Pregnancy is usually a period wherein a lot of expecting mothers tend to pay the most attention to their health and body. After giving birth, however, with the major focus now being on the baby, many can tend to forget to continue taking care of themselves.
Dr Sara Louanna Scott, a family medicine resident doctor attached at the Georgetown Public Hospital shared some tips for mothers to keep in mind after birth.
She stated that while what you can expect and do following delivery really depends on your birthing experiences, there are some general things such as getting plenty of rest, eating healthy meals, light exercising and getting support from family and friends that can be incredibly beneficial. “There are some people who are god’s favourites and are able to recover easily after a vaginal birth, but this experience is not the same for everyone.”
After pregnancy, she stated that new mothers can expect some amount of pain and soreness as the uterus contracts and tries to get back to its pre-delivery size. Breastfeeding can help aid along this process as it helps to contract the uterus muscles.
“There are some mommies that develop disorders such as gestational hypertension, diabetes etc. and they feel after birth it goes away, but you still have to monitor those things. That’s why we advocate for mothers to continue going to postnatal clinics at health centres. It would be good to have a supportive network to talk to you, help you and make things easier for you. With or without complications, it cannot be business as usual, so you can’t expect new mothers to launch a full-scale attack on household chores, so family members can pitch in to ensure that the healing period is a smooth one. Continue eating well and incorporate physical activity. You shouldn’t do strenuous exercise, but light physical activity will be good.”
Dr Scott on some of the myths that persist surrounding afterbirth care warned that many of these can be quite dangerous while others should be taken with a grain of salt.
“The first myth that comes to me is this sitting over hot water thing. This can be very dangerous, especially for those who would have had a laceration and would have had to get stitches after delivery as the heat can cause the stitches to become loose. So that is a big no-no. You can soak in a bit of warm water, but cold water can be better,” she said.
She also touched on the myth that women should not have sex close to three months after vaginal birth, stating that there is actually no set waiting period to have sex after birth. “Some health professionals would recommend you wait four-six weeks or at least two weeks following birth as the chances of an internal problem become small after two weeks. If however, you required stitches following delivery, it is better to wait until the site is healed before jumping on the wagon again.”
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