Without a question, giving birth to a baby is a very hard and tough experience, yet the body has his own way to recover from all the changes, pains, symptoms and discomforts gone through during pregnancy and labor until the last minutes of delivery.
So if you’re wondering about the natural ways and methods to stimulate this recovery until your body is fully healed and you’re capable of enjoying your new role as a mother, here are some of the most important instructions we gathered just for you:
- Few weeks prior to your due date, try to prepare a variety of healthy meals that you can heat up and guarantee your family good food whilst you’re mostly in need of what can decrease the size of your daily tasks.
- Give yourself time, no less than a month, to rest. Make this time an opportunity for you to read, breastfeed, bond with your new baby, write, relax or sleep and sit quietly for many hours as possible. And if you have other children to care for, we advise you to seek the help of your mother, your mother-in-law or your husband, if he can get a leave from his work.
- Keep your vagina and perineum clean and free from infections, by washing them with lukewarm water, (few drops of lavender oil and a bit of bath treating salts), at least once a day.
- After passing stools, make sure to wash your genitals in a proper way that will keep you from infections, which means from front to back, i.e. urinary tract to anal area.
- Make sure to consume healthy nutritious high-fiber food, like eggs, milk, meat, fruits and vegetables, on a regular basis and in small frequent servings (not less than 6 servings a day).
- Drink chamomile or wild mint tea to help yourself relax, sleep and fight insomnia which can manifest from imbalanced hormones in the first weeks after birth.
- Breastfeed your baby regularly and pump milk from your breasts between one nursing session and another, in order to lessen your likelihood of getting breast engorgement.
- Put cold compresses or ice packs right on the opening of your vagina to reduce pain and swelling. Apply for just 10 to 20 minutes.
- Fill your bathtub with warm water and soak in for some time, around 3 times a day. It is believed that warm water can stimulate the flow of blood to the vagina and speed up the healing process.
- Drink lots of water and fluids in order to avoid constipation and its annoying complications on your health.
- In order to fight excessive sweating that you may experience after birth, just dress in lightweight cotton clothing that has no ribbons or tight belts.
- Practice meditation to help your uterus contract and help yourself deal with abdominal pains after delivery. Try also to apply cold packs then hot pads on your cramps. The transition from cold to hot alleviates the pain sensation.
- Few weeks after delivery, start to practice light and mild exercises to lose extra kilograms, and increase the endorphin production that will help you regulate your mood and overcome your postpartum stress.
All that said, it will appear to you that recovering from pregnancy and childbirth is too complicated and demanding. But be sure that your recovery won’t take too long and you will feel much better very quickly. You will even have enough time to bond with your newborn baby and meet his needs!
Read More: The Baby Blues: Symptoms And Treatment
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