Gentle exercise, such as walking, will help you recover from your c-section. But avoid anything more active until you have no pain and you feel ready. For example, avoid driving, carrying anything heavy, having sex or doing heavy housework, such as vacuuming, until you feel able to.
Only start to do these things again when you feel able to do so and do not find them uncomfortable. This may not be for 6 weeks or so. Ask your midwife for advice if you're unsure when it's safe to start returning to your normal activities. You can also ask a GP at your 6-week postnatal check.
Increased bleeding after your lochia starts to decrease can be a sign you're overdoing it and need more rest. Seeing ongoing clots could mean your uterus is having trouble getting back to its pre-pregnancy size. In either case, it's always best to call.
Avoid bending, stretching, or lifting — and don't carry anything heavier than your baby for the first four to six weeks.
As your body heals and the pain decreases when you move around, you can slowly try bending (between weeks 4 and 6). First, bend slowly up to a few inches and stand back up. When you straighten up, you will Stretch yourself to get up.
Back sleeping is often recommended post-surgery, and it could be the most comfortable position as it doesn't put any pressure on your c-section wound. Try placing a pillow under your knees to keep your spine aligned.
Before you move your feet off the bed, roll onto your side with your knees bent. Move your feet off the bed, using your arms to push your body up to a sitting position. Try to keep your abdomen relaxed. Sit on the side of the bed before you stand up.
Your first shower can be 24 hours after surgery. You can take a bath, too, but it may be too difficult getting in and out of the tub for the first 2-3 weeks. It is OK for the vagina AND/OR the incision to go underwater, including the pool. Pain Management: Ibuprofen and Tylenol are typically enough.
Swelling after a C-section is completely normal, and gas pains can be excruciating. They should pass within a week, once your bowels are moving normally again (abdominal surgery causes them to "shut down" temporarily, so pooping after a C-section might not come easy).
Gentle exercise, such as walking, will help you recover from your c-section. But avoid anything more active until you have no pain and you feel ready. For example, avoid driving, carrying anything heavy, having sex or doing heavy housework, such as vacuuming, until you feel able to.
What is the Golden Hour? After the birth of the baby, both vaginal and c-section birth, the Golden hour consists of uninterrupted and immediate skin to skin contact, limited interventions that are not necessary, if possible and desired having delayed cord clamping, and having the first feeding of baby completed.
Laughing, Sneezing, and Coughing Can Hurt—A Lot
While it's rare for your stitches to come apart, it is important to give yourself literal, physical support after a C-section. The best thing you can do when you feel like laughing—or coughing or sneezing—is to put a pillow over your stitches and press it onto yourself.
How long do you bleed for after a c-section? You will have some vaginal bleeding (called lochia) for 2–6 weeks after the birth. Bleeding sometimes lasts longer than this, but it should have stopped by 12 weeks. This bleeding happens after vaginal and c-section births.
Pooping After C-Section
For Cesarean births, apply pressure over the abdomen with a pillow. This supports the healing incision while you poop, and also supplements the muscles of the abdominal wall that normally help to regulate pressure during defecation.
Doctors, traditionally, have advised women to avoid stairs after a C-section. But Kathryn Houston, a clinical instructor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco, shrugs off that recommendation. “Stairs are fine as long as you take them slowly,” she says.
Your belly will gradually slim down as your uterus shrinks back to its usual size and excess fluids are flushed out of your body. Your stretched-out abdominal muscles and lax skin will most likely begin to firm up.
Walking after c-section is encouraged and should be your go to for the first few weeks. You'll start to notice day to day movement getting easier and less discomfort lifting baby or moving around.
With a cesarean birth, lifting too heavy too soon can cause your incision (either external or internal) to open, rupture, or cause other serious medical issues.
The biggest outcome predictor is how other scars on your body have healed. While many women will see their c-section scar thin out and gradually fade in color over time, some scars will protrude and remain reddish or purple for longer.
Once the baby is delivered the uterus is closed with a double layer of stitching. Four of the five remaining layers are stitched with a single layer of stitching, but one layer is not restitched as it heals better – with no buckling and reduced chance of scar tissue developing, without restitiching.