Postpartum recovery tips

There is never a standardized recovery timetable that suits everyone. Don’t force yourself to stick to Internet celebrity KPIs. Protect your functions (pelvic floor muscles, rectus abdominis, core strength) first and then talk about your figure. All actions are based on the first premise that you don’t feel uncomfortable.

Last year, I accompanied my sister for a 42-day postpartum check-up. I met a post-95 mother at the door of the clinic. Just 30 days after her pregnancy, she followed the "7-day abdominal shrinkage tutorial" on the Internet to practice abdominal curls. She did it for a week. At first, she only leaked urine when she coughed. After holding the baby for 20 minutes, she couldn't control it. When the pelvic floor muscles were found to be hypertonic and slightly bulging of the anterior wall, the doctor who attended the consultation was straight-forward and said that she was "doing blind exercises to put a burden on the pelvic floor muscles."

Speaking of which, I have to mention the issue of abdominal corsets that has been argued about for 800 times in the group of mothers. Some people said that after wearing it for three months, their stomachs were flatter than before pregnancy. Some said that after the abdominal corseting, they had back pain and constipation, and even urinary leakage worsened. In fact, there is nothing wrong with both sides, it just depends on whether you use it correctly: strap it on when moving around in the first 3 days after cesarean section, which can fix the wound and avoid pain when walking. This is recognized by clinical obstetricians and gynecologists. But if you have to be tied up for more than ten hours every day after the vaginal discharge, and you can't even breathe evenly, then it's really just looking for trouble - the abdominal pressure is being pushed down by the corset, and how can the pelvic floor muscles, which have been stretched to be weak due to childbirth, be able to bear it? Even gastrointestinal motility is affected, and constipation makes it worse.

There are also older generations who say "you need to lie down for 42 days during confinement", and popular science now says "you need to get out of bed as soon as possible after giving birth". There is no need to argue about right and wrong. When my best friend gave birth to her first child, she listened to her mother-in-law and basically lay down except when going to the toilet. When she was in confinement, her feet were so swollen that she couldn't even put on her pre-pregnancy slippers, and she almost had venous thrombosis. After 6 hours of pregnancy with her second child, she felt not dizzy and strong, so she walked slowly for three to five minutes while holding on to the wall. After that, she walked for ten minutes every day. During the 42-day review, all indicators were much better than those of her first child. You really don’t need a diode. If you are dizzy and have no energy just after giving birth, just lie down and rest. Don’t push yourself to the ground and fall. Once you have recovered, move slowly. It will be as comfortable as possible.

Many people think of practicing Kegels as soon as they mention postpartum recovery, but this is actually wrong. You must first go to the hospital to have your pelvic floor muscles evaluated. If your pelvic floor muscles are hypertonic, the harder you contract, the more painful it will be. Problems such as urinary leakage and sexual intercourse pain will only worsen. You must first slowly relax through abdominal breathing to lower the tension before practicing contractions. When you are looking for a sense of strength, you can occasionally try to hold your pee to feel it, but don't practice it every time you urinate. My sister believed what was said on the Internet and pinched it twice every time she peeed. After practicing for half a month with frequent and urgent urination, she went to check for a urinary tract infection, but she suffered in vain.

As for the rectus abdominis separation that everyone is worried about, there is really no need to panic if it is within 2 fingers. Do not stand for a long time, do not hold the baby for a long time, and try to avoid bending down to lift heavy objects. You can basically take it back by yourself in half a year. If it exceeds 3 fingers, don't practice crunches or planks on your own. Higher abdominal pressure will widen the separation gap. The two common paths now are both reliable: you can either find a regular rehabilitation institution to do manipulation and core activation training. If you have a deficiency of qi and blood, you can also find a reliable traditional Chinese medicine to regulate it. A mother I met before had 3 and a half fingers separated. She did not do high-intensity exercise, so she practiced abdominal breathing for 10 minutes every day and used traditional Chinese medicine to regulate qi and blood. In half a year, it was back to less than 1 finger.

Don’t rush to diet and lose weight just after confinement, especially for breast-feeding mothers. If you are hungry for two or three days, what you will lose is basically water and muscle, not fat at all, and your milk volume will continue to decrease. My former colleague started eating boiled vegetables every day 2 months after giving birth and danced with Pamela for 40 minutes every day. As a result, her breast milk was gone, her hair was falling out and she was almost bald, and her aunt was also messed up. It took almost a year for her to get back to normal. In fact, the hormones themselves will help you burn fat in the first 6 months after giving birth. As long as you drink less milk-rich soup, eat normally, and take 10 minutes a day to go downstairs for a walk, the weight will slowly fall off. There is really no need to rush to compete with others to see who can put on the jeans before pregnancy first.

Oh, by the way, the most easily overlooked thing is emotional recovery. Many people think that their stomach is retracted and their pelvic floor muscles are normal and they have recovered, and they don't take their emotions seriously at all. Three months before giving birth, your hormones drop off a cliff. You feel like crying every now and then, you don't like everything your husband does, and you even feel like you're not good at being a mother. You're really not being pretentious. I had been in contact with a mother before, and all the physiological indicators were normal during the 42-day review, but she suffered from insomnia every day and stared at her baby crying at every turn. Later, the doctor said that she was suffering from postpartum anxiety and that she needed to pay more attention to it than minor physical problems. Later, she let her husband take care of the children for half a day every week, and she went out to drink coffee and watch a movie. It didn't take long for her to feel better again.

To be honest, there is no "secret book" that is universally applicable. It is just the truth accumulated by countless mothers after stepping on the trap. You don’t need to feel anxious when others wear size S after confinement, and you don’t need to blame yourself because you haven’t lost weight six months after giving birth. Your body has just spent ten months trying its best to create a little life. Give it more patience and listen to its feelings more. It will be more effective than any fancy Internet celebrity tutorials.