Postpartum recovery, is it necessary?

After giving birth to a baby, many mothers will be affected by various amway treatments. Postpartum sweating, pelvic floor muscle repair, pelvic repair, residual milk removal, etc. are all available, making people feel that if they don't do one or two, they are sorry for their hard work in giving birth to a baby. But there are different voices on the Internet saying that paying IQ tax is not necessary at all. After I gave birth, the confinement center provided me with an eight-session physical therapy program, which I experienced in real life, so I feel like I can speak from personal experience.

1. Let’s first talk about postpartum traditional Chinese medicine physiotherapy. Because I gave birth in the obstetrics and gynecology department of a local traditional Chinese medicine hospital, I started to receive the hospital’s special traditional Chinese medicine physical therapy right after giving birth. A Chinese herbal medicine bag is applied to the belly of postpartum women to prevent fat from liquefying. Although I don’t know how effective this is, when I change the dressing bag every day, I can see that the inside of the medicine bag is soaked. I don’t know if other hospitals have lactation-stimulating massage. During my hospitalization, a nurse would come over and massage me with a device every day. I feel that the main effect is to stimulate milk production. Every time after the massage, I would feel a swollen milk, but my milk production The amount has never been high, and it still needs to be fed with milk powder. The first thing the hospital did when I arrived at the confinement center was for me to go to the lactation room for a massage. The confinement center where I live has a very famous prolactinologist who is well-known locally. I feel that artificial lactation is very effective. The lactation process was a bit embarrassing, but I managed to expel two lumps the size of mung beans, and my baby was able to freely breastfeed. This is why the entire confinement center is filled with banners dedicated to lactation nurses.

2. The item of postpartum sweating depends on the individual. Some women feel cold all over after giving birth, while others always feel extremely hot. People who are afraid of heat and sweat easily should forget it. Sweating too much can lead to dehydration. But for mothers who are afraid of the cold, this will be very comfortable.

I have a body type that is afraid of heat. I always get hot easily in the late stages of pregnancy, especially after giving birth. I only drank the postpartum decoction given to me by the confinement center once, and I got extremely angry. I couldn't cover myself with the thick quilt on the bed. It was hot and dry. I was sweating and thirsty in the middle of the night and couldn't rest well. So I took a thin quilt from home to cover myself. During the yoga class at the confinement center, I discovered that some mothers wear cotton-padded clothes. People like me who are afraid of the heat will sweat profusely if they wear a single layer of long clothes. During the full-body sweating session at the confinement center, I felt like I was about to pass out. I was so stuffy and extremely thirsty. But when I did the leg sweating physiotherapy, I felt very comfortable and warm. With the massage techniques of the physiotherapist, I still felt quite comfortable (because my legs always felt cold).

3. The pelvic floor muscle repair project was recommended by the doctor during my 45-day postpartum physical examination. It is said that many obstetrics and gynecology departments have started pelvic floor muscle repair projects in recent years. In the third trimester of my pregnancy, my pubic bone was so painful that I couldn't lie down, and my urine leakage was severe. I even had to wear a sanitary napkin when I went out. I thought it would get better after giving birth, but the leakage of urine continued, which was extremely embarrassing. Because my pelvic floor muscle test score was not too low, I only ordered one course of treatment. I did it once every two or three days, and after ten times a day, I felt that it was effective in urinary leakage, but it was not completely cured. Later, I combined the anal tightening exercises and Kegel exercises, and now, two years later, I no longer leak urine. I think of the people who were treated with me at that time, not only mothers who had given birth to children, but also an aunt who was nearly 60 years old. I don’t know how they are recovering. The nurse who worked for me quietly told me that it would help improve the quality of life of a couple, and my husband felt the same way.

4. The pelvic repair project needs to be done 45 days after the birth of the baby. Since the appointment time was always inappropriate, I did not do it. I consulted a doctor when doing pelvic floor muscle repair. The doctor advised not to do it and said that as long as you keep exercising, your pelvis will slowly recover in a few years. The doctor suggested that you can use a pelvic belt for postpartum pubic pain. I also bought it, but the effect was not obvious. During my maternity leave, one of my sisters came to play at home. I was surprised that she had just given birth to a baby for more than half a year, and she had transformed from a fat little girl into a hot mother. She said that she applied for a card at the postpartum rehabilitation center downstairs of their home, and the pelvic repair project was particularly effective. The latitude of her pelvis was seven centimeters smaller than when she first started doing it, seven centimeters! I have read many expert articles on parenting magazines criticizing postpartum pelvic repair projects, but there are real-life cases before me. My friend said that the pelvic repair equipment used in the rehabilitation center she went to was inflatable. I didn’t want to go to a postpartum rehabilitation center far away, so I bought a Panasonic pelvic massager on the recommendation of Xiaohongshu.

I did it when I had nothing to do. It was indeed very comfortable, but because it was not that convenient to use, I quickly changed from doing it once a day to doing it once a day when my pelvis felt uncomfortable. My child is now over two years old, my weight has not returned, and my pubic bone will hurt after a while. I regret not paying enough attention to pelvic recovery back then, but I don’t know if I would be better off if I went to a shop for pelvic repair.

5. Regarding the elimination of residual milk, the lactation specialist at the confinement center never mentioned it, nor did the recovery center. However, the girl from the beauty salon I often went to knew that I had given birth to a baby and kept urging her. Get a project card for removing residual milk. Because my nipple holes are tight, I am really worried about the blockage after weaning, so I need to clear it. During the routine gynecological examination at my unit, I specifically consulted the chief physician of the breast department, and she emphasized that there was no need to drain residual milk. Breast care in beauty salons has no professional background at all. If you have problems with your breasts, see a professional doctor immediately. Don’t believe the rhetoric about removing residual milk.

6. I think there is nothing to discuss about postpartum yoga here. The most important thing for postpartum recovery is exercise. Postpartum yoga postures need to be determined according to personal circumstances, but the most important thing is to move!

Postpartum recovery is a relatively slow process. Don’t believe those people who like to hear about it on the Internet and can return to pre-pregnancy in just one month. That is just a superficial appearance at most. Bones, muscles, and skin all recover in cycles, but I didn't know what changes my body went through after giving birth. From the time I gave birth to my daughter to now, my body shape has changed beyond my imagination: When I gave birth to my daughter, I felt like I had transformed from a slender girl to a raging fat man overnight, from a girl who hardly sweated to a full-faced girl. The woman who was sweating profusely from day to day changed from a person who was not naturally sick to a sick person who had colds every month and was sore all over. Then slowly adapt to your body, and then gradually return to your previous posture and physical fitness. At present, I think postpartum recovery still needs to be carried out. My pelvis still feels loose and painful from time to time. I plan to replace the pelvic repair device with the one from a friend’s postpartum recovery center. I also have abdominal and leg exercises on the schedule. I look forward to it. The results come down.