor or nurse advice line if you are having problems. It's also a good idea to know your test results and keep a list of the medicines you take.
How can you care for yourself at home?
- Use pads instead of tampons for the bloody flow that may last as long as 2 weeks.
- Ease cramps with painkillers.
- Ease soreness of hemorrhoids and the area between your vagina and rectum with ice compresses or witch hazel pads.
- Ease constipation by drinking lots of fluid and eating high-fiber foods. Ask your doctor or midwife about over-the-counter stool softeners.
- Cleanse yourself with a gentle squeeze of warm water from a bottle instead of wiping with toilet paper.
- Take a sitz bath in warm water several times a day.
- Wear a good nursing bra. Ease sore and swollen breasts with warm, wet facecloths.
- If you aren't breastfeeding, use ice rather than heat for breast soreness.
- Your period may not start for several months if you are breastfeeding. You may bleed more, and longer at first than you did before you got pregnant.
- Wait until you are healed (about 4 to 6 weeks) before you have sex. Ask your midwife when it is okay for you to have sex.
- Try not to travel with your baby for 5 or 6 weeks. If you take a long car trip, make frequent stops to walk around and stretch.
Avoid exhaustion
- Rest every day. Try to nap when your baby naps.
- Ask another adult to be with you for a few days after delivery.
- Plan for child care if you have other children.
- Stay flexible so you can eat at odd hours and sleep when you need to. Both you and your baby are making new schedules.
- Plan small trips to get out of the house. Change can make you feel less tired.
- Ask for help with housework, cooking, and shopping. Remind yourself that your job is to care for your baby.
Know about help for postpartum depression
- "Baby blues" are common for the first 1 to 2 weeks after birth. You may cry or feel sad or irritable for no reason.
- Rest whenever you can. Being tired makes it harder to handle your emotions.
- Go for walks with your baby.
- Talk to your partner, friends, and family about your feelings.
- If your symptoms last for more than a few weeks, or if you feel very depressed, ask your doctor or midwife for help.
- Postpartum depression can be treated. Support groups and counseling can help. Sometimes medicine can also help.
Stay healthy
- Eat healthy foods so you have more energy.
- If you breastfeed, avoid drugs. If you quit smoking during pregnancy, try to stay smoke-free. If you choose to have a drink now and then, have only one drink, and limit the number of occasions that you have a drink. Wait to breastfeed at least 2 hours after you have a drink to reduce the amount of alcohol the baby may get in the milk.
- Start daily exercise after 4 to 6 weeks, but rest when you feel tired.
- Learn exercises to tone your belly. Do Kegel exercises to regain strength in your pelvic muscles. You can do these exercises while you stand or sit.
- Squeeze the same muscles you would use to stop your urine. Your belly and thighs should not move.
- Hold the squeeze for 3 seconds, then relax for 3 seconds.
- Start with 3 seconds. Then add 1 second each week until you are able to
squeeze for 10 seconds. - Repeat the exercise 10 to 15 times for each session. Do three or more sessions each day.
- Find a class for you and your baby that has exercise time.
- If you had a cesarean birth, give yourself a bit more time before you exercise, and be careful.
When should you call for help?
Share this information with your partner, family, or a friend. They can
help you watch for warning signs.
Call your helper/doctor anytime you think you may need emergency
care. For example, call if:
- You have thoughts of harming yourself, your baby, or another
person. - You passed out (lost consciousness).
- You have chest pain, are short of breath, or cough up blood.
- You have a seizure.
Call your doctor, midwife, or nurse call line now or seek immediately
medical care if:
- You have signs of hemorrhage (too much bleeding), such as
Heavy vaginal bleeding. This means that you are soaking through
one or more pads in an hour. Or you pass blood clots bigger than an
egg. - Feeling dizzy or light-headed, or you feel like you may faint.
- Feeling so tired or weak that you cannot do your usual activities.
- A fast or irregular heartbeat.
- New or worse belly pain.
You have signs of infection, such as:
- A fever.
- Vaginal discharge that smells bad.
- New or worse belly pain.
You have symptoms of a blood clot in your leg (called a deep vein
thrombosis), such as:
- Pain in the calf, back of the knee, thigh, or groin.
- Redness and swelling in your leg or groin.
You have signs of pre-eclampsia, such as:
- Sudden swelling of your face, hands, or feet.
- New vision problems (such as dimness, blurring, or seeing spots).
- A severe headache.
Watch closely for changes in your health, and be sure to contact your
doctor, midwife, or nurse call line if:
- Your vaginal bleeding isn't decreasing.
- You feel sad, anxious, or hopeless for more than a few days.
- You are having problems with your breasts or breastfeeding.
Author: Dr. Iram Gill
