5 Ways to Prepare for Healing After Childbirth
After you give birth, care in the US transfers to your baby. And over the next year your baby will have more wellness visits than you!
Of course, you want to make sure baby is healthy and growing, but YOU need to also be cared for while healing. Unlike popular societal (and unfortunately medical) belief your body is not fully healed by 6 weeks postpartum. And you will forever be postpartum. Your body just grew a baby over the past 40ish weeks, now it’s time to heal and restore normal function (which you may not even know you lost) over the next 40+ weeks (or more if you are breastfeeding).
Even though postpartum education and support is improving, there is still a huge gap in care. Yes, there are companies out there like Fridababy [I’m not affiliated] creating postpartum supplies for easier access (so you don’t need to “steal” them from the hospital) to proper pads, spray and underwear. These products don’t cover the long term care necessary for your pelvic health and well being.
That’s where pelvic therapy can fill in the gaps. I’m an advocate for being proactive. Just like you gather baby gear and read books about how to care for your baby. You can do the same for yourself!
The best time to start doing this is during your pregnancy. Here are my top tips to prepare for birth recovery before childbirth:
Practice deep core awareness exercises
The most effected area of your body during pregnancy and childbirth is your deep core. The main 4 muscles of the deep core are the respiratory diaphragm, transverse abdominus (TvA), pelvic floor (PFM) and multifidus. Out of these the TvA and PFM will go through the biggest transformation as they both stretch over 3 times their non-pregnant length for pregnancy and vaginal childbirth.
These muscles continue to work for you through out pregnancy, however as they change length how they work is altered. And if you don’t practice how to use them properly in the new length, the muscle can create a bad pattern. For example, as your TvA and rectus abdominals stretch, your obliques can become tighter compensating for this change in length. This can become compounded by chest breathing. As the obliques become tighter it pulls on the midline of the abs (linea alba) and can result in a Diastasis Recti (dysfunctional abdominal separation) and/or hernia.
Being intentional about using your deep core properly through every stage of your pregnancy can help you avoid some of those annoying problems that many women experience, like peeing your pants with sneezing/coughing, running, walking, etc, pelvic or back pain, diastasis recti, proalpse and hemorroids. Plus, you’re creating a muscle memory with a healthy muscle pattern that your body can call upon after childbirth restoring normal function.
Not only does this mean contracting your muscles but also relaxing them. Which brings us to the next tip.
Practice various ways to relax the pelvic floor
The TvA and PFM are super muscles that can stretch well beyond a normal muscle range, all so we can grow and birth a baby. However, if you never practice relaxing them or develop habits that create tension this can make pregnancy and birth more challenging.
For example, your pelvic floor relaxes every time you pee and poop. You won’t feel this relaxation unless you are super in tune with your body and are paying attention to it, because it’s very subtle. However, there is a ways to practice this relaxation that help you understand this role during childbirth. One of the most effective ways is with your inhale. Every time you inhale, your PFM are meant to relax a little to move downward and make space for your lungs to inflate. If however, you breath mainly in your chest, this movement may not happen and your pelvic floor will stay in a more shortened state, and over time can become tight. This can be problematic during childbirth since the PFM need to stretch to along baby to descend through the birth canal.
Doing relaxation and lengthening exercises of the PFM with breathing, TvA coordinating exercises and stretches during pregnancy will first promote proper length of the PFM and again create a muscle memory that the body can use during childbirth. So when your body wants to push and your belly contracts your body knows to relax the PFM instead of contracting (or doing a Kegel, like many women are told to do, which is the opposite of what you should do).
Learn how to reduce inflammation
Inflammation after childbirth can leave you feeling tender and painful, while making your muscles less functional. Try this, squeeze your bicep with your opposite hand then try to pick up a simple object. What happens?
You can pick it up, but it feels harder, right?
This is how inflammation acts for both muscles and your sensory nerves. The inflammation takes up the space that the nerves and muscles require to function optimally, and can cause irritation, pain, altered sensation, tissue restriction or atrophy. You may have noticed this during previous pregnancies if your feet and ankles were swollen.
Preparing for this prior to it happens can help avoid you scrambling while you are sleep deprived or in pain. During pregnancy, what you can do is make sure there is nothing that may inhibit proper blood and lymph flow through your pelvis. This means scarring and tissue tension.
Scars from previous injuries or surgeries can act like damns, making your body need to reroute the vessels or lymph in another direction, which can take time or causes a build up. Tension does the same, but may not be as localized, depending on the muscle(s) involved. Finding these trouble areas during (or even before) pregnancy creates a balanced flow through the pelvis.
Then learn how to do self “fluid-flow” (lymph) massage so you can start it before your 6 week appointment. This assists your body to flush out the inflammation and toxins (endorphins, built up hormones, etc) that can linger in the pelvis after birth and can slow the healing process and restoration of organ and muscle function.
Practice proper body mechanics
After childbirth your body needs time to heal, but you also will need to do basic activities for yourself and baby. Like, getting out/in to bed to use the bathroom and picking up baby. As I mentioned above your deep core will be at a disadvantage during these healing weeks, as it restores to a pre-pregnancy length and heals from any damage. However, your body needs these muscles to avoid injury, especially in your spine and pelvis (including pelvic organs). So what can you do?
While pregnancy you can practice safe and proper use of your deep core with daily activity. Especially those activities you will be doing more of during the first 6 weeks after childbirth. This way you are establishing good habits that your body will recognize even while healing. Remember, it can take 30 consecutive days to form a new habit. If you tried this after childbirth you’re 4 weeks in before this habit was formed and that’s if you were able to remember more than 50% of the time. So starting before you are sleep deprived and healing sets yourself up for success when you are not 100%.
Don’t avoid learning about cesarean birth
I know, why learn about a cesarean if you want a vaginal birth. Hear, me out. I am all for focusing on positive vibes to let the universe know your intentions. However, not if it means avoiding or disregarding other possibilities so you are fully informed.
A cesarean birth is major surgery and may be the path you unexpectedly need to take. So having the basic knowledge of what to expect with a cesarean and tips for healing after will again set you up for a smoother recovery. This could be as simple as knowing what to do when you sneeze or cough to reduce abdominal pain. Or how to get in/out of bed to protect your incision.
If you don’t want to think about this, write it down and tell your partner or postpartum helper where it is, just in case.
Research postpartum belly wrapping
Just like most things there are several options for postpartum belly wraps in brand and style. Belly wraps are meant to provide support to your organs and abdominal muscles as you heal. These are most effective up to 6 weeks week postpartum, at which point your body will begin to rely on the wrap rather than begin to use your abdominals.
So researching the styles and brands during pregnancy, just like you do for baby gear, you’ll be ready for immediate use.
Here are some styles you may want to check out (no affiliations):
Belly Wraps
Belly Binding
So there you have it. As you research your gear for baby and ask your mom friend’s what their must haves were, ask about how they prepared for healing and what they wished they’d done.
If you want to learn more about how to do some of these tips check out my Postpartum Pelvic Floor Guide freebie!