Postpartum Care: Your Physical Recovery
Postpartum Care: Your Physical RecoveryPg 1TranscriptAfter your baby is born, you will enter a period of intense change, the postpartum period. Duringthis time, manage your own physical recovery to better care for your baby.If you had a vaginal birth, the area of your vagina and rectum will be painful and sore especially ifyou’ve had an episiotomy or small incision to widen your birth canal. To help relieve swelling andsoreness, apply an ice pack to the tender area for the first twenty four hours.After the first day, your healthcare provider may recommend a sitz bath. To prepare a sitz bath, filla small basin with warm water and place it on the toilet. Sit in it for at least twenty minutes, three tofour times per day, for about a week. Sitting in a shallow tub of warm water can also help relievesoreness.Many new mothers find they have hemorrhoids. Hemorrhoids are swollen blood vessels usuallycaused by the strain of the contractions and pushing during labor and delivery. To reducediscomfort, avoid constipation by drinking plenty of liquids and eating leafy vegetables, fruits andgrains. If this doesn’t help, ask your healthcare provider about using a stool softener or a mildlaxative. You can also use witch hazel to lessen the pain of hemorrhoids or an episiotomy.Your healthcare provider may recommend pelvic floor exercises called kegels to help you tightenthe muscles stretched during labor.“Kegels are those exercises where you squeeze the muscles, kind of in your vaginal area.You don’t really need to squeeze anything else. Just that specific area and that’s reallygoing to strengthen your pelvic floor and decrease the likelihood of having bladder issueslater on.”To become aware of the pelvic floor or kegel muscles, contract or tighten the muscles deep insideyou as you would to stop the flow of urine. However, you should not practice kegels each time youurinate, because you won’t empty your bladder completely.Instead, make a habit of practicing a set of kegels sitting, standing, or lying down. Hold as tightlyas you can for three seconds and relax for six seconds. Do ten kegels in a set and three to fivesets each day.If you’ve had a cesarean section, your recovery will typically be longer than a vaginal birth. Haveplenty of help available for the first few weeks you are at home while you physically recover. Avoidlifting heavy objects or doing anything that would strain abdominal muscles.Two to four days after birth, your breasts may become engorged with milk. Engorgement causesbreasts to feel tender, full, and hard, and can make it difficult for your baby to latch on.Engorgement can last for forty eight hours or longer.To relieve the pain of engorgement, breastfeed your baby. Before feeding you can stimulate milkflow by warming your breasts with warm compresses or by taking a short, warm shower.After feedings, ice packs will help reduce the swelling. Your healthcare provider may recommendyou take an anti-inflammatory pain reliever like Ibuprofen to relieve the discomfort of engorgement.This program is for informational purposes only; for all health related issues please contact your healthcareprovider. Publisher disclaims all guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of this videofor medical decision making. ob_10002_96 ©Milner-Fenwick, Inc.Postpartum Care: Your Physical RecoveryPg 2Engorgement is likely to occur if your baby has not been nursing frequently, has not been latchingon properly, or if you have been limiting the baby’s time at your breast, so make sure to breastfeedoften.During the first days or weeks after birth, call your healthcare provider if you experience any of thefollowing: vaginal bleeding that doesn’t seem to decrease, or suddenly increases; bleeding that isstill bright red after the first 4 days; passing a clot bigger than a golf ball; foul smelling vaginaldischarge; fever above one hundred point four degrees or flu-like symptoms; burning, bloody orfrequent urination; phlebitis which is a tender red area on the leg that feels warm; or painful breastswith red spots or streaks.After the delivery of your baby, your first instincts are to do what you can to care for your newborn.But as you recover from labor, also take the time to care for your own body. Remember, the betteryou feel, the easier it will be to care for your baby.This program is for informational purposes only; for all health related issues please contact your healthcareprovider. Publisher disclaims all guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of this videofor medical decision making. ob_10002_96 ©Milner-Fenwick, Inc.
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