women s health issues
Overview of Postpartum Care
Home (What to Expect)
A new mother may resume normal daily activities when she feels ready. Eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly can help a new mother recover and feel healthy. She may resume sexual activity as soon as she desires it and it is comfortable. Sexual activity should be delayed until the affected area heals if Delivery caused tearing. An Delivery of the baby was done. The delivery was cesarean. A new mother may take showers, even if the delivery was cesarean. Baths should not be taken until healing is complete. The genital area should be washed from front to back. If the area is sore, using a spray bottle of water or taking sitz baths may be more soothing. Women should not douche until they ask their doctor about it at their first postdelivery visit. After avaginal or cesarean delivery, nothing, including tampons and douches, should be put in the vagina for at least 2 weeks. Strenuous activity and heavy lifting should be avoided for about 6 weeks. Sexual activity should also be avoided for 6 weeks. The incision site should be cared for in the same way as other surgical incisions. Showering can typically be resumed 24 hours after surgery. Care should be taken not to scrub the incision site. Baths should be avoided until the wound is completely closed and any staples or sutures have been removed. The incision site should be kept clean and dry. Any evidence of increasing redness or drainage from the incision should be brought to the doctor’s attention. Pain around the incision site can last for a few months, and numbness can last even longer. The uterus, still enlarged, continues to contract for some time, becoming progressively smaller during the next 2 weeks. These contractions are irregular and often painful. Contractions are intensified by breastfeeding. Breastfeeding triggers the production of the hormoneoxytocin.Oxytocinstimulates the flow of milk (called the let-down reflex) and uterine contractions. Normally, after 5 to 7 days, the uterus is firm and no longer tender but is still somewhat enlarged, extending to halfway between the pubic bone and the navel. By 2 weeks after delivery, the uterus returns to close to its normal size, and after 4 weeks, it usually returns to its normal size. However, the new mother’s abdomen does not become as flat as it was before the pregnancy for several months, even if she exercises. Stretch marks do not go away, but they may fade, but sometimes not for a year. Doctors recommend that women Breastfeeding without supplementing with other foods for at least 6 months. Then women should continue to breastfeed for another 6 months while introducing other foods. After that, women are encouraged to continue breastfeeding until they or the baby is no longer interested. If mothers cannot breastfeed or choose not to for various reasons, Formula Feeding can be done instead. Mothers who are breastfeeding need to learn how to position the baby during feeding. If the baby is not positioned well, the mother’s nipples may become sore and cracked. Sometimes the baby draws in its lower lip and sucks it, irritating the nipple. In such cases, the mother can ease the baby’s lip out of its mouth with her thumb. To remove her nipple from the baby's mouth, the mother should first slide her finger into the baby's mouth to break the suction caused by sucking. This maneuver can prevent the breast from being damaged and becoming sore. After a feeding, the mother may let the milk dry naturally on the nipples or gently pat them dry. If she wishes, she can dry her nipples with a hair dryer set on low. After breastfeeding, women can apply 100%lanolinto the nipples. Doing so can relieve soreness and help protect the nipples. When a mother breastfeeds, the breasts may leak milk. Cotton pads can be worn to absorb the milk, but plastic bra liners can irritate the nipples and should be not be used. While breastfeeding, mothers need to increase their caloric intake by about 300 to 500 calories per day. They should also increase their intake of most vitamins and minerals, such as calcium. Usually, eating a well-balanced diet (including enough dairy products and green, leafy vegetables) and continuing to take a prenatal vitamin with folate once a day are all mothers need to do. Prenatal vitamins should contain at least 400 micrograms of folate. They should drink enough fluids to ensure an adequate milk supply. Mothers on special diets should consult their doctor about the need for other vitamin and mineral supplements, such as vitamin B12 for vegetarians. If breastfeeding women eat seafood, they should choose seafood that is low in mercury. See Mercury in seafood for more information. Women can become pregnant as early as 2 weeks after having a baby. Use of birth control is recommended when sexual activity resumes because pregnancy is possible as soon as the mother begins to release an egg from the ovary (ovulate) again. Mothers who are not breastfeeding usually begin to ovulate again about 4 to 6 weeks after delivery, before their first period. However, ovulation can occur earlier. Mothers who are solely breastfeeding tend to start ovulating and menstruating somewhat later, closer to 6 months after delivery. However, sometimes a mother who is breastfeeding ovulates, menstruates, and becomes pregnant as quickly as a mother who is not breastfeeding. Mothers who are breastfeeding should talk to their doctors about when to start using contraception. Full recovery after pregnancy takes time. So doctors usually advise a new mother to wait at least 6 months and optimally 18 months before becoming pregnant again (although she may choose not to follow that advice). At her first doctor’s appointment after delivery, a new mother can discuss Overview of Contraception with her doctor and choose one that suits her situation. A woman can start asking her doctor about birth control during pregnancy. Some forms of birth control can be started within a few days after giving birth. These forms include Tubal Sterilization (permanent contraception) or placement of an A new mother (or any woman) who has just been vaccinated against Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccine and/or chickenpox ( Women who have completed their family may choose Tubal Sterilization . These surgical procedures involve cutting or blocking the fallopian tubes to prevent sperm from reaching the egg and fertilizing it.. These procedures can be done after the baby is delivered, when a cesarean delivery is done, or after the postpartum period (the 6 weeks after the baby is delivered). These procedures are considered permanent and irreversible. 