Your Body After the Birth

There are a wide range of emotions a woman can feel after giving birth - from elation and extreme happiness and contentment, to disappointment and even sadness. Hormones can affect women in different ways.

But most women have the same physical symptoms of childbirth in common.

These can range from feeling bruised and sore (especially if there has been a tear or cut and stitches - episiotomy) to fragile and exhausted.

New mums who had a caesarean delivery - which is basically major abdominal surgery - will also have pain and discomfort following childbirth requiring time, rest and support to recover.

A woman's body takes nine months to grow a baby and it undergoes many changes, so it is unrealistic to expect everything to snap back into pre-pregnancy mode overnight.

Here are some things to expect after giving birth:

Discharge

Women will have some vaginal discharge after giving birth whether they had a vaginal or caesarean delivery. This lochia is quite bright red at first, then goes brownish, and in the final stages is yellowish. It can last anything from about 10 days up to six weeks (on and off).

Pains

Women suffer variable amounts of discomfort, even pain, as the uterus shrinks back after giving birth. It can feel like early labour contractions and is often more noticeable in the early days of breastfeeding because the hormone oxytocin (which causes the uterus to contract) is released then.

Pelvic floor weakness

While a woman's vagina will naturally return to its former tone the pelvic floor muscles may need some help. Every woman should do pelvic floor exercises as soon as possible after giving birth. Weak pelvic floor muscles can result in some bladder weakness and a little urine escaping when laughing, coughing or rushing to the loo.

Perineum healing

If a woman has a tear in the perineum (the area between the anus and the vagina) while giving birth, or an episiotomy (cut) during delivery they may have stitches which can be uncomfortable as they heal. Taking paracetamol and applying cold gel packs to reduce discomfort and any swelling helps. An old fashioned remedy for stitches was soaking in a salt bath.

Changes in the breasts

Immediately after giving birth a woman's breasts only contain a little colostrum (the rich first food for a baby) so they are soft and not tender. After a few days the breasts can get engorged, full of milk and may feel uncomfortably hot and tender.

Getting into a breastfeeding routine stops breasts over-filling. Women will then make as much as the baby needs and the over-swollen effect will subside.

Other possible effects:

A flabby tummy (gentle exercising will improve this)Piles (these may gradually disappear, or need GP intervention)Stretch marks on your breasts, tummy and thighs (these will fade)Some hair loss as hair returns to its pre-pregnancy conditionUnwanted fat. Breastfeeding burns off extra calories. Don't rush into a strict diet, just eat healthily to return to shape.Debra Aspinall is an experienced journalist and the editor and leading writer for the Emma's Diary website, one of the UKs foremost pregnancy and baby websites. Debra writes on pregnancy related topics such as giving birth , morning Sickness, benefits of breastfeeding problems and etc. She also writes on women's health and beauty issues and contributes travel articles to glossy magazines in London and the Home Countie