Archive for the 'POSTPARTUM' Category

The time has finally come, and your gorgeous baby has arrived. You may have had a pregnancy that seemed like it would never end.

You are just relieved that your baby is healthy, and you made it through your pregnancy.

Now you are going to be dealing with what happens after the baby is born.

Your body will still go through some physical changes that you will have to adjust to.

One of these changes is your breasts filling up with milk. Although this is a natural thing you do not want to get breast engorgement.

Engorgement and You

You may feel some swelling in your breasts, after the birth of your baby. This swelling is caused by your veins expanding, and your breasts filling up with milk. You may feel engorgement after your breast excrete its colostrum.

Colostrum is a fluid that comes out of your breast, and is good for your baby. If this is your first baby, you may have more discomfort because of engorgement, than women who have had more than one child. Engorgement in your breasts can cause you to have infections.

Now that you have gone through nine months of your body changing and developing a newborn baby, you are now left with the task of caring for your beautiful child.

You have been released from the hospital and you and your baby will be going home to start a brand new life.

It is not uncommon for you to be feeling a bit overwhelmed at this time. This may be your first baby and you may be unsure of how to care for your newborn baby.

You are not alone in this feeling because there are numerous new mothers who have felt the same way you do. They developed the skills for taking care of their babies and you will too.

Do Not Be Afraid of Asking for Help

Before you leave the hospital the nursing staff will be able to provide you with all kinds of useful information to help you with the post natal care of your baby. They will be able to help you decide whether you want to breast feed or bottle feed.

After pregnancy, many women find that their breasts have changed radically.

During pregnancy, the breasts look bigger because they are full of milk to nourish your baby.

Most women recognize that their breasts are not as full or perky as they were before. This is particularly the case observed with multiple pregnancies.

To get your breasts back, you can either choose exercise or breast lift surgery to get your breasts back to their previous appearance.

Exercises to get better breasts after pregnancy:

Practice any kind of workout that makes the pectoral muscles work as they will greatly help you in getting them back to previous look.

Push-ups, bench presses, pectoral fly machine and dips are just a few exercises that will help retrieve better breasts.

Some women think that exercises don’t help to get their sagging breasts back to their previous look, while others feel that just practicing a few exercises is a lengthy process, so they opt for surgery to get their breasts back.

Do you want to grow your baby only with your breast milk?

Then it is essential for you to eat healthy and balanced diet to provide the required nutrients to your baby.

Foods to eat during pregnancy:

• Eat starchy foods such as pasta, bread, potatoes, pulses and rice.
• Take fiber as much as you can. After the childbirth, you can experience constipation and bowel problems. So consuming sufficient amounts of fiber helps both the constipation and bowel condition.
• Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Each day, eat at least five servings of variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Consume protein foods such as fish, meat, pulses and eggs. Eat fish at least twice a week.
• Take dairy products such as milk, yogurt and cheese.

Vitamins:

At the time of breastfeeding, you should take supplements that contain 10mcg of vitamin D.

Careful about:

• While breastfeeding, consume oily fish not more than two servings weekly.
• Eat swordfish, marlin or shark not more than one portion in a week because of its high levels of mercury.

Postpartum bleeding is common for all pregnant women (healthy pregnancy) after child birth and is also known as lochia.

Postpartum bleeding is your body’s way of getting rid of excess blood, mucus and tissues from the placenta after giving birth to your child.

This condition is very similar to the bleeding that occurs during your menstruation cycle, but postpartum bleeding is more intense.

Bleeding starts within a few hours after delivery and usually exists for 2-3 weeks. For some women, bleeding lasts for six weeks after giving birth.

What postpartum bleeding looks like?

It can take on various forms, based on how much time you are into the postpartum. Basically, Lochia begins as a gush or it flows steadily similar to a regular menstrual period. In the beginning, blood clots about the size of grapes will come out.

During the initial days, lochia is a bright red color. After one or two weeks, blood discharge becomes a more brownish red color and takes on a thinner texture.

For the next few weeks, the blood discharge continues to alter from a red shade to pink and finally a yellowish white. As time passes, the discharge should slow down and become lighter.

Eating a proper diet after pregnancy is not that complex and you can continue eating the same quality, nutritious food as you did during your pregnancy[pregnancy diet].

