C Section Self-Care Healing and Recovery
April is c-section awareness month. Over 30% of women in the US have a cesarean birth. You’re often told it takes 6–8 weeks to recover, then left to fend for yourself. There’s little to no education on how to heal and recover. Most of us don’t go into labor thinking about having a c section. But sometimes it’s the only way to save our life and the life of our baby. ⠀⠀
If you’re scheduled for one or not, here’s are some self-care tips to help speed up healing and recovery:
Try to make it out of bed on the first day after (day 2) for a very slow walk. Walking stimulates your organs, prevents blood clot and reduces fluid retention. The first week in you will be sore and tender, use the CODDLE perineal balm to help relief swelling or soreness.
If you need to cough or sneeze — support your abdomen with a pillow.
Four words: take the stool softener!! Your first poop will hurt, ease the pain ahead of time by taking stool softeners.
You need to wait 6–8 weeks before you can work out. But you can start with deep core breathing exercise also known as diaphragmatic/belly breathing. Here’s how: drawing in your abdominal walls to your spine are 100% safe and actually sends oxygenated blood flow to your c-section area which speeds up healing.
The first few times will hurt because your incision is still raw and new. Don’t overdo it, do a few deep breathes the first-time round. Then once you get the clearance soak in a CODDLE sitz bath — to relieve more soreness.
Your scar…you need to love it!! It’s easier said than done but when you fall in love with it, you will take care of it. 😍. With a c-section, there is scar tissue. Some moms experience tenderness, pain or loss of sensation. Once your scar feels okay to touch, you can use a heating pads along with the CODDLE postpartum massage oil, to do gentle scar massage. Scar massage desensitizes and frees up the skin around your scar.
Scar Care! Keep it DRY AND CLEAN. Don’t scrub it in the shower; simply let soap wash over it. That’s it.
Rest and heal, plan for help. An extra pair of hands help you stay put for a few hours in one location. If your house has more than one floor, I advise moms to go down or up the stairs once per day. You’ll need to have more than one changing/feeding station. You don’t want to be schlepping supplies all over your house.