Mothers often after giving birth responds to it in varied ways; others may feel happy, others feel satisfied and perceive it as an achievement, others may feel depressed and battered among others. For some of the mothers they could be recovering from a major surgery that enabled them deliver a situation that require them to be kind and avoid more worries to themselves.
After giving birth, mothers often feel weak and exhausted but for others it is just another day with little abdominal pain that brings them no worry at all. Being a mother is the greatest happiness for a woman as they enable a tiny seed grow into a human being who will impact the way of living tomorrow.
Changes that are experienced during pregnancy are never permanent and therefore great advice must be provided to mothers who have just given birth because this ensure that they do not develop stress which would retard the fast response of the body organs after birth.
Weight reduction
Weight before and immediately after birth becomes an issue to the mother and thus there is an eventual reduction in weight so as to ensure the mother lives in healthy condition.
Vaginal discharge
Nurturing the baby for months means that adequate body changes occurred and thus after birth all these changes become reversed to fit the normal body. Vaginal discharge will happen and a bloody discharge (Lochia) that comes out during both vaginal and caesarean birth.
Color of Lochia changes
Lochia tends to change its colors as time progress; it changes from red then brown and finally a mixture of yellow and white colors. For at least ten days it will look like a heavy period and this can go on for six weeks but now in dribs. This bloody discharge responds well too more rest that is with more rest the lesser amounts it become.
Changes in the uterus
While the uterus starts shrinking back, after pains are often felt it contracts back and further these pains are mild and feel close to those ones of labor contractions. This happen more and more when breastfeeding is taking because of the fact that oxytocin hormone that usually get released during breastfeeding encourage contraction to the uterus. However, this hormone may cause increase in blood loss.
Pelvic floor recovers
The vagina would ensure proper response that would help much in regaining back to its size and earlier shape. Pelvic floor also would come back to its original position though various exercises could be required in order to speed up pelvic floor recovery soon after birth.
Tears in the cervix and vagina
Some mothers could have undergone episiotomy a situation that often require wounds to heal and this may take longer time because stitches may feel painful for a while. Small tears could have made to the cervix and the vagina but this must not bring about any worry as you will better afterwards.
Pelvic floor exercises
However pelvic floor exercises would be required in order to speed up healing around perineum and thus reduce swelling. In some cases of ambiguity regarding healing help could be sought from the mid- wives as they are experienced and could in a good position to provide helping advices.
Changes in the breasts
The first milk a breast has is that one rich in the babies growth called colostrums. This milk make the breasts very soft and tender but after a few days the breasts start to make milk and then the procedure of milk coming in make them swell and feel hot.
Consult for breastfeeding
When the baby start to feed, the mother may feel uncomfortable in first twenty seconds or so because the nipples at this moment become very sensitive to touch and such behavior may continue only for about five days. If this problem does not ease off on the specified period then more help could be sought from the midwife or a qualified counselor who deal in breastfeeding.
Exercising is important
After birth the mother loses her waistline and the tummy could look flabby and wrinkly as all the weight gained during pregnancy might not have been lost completely. Exercises are then required in order to that will enable tummy muscles to be flexible and get back to their normal shape and thus this improve the tummy shape and create a nice waistline. These exercises enable the mother to feel comfortable and avoid excessive pain in future.
Occurance of stretch marks
A woman may be left with various stretch marks on her breasts, thighs and tummy especially if there was a lot of weight gain during pregnancy. Swollen ankles may be seen for at least one week while the body attempts to lose the extra fluid it had gained.
Loss of hair
During pregnancy thicker and luxuriant hair were held by the mother; this occurred due to the presence of hormones that prevented hair loss and when these hormones disappear after birth. Due to this hair may start falling out and thus mothers are advised not to worry as new hair will grow again which would posses more resistant features.
Muscle growth and development
If there was a caesarean birth then mothers are advised not worry much as they find the situation uncomfortable to move at first. This will improve much faster due to the drop in progesterone hormone in the body which thus ensures smooth muscle growth and development.
Weight reduces at a slower pace
Body weight after birth would reduce so fast because there more tissue fluid that is shed plus the extra water that the mother carried pregnancy that is often passed in the sweat and urine. However, weight lose still increase when the blood circulations comes to normal and the uterus continue to get smaller in size but after this the pace of lose in weight becomes very slow.
Slow weight may be attributed to extra fat that the body stores for the milk production for the baby and thus mothers must be patient enough to enable responsive and progressive changes to take place unhurried.
Eat healthy and stay fit
Healthy eating combined with necessary exercises get the shape of a mother back to its original shape without much struggle. Finally mothers are carefully advised not risk the life of the baby by stopping to breastfeed at earlier stages of life because this would stop the baby from happy the best start in life.