How to recover quickly after giving birth

If you want to recover quickly after childbirth, the key is to follow your own physiological recovery rhythm. Don't take supplements, lie down, or exercise blindly. Don't believe those gimmicks of "losing weight back to pre-pregnancy in 7 days" and "closing the rectus abdominis in 10 days."

When I accompanied my best friend to the obstetrics department for a review last year, I met two extreme mothers. One was a stickler for the rules of the older generation. She lay down for 30 days and never got out of bed except to go to the toilet. She drank thick pig's feet soup every time. As a result, on the 28th day, she went for a check-up with swelling and pain in her lower limbs. It was already in the early stage of venous thrombosis. It took several days for the blood vessels to be drained before she recovered. The pelvic floor muscle training that was supposed to be done was also delayed.； The other one followed an online blogger on the belly-diving breathing exercise just after giving birth on the 5th day. Originally, the rectus abdominis was separated by 2 fingers, but half a month later it was checked that it was directly at 3 fingers. Instead, it took more time to repair.

In fact, there are a lot of controversies about postpartum recovery now. Just "can you get out of bed early?" can cause quarrels. The older generation is afraid of being exposed to the wind and suffering from waist and leg pain during postpartum period, and advocates staying in bed for the first half of the month. However, the clinical advice of obstetrics is very clear: no bleeding after 2 hours of normal delivery. If you can stand firmly, you can slowly take two steps to the ground. You can also go to the ground as soon as possible after removing the urinary catheter after caesarean section. As long as you don't carry heavy objects or stand for a long time to hold the baby, light activities can help the uterus contract and expel lochia, and can also prevent blood clots. You will not suffer from the so-called confinement disease at all.

There is also the abdominal girdle that everyone asks about the most. The bloggers boast every day that "it can tighten the belly and prevent visceral sagging on the day after giving birth." However, in fact, it is not recommended for regular use in clinical practice. Only sisters who have had a caesarean section need to use it in the first few days after the operation. The purpose is to compress the wound and prevent visceral sagging. It can reduce the pain of pulling the abdominal wall when you are in the body. Wearing it for a week at most is enough. If you are strangled until you can't breathe every day, it will push the pressure in the abdominal cavity downward to the already fragile pelvic floor muscles, which will easily aggravate the problems of urinary leakage and organ prolapse. It is completely worth the loss.

There is also controversy over diet. The older generation always say that they should drink more thick soup to stimulate lactation. In fact, the mammary ducts have not been completely opened just a week before giving birth. Drinking a lot of oily soup will only block the milk. Not long ago, I saw a mother who had blocked milk and had a fever of 39 degrees. She cried more when she was trying to let her breasts through than when she gave birth to a baby. The weather is still bad, in fact, just eat some light high-quality protein in the week before, such as steamed eggs, lean pork porridge, and soft boiled green leafy vegetables. Drinking more warm boiled water is better than anything else. After the breasts are cleared and the lochia is reduced, slowly add nutritious soup. Remember to skim off the oil on the top before drinking.

As for exercise, don’t be in a hurry. Don’t do any strenuous exercises such as crunches or aerobics in the first 42 days. Just lie down and do Kegel exercises. It’s the contraction force when you hold in your urine. Take it in for 3 seconds and then release it for 3 seconds. Do 10 in one set. When you think about it, you can do it. Doing a few sets is particularly useful for the recovery of pelvic floor muscles. Wait for the 42-day reexamination and ask the doctor to see the degree of rectus abdominis separation. If it is less than 2 fingers, slowly add core training. If it is more than 2 fingers, do not do abdominal crunches blindly. The more you practice, the more severe the separation will be.

Several mothers around me followed this rhythm. They did not blindly buy thousands of dollars of repair packages, nor did they insist on bad habits. During the 42-day review, the rectus abdominis muscles were basically shrunk to about 1 finger, and the pelvic floor muscle scores were all above 80 points. They recovered more than twice as fast as those who messed around. To be honest, you don’t have to be too anxious about comparing your recovery speed with others. Everyone’s body constitution and situation when giving birth are different. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, follow the correct rhythm and avoid pitfalls, and you will naturally recover faster.