How your body can change after giving birth?
Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels
After giving birth, your body is certain to appear different since your body was the home of a small person whom you kept safe within you for nine long months. As soon as you get pregnant, your body starts to alter. It undergoes a significant metamorphosis throughout nine months and another equally significant transformation after childbirth.
The following are the most common body changes that occur after giving birth.
Genital floor
Whether you give birth vaginally or through a Cesarean section, it is important to take care of your pelvic floor muscles. The pelvic floor muscles support the pelvic organs, which include the uterus, bladder, and colon. These muscles are subjected to greater tension during pregnancy due to the baby’s weight, and they may sometimes be injured or strained after a vaginal delivery. This implies that you may have leakage when you sneeze, cough, or laugh.
Your pelvic floor muscles may be strengthened, and you should prioritize this after pregnancy. A physiotherapist will be able to prescribe the appropriate exercises for postpartum recovery. These exercises will assist you in developing the muscles necessary to resume your usual workout program without experiencing bladder leaks.
Skin
You may encounter lots of changes in your skin after pregnancy. Stretch marks that formed during pregnancy may fade after a while. They will gradually shrink in size and become white or silver. However, despite popular opinion, there is no conclusive evidence that oils or lotions can be used to erase stretch marks after they form.
Certain women may have acquired dark spots on their faces known as chloasma during pregnancy. These often diminish after several months of the baby’s delivery; however, they might continue for many years in some women.
If you get skin tags during pregnancy, they will most likely vanish or fall off during the first few months after delivery. If not, your general practitioner or dermatologist may remove them with a knife or by freezing or burning them.
Breast size
Remember those bras you purchased pre-pregnancy? For the time being, they’re probably going to be too tiny. Following delivery, estrogen and progesterone levels fall and prolactin, which aids in breastfeeding production, kicks in. This transformation often results in your breasts being much larger than during pregnancy due to increased blood flow and milk production. This may lead to engorgement.
If you are breastfeeding, the engorgement will subside after a few days as your baby eats. Warming the breasts before and after nursing, taking a moderate anti-inflammatory, or expressing a little milk in the shower, may all assist in alleviating the pain. Engorgement may take up to a week to resolve if you are not nursing.
As for the size of your breasts after having a baby, this will vary from person to person. Your breasts may remain larger, decrease in size, or return to their pre-pregnancy size. And in terms of sagginess, it is not nursing that is to blame, but rather the stretching of the ligaments that support your breasts. These ligaments significantly stretch during pregnancy, and this stretching may cause breasts to sag after pregnancy. If you find that your post-pregnancy breasts are hurting your confidence or self-image, you may consider getting a mommy makeover in Kansas City, or at a facility that offers similar services in your area.
Hair loss
Occasionally, during pregnancy, your hair might get thicker. This is because the hormone estrogen levels have increased. After delivery, your estrogen levels will return to normal, as will your hair growth. Occasionally, this might result in hair loss in the months after delivery. Do not be alarmed if you notice a little hair loss, as this is quite common and just transitory. You may find that your hair begins to regenerate after it has fallen out, resulting in postpartum bangs or flyways.
Shoe measurements
There are two primary reasons your shoe size increases during pregnancy: weight gain and hormonal changes. Additional weight may flatten your foot arch and cause your shoe size to grow. You may be familiar with the hormone relaxin. This hormone assists in relaxing the ligaments and bones of the pelvic, preparing you for delivery. Additionally, it relaxes your joints and ligaments throughout your body, including your feet. This may result in your feet flattening and spreading out, increasing your shoe size.
Wrap-up
As you can see, your body will change quite a bit after pregnancy. It’s wise to show your body ample love and care, especially as you are healing from labor.
Nevertheless, relish in those precious moments with your new baby and remind yourself that your body, no matter how much it has changed, has given you the most priceless gift in life.