What does postpartum recovery include?

The core of the projects covered by postpartum recovery revolve around the four major directions of reproductive system repair, body function restoration, body posture adjustment, and psychological state counseling. It is not just about IQ tax or weight loss as popularly said. The projects that people with different production methods and different postpartum states need to do are very different. I have been a volunteer at a community maternity service center for three years. I have seen too many mothers who have misunderstood postpartum recovery. They either feel that there is no need to stay at home for two months, or they spend tens of thousands of dollars to do a bunch of useless projects in institutions. Last year, my best friend gave birth to a baby naturally, and her pelvic floor muscle score in the 42-day review just reached the passing line. Her lower abdomen dropped after holding the baby for a long time, and she leaked urine every time she sneezed. She was also obsessed with getting a fitness card and doing aerobics to slim down her belly. I stopped her and did pelvic floor muscle electrical stimulation and daily Kegel training. Within two months, the leakage problem was basically gone. Pelvic floor muscle repair and uterine involution all belong to the category of reproductive system repair. Regardless of natural birth or caesarean section, if the uterus presses on the pelvic floor muscles for ten months during pregnancy, there will be some damage. This does not mean that caesarean section is completely unnecessary.

Speaking of which, I have to mention the most controversial pelvic repair project. Many people think it is completely IQ tax, while others say it does feel much better after the procedure. In fact, it depends on the situation. I have met a mother before. After giving birth, her pubic symphysis was separated by 2.3 centimeters. Even moving was so painful that she shed tears. After a week of pelvic immobilization and physical therapy in the hospital, she was able to slowly get down and hold her baby. It was money well spent. ； There is also a mother who only had false hip width caused by fat accumulation during pregnancy and muscle relaxation around the hips. She was deceived by an agency into spending 30,000 yuan to shrink her hips with bare hands. The pressure caused pain for half a month, but her hip width did not change at all. Her situation can be gradually improved by doing a few more sets of clam-style glute bridges, and there is no need to pay this IQ tax.

There are also many mothers who still feel like they have been pregnant for four or five months after giving birth, and they cannot lose weight no matter how much they diet. It is probably a problem of diastasis of the rectus abdominis muscle. There is also a lot of controversy on this point: some people say that you can recover slowly if you separate two fingers, while others say that no matter how much the separation is, you need to do special training. In fact, objectively speaking, separation within one finger can indeed be slowly improved by daily abdominal breathing. If it is left unchecked for more than two fingers, not only will the lower abdomen not be able to be retracted, but it will also increase the pressure on the pelvic floor muscles, and the probability of urinary leakage will be much higher as you get older. Last week I treated a mother who had three fingers separated and was delayed for more than half a year. After three weeks of core activation training, her belly shrunk by almost three centimeters, and the back pain she had been complaining about for several months was relieved a lot.

We usually see many problems such as mother's hands, uneven shoulders, rounded shoulders and neck, which also belong to the category of postpartum recovery. Most of them are postural compensation caused by long-term incorrect posture of holding the baby. Light stretching and relaxation can alleviate it, while serious ones need to be coordinated with special posture correction. Don't always think that it is tired. It will pass if you tolerate it. If it is delayed for a long time, it will become a chronic strain injury and you will suffer more.

In addition to these physical projects, there is another part that is easily overlooked by the whole family and is psychological counseling. Two months ago, we had a 3-month-old baby who always told us that she felt she was not good at being a mother. She cried for no reason every day. Her family thought she was idle. Later, we referred her to the psychological counseling clinic of the rehabilitation department. After four intervention sessions, her condition improved. Regulating postpartum depression is an important part of postpartum recovery, so don’t feel embarrassed to say it.

Nowadays, there is a lot of information online, and propaganda from various organizations is flying all over the place. Don’t rush to apply for a card to buy classes after giving birth. Go to a regular hospital for a comprehensive postpartum assessment first, and then choose the program according to your needs. It’s a trivial matter to waste money, but it’s not worth the loss if you practice wrongly and hurt your body.