Congratulations on your new baby! You have successfully gone through your pregnancy and now your delivery as well! Now that your little bundle of joy is sleeping snugly in your arms, you might have felt certain changes with your body and mind.

Just like how your body went through a series of changes during pregnancy, your body goes through multiple changes after childbirth too. With that said, what are the challenges and what should you expect in the first few weeks after your delivery? You might want to keep on reading this to the end!

Baby Blues

Baby blues is a common postpartum phenomenon that is usually experienced by mommies from moments after delivery up to two weeks. Therefore, do not be too worried if you are feeling drastic mood swings or sudden highs and lows in emotions. Baby blues would usually improve after a week or two, depending on each mommy. However, you should always approach this matter seriously because when baby blues is left untreated, it is likely to develop into its more severe counterparts known as postpartum depression.

How do you cope with baby blues, you may ask. While the true cause for baby blues have yet to be pinpointed and you won’t necessarily need medicines to deal with it, getting a good rest or sleep would be important to help you recuperate and recover better. It also helps in improving your moods efficiently. You might want to catch up on your beauty sleep now!

Plus, having a well-balanced diet will also help in improving your mood especially if you are breastfeeding. Therefore, it is important to have a proper breastfeeding meal plan so that you will be constantly nourished with the best foods to eat while breastfeeding.

Ingredients such as ginger, garlic, fenugreek and fennel would make for healthy recipes for breastfeeding moms. Ginger is great for breastfeeding as it helps increase your breastmilk supply through improved blood flow. Talk about killing two birds with one stone!

Vaginal or Perineal Tears

Vaginal or perineal tears are defined by tears that occur in the area between your vaginal opening and anus. It should be noted that the tears can also happen in your vagina or other parts of your vulva. This includes your labia too. Most mommies will experience this phenomenon especially if you are a first-time mom who goes through vaginal delivery.

Experienced moms who had vaginal birth are slightly less likely to experience this issue but there are still quite a number of experienced moms who reported about having perineal or vaginal tears. While vaginal or perineal tears may sound daunting, it is a minor injury and usually heals up around 4 to 6 weeks with proper care.

The first 24 hours after your childbirth is important, remember to ice the affected area for every couple of hours. Wash with warm water before and after peeing to avoid skin irritation on the affected parts.

It is also worth mentioning that there are three types of vaginal or perineal tears. First-degree tears will only affect the skin parts which generally heals in a short time and does not require treatment. Second-degree tears involve the muscles of your perineum and the skin. Stitches are usually required for second-degree tears. Third-degree tears, on the other hand, often require surgery as this tear stretches deep into the muscles around the anus.

Postpartum Perineal Pain

During confinement, you might experience postpartum soreness on your back, limbs and even the vaginal area. Some mothers might even have swollen postpartum perineum after their delivery. It is worth noting that you might feel discomforts or issues while sitting so it is best to not sit on the affected parts for a long period of time. In order to alleviate or treat this issue, applying an ice pack to the affected area will help with the pain you are experiencing.

Similar to how you deal with perineal or vaginal tears, you might want to keep a squirt bottle with you so that you can wash your perineum properly with warm water. Plus, if the situation calls for it, get professional advice from your doctors.

Sometimes, heating pads or hot showers can be really soothing and comfortable ways to treat your postpartum perineal pain. You can also opt for massages if the situation calls for it! If your postpartum perineal pain does not improve with time or if you have any signs of infection, please consult your doctors or experts for further treatments.

You May Also Read this : Behind ReLacto: Meet Our Chef & Dietitian!

Postpartum Bleeding

Postpartum bleeding or postpartum haemorrhage happens when there is excessive bleeding that occurs after childbirth. An estimation of 1 to 5 per cent of women who went through childbirth experiences postpartum bleeding. The odds for a woman to excessively bleed after childbirth increases with caesarean-type delivery.

It is important to keep your iron level in check after childbirth because postpartum bleeding can incur you a loss of 1000ml of blood or more for a caesarean delivery while a normal delivery is likely to bring blood loss of 500ml.

It is also essential to keep yourself well-fed and nourished with a well-balanced diet. A set of meals that are rich in iron would be a great addition to your daily diet as iron helps in supplying oxygen throughout your body by developing red blood cells. Furthermore, iron would help with your postpartum wounds as well as it helps with the formation of collagen to promote wound healing around the genital and caesarean area after labour.

Womb Recovery

After the delivery, your body will immediately start working to ensure that your womb shrinks. This process usually takes around six weeks for it to return to its pre-pregnancy state. For most mommies, you will experience contraction-like cramps after your delivery. This is a normal condition and you should not worry too much about it.

You are feeling these cramps due to your womb shrinking from more than 0.9 kg to its original state as it descends back into your pelvis. This condition should resolve in four to seven days. Keep in mind to take proper medication as prescribed by your doctor if the pain hinders you from your daily routine. Always consult your doctor for further advice on your current condition.

In order to improve your womb recovery, you may consider incorporating Kegels into your daily routine in the later part of your postpartum journey! Kegel exercises help with promoting strength on your pelvic muscles, get your vagina back in shape and facilitate the shrinkage of your womb better. Kegels are also great for treating your postpartum urinary incontinence regardless of your means for delivery.

If your condition does not improve, you should consult your doctor and consult professionals regarding further treatments. Meanwhile, if you are looking for products that will ease your postpartum experience, you might want to check MumChecked out! They have plenty of options when it comes to mother and baby care products for your convenience.

In conclusion, these are some of the things you might experience in your postpartum journey. It might not be easy, but “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”. With proper care and rest, your body would eventually recover. You are strong, mommy.

Author

ReLacto

We are a team behind the leading lactation meal provider and we believe proper nutrition during breastfeeding is not just something to be experienced, but also worth learning about. On top of preparing nutritious meals for mothers, we’re passionate about researching and sharing useful information on nutrition for lactation and recovery, and occasionally tips on baby weaning through our blogs.

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