However, if you are not a breast-feeding mother, calorie and nutrient requirement should be appropriate and if possible provide more nutrients. Here are a few ways to manage your diet after pregnancy:

Keep your diet as simple as possible: As there is a chance for you to gain weight after pregnancy, particularly if you’ve undergone cesarean section, keep your diet after pregnancy as simple as possible. Your diet should include simple foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, broiled meat and fish, yogurt with raisins, etc.

Eat lots of iron-rich food: Iron is the most essential mineral for new mothers. Lots of women complain about an anemic condition after delivery because a lot of blood loss occurs during delivery. To avoid this condition after childbirth, eat lots of iron-rich foods like egg yolks, red meat, spinach and others.

Include high fiber food: There is a possibility of suffering from constipation after childbirth. It is therefore suggested to eat lots of high-fiber food, which can help you in managing your routine bowel movements.

Scientists working at the University of California believe that they have found an indicator of postpartum depression and may now be able to test to find out if a woman may be prone to this condition.

They believe that the culprit is something called corticotropin-releasing hormone, which is produced naturally within a pregnant woman’s placenta.

According to the much respected journal the Archives of General Psychiatry that has published findings from the report which indicates that there are several links between corticotropin-releasing hormone and women who go on to suffer from postpartum depression.

This hormone actually controls the output of several other hormones in pregnant women.

At around 26 weeks, a simple test of the levels of the hormone can then be used as a good indicator that there will be a possibility of an onset of depression.

Testing the hormone levels can also help with predicting depression [signs of depression] during the mid-term of pregnancy.

The scientists tested over 100 women at several different points during their pregnancy and kept records of the hormone levels at different points.

Are you suffering from postpartum depression? Usually serious, postpartum depression is not a condition which can be treated without any help.

However, there are a few things which you can do on your own to get rid of the condition. Here are a few tips for you to cope up with postpartum depression.

1. First of all, it is essential to realize that you’ve given birth to a beautiful baby and understand what you are going through.
2. Make healthy style choices like enough rest, good exercise, and healthy eating in your regular routine. It is also very important to avoid alcohol and smoking.
3. Never force yourself to do everything. Choose the activities which make you feel happy and satisfied.
4. Don’t close yourself indoors. Try to get out of your house and take a walk for at least a few minutes every day. This will help you to rid you of depressive feelings.
5. Write a list of reasonable goals to accomplish every day. Initially, it will be difficult for you to achieve your everyday goals. But as time passes, it will become easier and will help you avoid depressive feelings.

C-section can be emotionally and physically challenging for every woman. At times, C-section is safer for mothers and babies than normal delivery.

However, complete recovery from a C-section requires seeking out practical help from others.

After C-section, most women stay with their babies in hospital for almost three days, and will feel the pain after the anesthesia wears off.

To provide relief from the pain, your doctor may prescribe intravenous pain medications.

Soon after C-section, you will be encouraged to walk and move around. This can help you to speed up your recovery and it also helps to prevent dangerous blood clots in your body and constipation [constipation relief].

After you leave home, you should take self-care measures suggested by your doctor.

Here are a few of commonly suggested self-care measures to be followed at home after C-section.

1. Give yourself enough time to take rest and don’t try to lift any objects heavier than your body until your six-week check-up.
2. Drink more fluids to replace those lost during your delivery and breast-feeding. Don’t forget to empty your bladder frequently and reduce the risk of urinary tract infections.

A new study examines the relationship between breastfeeding and postpartum weight retention [postpartum weight loss].

The study, which looked at data for more than 25,000 women participating in the Danish National Birth Cohort, measured how long women breastfed and also how intensely.

Each woman received a breastfeeding score. Results showed that women with higher breastfeeding scores were more likely to lose their pregnancy weight six months after giving birth.

Researchers concluded that women who gain a reasonable weight during pregnancy[weight gain during pregnancy] and breastfeed exclusively are likely to lose all pregnancy weight six months after giving birth.

They also estimate that women who breastfeed retain 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) less than women who don’t breastfeed at six months after giving birth.

Participants, all recruited by their doctors during their first prenatal visit, were interviewed four times — twice during pregnancy, as well as six months after giving birth and 18 months after giving birth.

They answered questions about their weight and how they were feeding their babies.

Read more at WebMD