Recovery after Pregnancy and Birth

After a vaginal birth or a cesarean section (c-section), your healthy postpartum recovery is paramount. As a new mother, you need and deserve to have extra support, both physical and emotional, to help you get back on your feet and begin cherishing this wonderful time of your life.

Remember that each woman's process of delivery and recovery is unique, and each woman heals and adapts to her new role of motherhood at her own pace. The following will help guide you through your own process, and before long you will regain your energy level and start feeling like yourself again.

Preventing Stretch Marks
At the Hospital or Birthing Center
At Home
Nutrition
Pre- and Postpartum Exercise and Fitness
Don't Forget to Spoil Yourself!
Your Love Life
Your Pre-Pregnancy Body: Will It Ever Return?

Although initially you may want to focus all your attention on your new baby, soon you will feel the need to take some time for yourself and begin caring for your body. Dr. Schlaudraff can help you return to your pre-pregnancy body, not only through surgery but by advising you to combine a healthy lifestyle, proper skincare, and physical exercise.

If you're interested in talking to Dr. Schlaudraff about options for helping you regain your pre-pregnancy body, request a consultation online or phone the Concept Clinic at +41-22-54-000-54.

Preventing Stretch Marks

Most women have experienced unfortunate stretch marks on their bodies, either during puberty or pregnancy. If you're thinking of having a baby, steps you take now could help you avoid or greatly minimize pregnancy stretch marks. These small steps could also help you reduce your chances of further skin damage and scarring, and possibly improve the appearance of your abdomen, breasts and thighs.

Creams and Lotions

Creams and lotions form the key element of any skincare program and should be used every day for hydration. During pregnancy this is essential because the additional tension exerted on the skin in your abdominal, breast, thigh, and buttock areas makes it more sensitive and can cause itching and dermal tearing. Applying a high-quality stretch-mark cream or body lotion cannot only relieve some of these symptoms, but also improve the skin's ability to expand and flex.

Massaging Your Skin

The simple practice of massaging your skin daily in the high-risk areas will stimulate circulation and promote healthier and more resilient skin tissue.

Pregnancy Garments

The use of pregnancy garments is a very popular practice in many countries (for example, throughout South America) and helps tremendously in preventing skin and muscle damage during pregnancy. The principle is to give stable support - not compression - to the growing abdomen and breasts during pregnancy, and therefore minimize the impact of the increased weight load on the tissues.

Even though this simple practice is rarely promoted in Europe, Dr. Schlaudraff feels that the use of pregnancy garments can greatly prevent the changes caused by pregnancy from causing damage to your body. If you're interested in talking to him about the optimal choice of a pregnancy garment, request a consultation online or phone the Concept Clinic at +41-22-54-000-54.

Nutrition and Vitamins

Eating right and taking quality vitamins benefit the pregnant woman in many ways. First and most importantly, good nutrition helps develop a strong and healthy baby. Second, it helps counter the added stresses placed on your body during and after pregnancy. Eating nutritious meals, complemented by a vitamin prescribed by your doctor, will help keep your skin healthy and radiant.

These skincare tips can help prevent stretch marks during your pregnancy. For women who do develop stretch marks, a tummy tuck can help by removing excess fatty tissue, skin, and stretch marks from the mid- and lower abdominal region.

At the Hospital or Birthing Center

If you choose to deliver your baby in a hospital, you will normally stay there for 2 days after a vaginal birth or 4 days after a c-section. Depending on your health and recovery time, your stay may be longer or shorter. A birthing center involves shorter stays, which vary from several hours to a day. Regardless of your birthing location, remember to ask your doctor, midwife, or nurse how to care for yourself at home, including pain medication, comfort measures, and sitz baths.

As a special note, cesarean birth involves abdominal surgery, so recovery and healing might take longer than with a vaginal delivery. Women who have experienced either a planned or unplanned cesarean section react to the surgery in individual ways. Physically, some women heal very quickly, while others require several weeks or months. The same is true for emotional recovery, as feelings about a c-section can vary from acceptance to disappointment. Once again, the most important thing to remember is that each woman recovers at her own pace, so avoid setting time limits or expectations.

After birth, while you're in the hospital or birthing center, keep the following in mind:

Rest as much as possible and limit visitors. Try to sleep when your baby sleeps.
Eat nutritious food, and drink plenty of fluids. Avoid cold and carbonated beverages.
Don't be afraid of asking for physical assistance if you need it.
Check any incisions daily, or ask someone else to check for signs of infection.

At Home

Once you're home, you will continue to adjust to your new baby and new role as mother. If you let things progress naturally and at your own pace, you will find yourself falling into a rhythm of motherhood that fits your personality and lifestyle. To make this transition easier, allow others to help you with household chores like cooking, cleaning, and laundry. Remember, too, not to lift anything heavier than your baby, especially if you have had a c-section, and try to nap when your baby naps to make up for lost sleep. Again, and most importantly, don't pressure yourself; allow ample time to recover.

Nutrition

Watching what you eat is important, but do not aim for immediate weight reduction through a strict diet. Because your body has just been through a major change, nourishing it with healthy food will help you heal more quickly and feel better sooner. If you breastfeed, you will need to consume approximately 300 extra calories a day. For added assurance, you may want to continue taking your prenatal vitamins after giving birth.

Pre- and Postpartum Exercise and Fitness

During pregnancy you should not be afraid to continue your exercise routine but you should get professional advice how to adapt it to your individual situation and the stage of pregnancy you are in. It is important however that you continue to exercise and keep the routine of doing so.

After giving birth, don't be in a rush to resume your full regular workout routine. Instead, you should gently but progressively return to exercising. After a vaginal birth, you can begin exercising 4 to 6 weeks after delivery. Because a c-section is abdominal surgery eventually requiring more recovery time, you should wait 4 to 8 weeks before exercising again. During that time, however, increase your activity gradually. Walking and light stretching are a good way to start.

Don't Forget to Spoil Yourself!

Having a baby is a beautiful time in life, but it also means big changes for everybody in the family, and adjusting to the new family member takes time. During this recovery period after birth, you should take your time, get plenty of rest, and feel free to just be.

Once you start to regain your energy, start pampering yourself again. Spoil yourself. You deserve it! Taking a shower and getting dressed and ready for the day really does wonders psychologically, and a little bit of makeup can help too. Don't be afraid to treat yourself a little because you need attention, too.

Your Love Life

Believe it or not, you will have intercourse again after you have a baby and this is also a very important step to freshly start your life as a couple again – a couple with a wonderful baby. However, you should wait until you have stopped bleeding, your body's signal that your uterus has healed. After that milestone, you should listen to your body and mind, which will tell you when the time is right to resume sexual activity. There is no right or wrong time to begin making love again; some women choose to go back into it quickly, while others prefer a much slower pace.

Your Pre-Pregnancy Body: Will It Ever Return?

How quickly you return to your pre-pregnancy size and shape will depend on weight gain, whether or not you had a c-section, complications during pregnancy or delivery, genetics, and many other factors. A healthy diet and exercise will help you attain these goals, but if enough time has passed and you believe you would like additional assistance returning to your pre-pregnancy shape, a tummy tuck, breast lift, or repair of a rectus diastasis/abdominal muscle tightening might be just what you need to start feeling your best again.