Aftercare childbirth
Aftercare mother
After giving birth, it is necessary for the midwife to regularly check the hardness of the uterus, blood loss and any stitches. it is also important for bonding with your baby to have as many cuddle moments as possible. After nine months in mom's womb, your baby needs a lot of physical contact. It is important to take as much rest as possible between feedings and nursing to recover from the birth. Your body needs time to "detox". The first few days you may suffer from afterpains. These cause your uterus to contract and return to its original shape and position, as well as controlling blood loss. After childbirth, hormones can sometimes cause mood swings and crying fits. The "baby blues" are completely normal. Be sure to talk about your feelings.
Do you want to know more about postpartum baby care? Read it here.
Healing
If a cut or tear occurred during childbirth, the wound needs time to heal. You will be given pain medication for this if you want it. The stitches dissolve on their own and do not need to be removed. It is important to keep your wound clean and dry. Therefore, change pads regularly, rinse the wound with water and dry thoroughly afterwards. Bleeding may continue for up to six weeks after delivery, but it gradually diminishes and changes colour. After six weeks, your period may return. If you are exclusively breastfeeding, your cycle will start later. Note that you may already be fertile, even if your period remains off for now.
About 6 weeks after giving birth, you will have a postpartum examination with your gynaecologist. This is the perfect time to talk to your gynaecologist about discomfort, menstruation, contraception, sexuality and postpartum physical therapy.
Care after caesarean section
After a cesarean section, you'll need some extra care. You will have an IV and bladder catheter that will be removed the day after the cesarean section. After the bladder catheter is removed, the midwife will help you stand up for the first time. This is important for recovery and to prevent thrombosis. You will also receive injections against thrombosis during the first few days. The doctor will draw up a basic schedule for pain relief but it is possible to ask for additional pain relief. The midwife will teach you how to feed the baby without straining your wound.
Postnatal physical therapy
After about six weeks, postnatal physical therapy can be started. You can follow this with a physiotherapist. The exercises focus mainly on the pelvic floor muscles in order, among other things, to avoid urine leakage as much as possible in the future. Physiotherapy can also be recommended after a caesarean section. Your gynaecologist will inform you about this during your postnatal examination.