Your body after the birth

All eyes are on your newborn after the birth, but what happens to your body? Take a look…

Brain

With your hormone levels going haywire it’s common to feel a bit teary in those first days and weeks. Take things easy and be kind to yourself, and remember if it lasts for more than a few days to tell your midwife or health visitor.

Boobs

Once your milk has come in (usually three or four days after the birth), your boobs may become swollen, tender and even hot. Your nipples may feel especially sore, particularly at the beginning of a feed, but the discomfort should ease after a few seconds and, after a few days, you should be used to it. Try and revel in your temporary resemblance to Pammy Anderson – it won’t last forever!

Hair

Some hair loss after the birth is normal. It rarely comes out in huge clumps; instead you’re likely to notice more strands left on your hairbrush than usual. Remember that your hair probably became thicker during pregnancy so, if anything, you’re shedding excess hair rather than losing any.

Skin

Any chloasma (darkening of the facial skin) will disappear in the first few months after the birth and if you were acne prone during pregnancy, chances are that this is when you’ll bloom. Better late than never!

Tummy

We’d love to say it’ll be flat as a pancake in days…but we’d be lying. It’ll probably still be a bit flabby and wrinkly for a while yet as you gradually lose weight and slowly regain your muscle tone and waistline.

The good news is that breastfeeding helps your uterus to contract to its normal size and burns extra calories too.

Back

If you suffered from Symphisis Pubic Dysfunction in pregnancy, this should disappear quite quickly as your hormones stabilise and your joints and muscles firm up.
 
Caesarean scar

You might find that your caesarean scar is numb and then itchy (as it heals) for a few weeks. Don’t worry – just keep it clean and care for it as instructed, and it will soon fade from a black line to a barely noticeable scar.

Womb

This will quickly start shrinking and within six weeks should be back to its original position and size (think melon to tangerine). Sometimes you’ll actually feel it – a bit like mini-contractions – especially if you’re breastfeeding.

Your body will also be shedding nine months’ worth of womb lining, in the form of a discharge called lochia. At first it will be a bit like a heavy period, which after about 10 days should settle into a browny-yellow discharge for a further six weeks.

Vagina

While your vagina will naturally shrink back after stretching (and possibly tearing), it’s important to try to gain back as much tone as quickly as possible. So, as soon as you can bear it, start those pelvic floor exercises (squeeze the muscles that would stop you weeing midflow, hold and release. And repeat…).

Stitches or an episiotomy will of course take longer to heal – follow your midwife’s instructions on how to care for yourself – but those exercises will speed up the healing process.

Stretchmarks

Your boobs, tummy and thighs may have weird shiny, bruise-like lines on them – welcome to the world of stretchmarks! If you used a good stretchmark cream or oil regularly in pregnancy, and continue to do so now as you shrink to your original shape, you can probably avert the worst of it. And while these marks may never disappear altogether, they will fade.

Bum

When it comes to post-baby weight loss, your mantra should be ‘what took nine months to put on will take nine months to come off’ while sticking to a balanced diet with plenty of (gentle at first) exercise.

Most people put on 20-35lb, of which around 7.5lb is the baby, 19lb is water/placenta/blood etc, and 7lb, is probably cake. A healthy diet with plenty of fruit, veg and water is also important to keep you regular – constipation and piles are common complaints after the birth, particularly with the strain of delivering naturally.

Ankles

Or should that be ‘cankles’ (calves-come-ankles)? Swelling here usually takes a week or so to go down after the birth, so don’t be alarmed by any residual puffiness. The tree-trunk look won’t last forever.