How to take care of your health postpartum

How long is a postpartum period?

Body functions need six weeks after childbirth to return to normal. Therefore, the postpartum stage is six weeks or about forty days.

Health challenges during the postpartum period, and how to overcome them

The postpartum stage is a difficult period, in a woman’s life. She might face health challenges such as:

- Whether the delivery was vaginal, or through a c-section, there will be an incision. This incision will cause pain and will restrict the mother’s mobility.

- Painful contractions of the uterus, help shrink it to its normal size.

- Lack of sleep.

- Fatigue.

- Stress, and anxiety.

- Breastfeeding issues.

- 75% of women experience Baby blues postpartum. These blues go away after a few weeks. But in some cases, they develop into postpartum depression.

- If the woman had gestational diabetes, or preeclampsia during pregnancy, she might have postpartum preeclampsia. This condition might develop between the first 48 hours and one week after birth. In some rare cases, it can happen during the six weeks postpartum period.

- Low sex drive, due to painful intercourse after childbirth.

- Cases of Postpartum fever have declined significantly, due to the advancement in medical care. In rare cases where this fever happens, it is treated with antibiotics and fever reducers. It is noteworthy that some women experience a slight fever increase when their breast milk comes in. This normal symptom shouldn’t be confused with postpartum fever, as it is not a call for concern.

All these health issues cause a great physical, and emotional strain on the mother.

Things to avoid after delivery

- Exercise, to allow the proper healing of incisions caused by childbirth.

- Sex.

Other than these two things, a woman can have a perfectly normal routine postpartum.

Tips to ensure a mother’s health after childbirth

- Getting support from the husband or the family. Caring for a newborn is exhausting and causes sleep deprivation. This fatigue brings a series of other physical, and emotional problems. Therefore, a woman needs all the support she can get after birth.

- Following a healthy diet, containing all the essential nutrients. And avoiding foods that are high in sugar or unhealthy fats. It is also essential to keep taking prenatal supplements, to make up for the blood loss that happens during labor.

• Getting as much rest as possible. I advise new mothers to allocate an hour or two every day just for themselves to properly recover physically and emotionally.

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