How Long Does it Take to Recover After a Birth?
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Kaely Harrod 0:01
Hello, today's question is, how long does it take to recover after birth? This is Kaely Daily, the bi weekly podcast about all things doula Tips and Tits, where we answer one question about pregnancy, labor, postpartum, or lactation, in order to have your journey in this parenting world be just a little bit more informed and filled with consent. Hello, welcome back to Kaely Daily. Today's question is, how long does it take to recover after a birth? Now, just like all the questions that we talked about on this channel, this podcast is there's a huge range of what is normal. So I want you to just start with that freshly in your brain. So that you know, there's not just one set answer for this. I want you to think about a few things when we're answering this question. So how long does it take? It depends a bit on how your birth went, right? It also depends on what kind of delivery you had. Did you have a vaginal delivery? Do you have a cesarean delivery? Right? The other thing that matters is what was going on in your body before pregnancy? And what is happening in the midst of labor and delivery and postpartum. Okay, so all of those things make the answer slightly different for different people. What you want to think about for everybody is anyone who has had a pregnancy has had a placenta that grew in their uterus and attached to their uterus, that creates a wound on the inside of the uterus that has to heal. Okay, so that's one factor, then if you have had birth vaginally, then the birth baby has also passed through the birth canal, which has created some kind of tearing, even at least micro tears like something is happening, that needs to heal in the vagina and the birth canal, right? If you've had a cesarean delivery, then there's stuff healing about the incision, right. And that's a little bit more extensive, because going through all the layers between the outside to the inside of the uterus, right. So there are all those different factors at play. Also, at the end of pregnancy, your uterus has basically taken over your abdomen, for lack of a better phrase, where you really have your other systems also are trying to heal and get back into place and things like that. So your GI tract is impacted by that your stomach is impacted by that. Your muscles, your core, all of that is impacted, but hormonally that impacts your emotions, your mental stability and memory and things like that. Your ability to sleep, your desire to eat or not eat and how you're how your like appetite is right. So all of that is really impacted. Now, the next episode, coming out on Friday, is all about postpartum recovery from a nutritional standpoint. So like talking about with a special guest, I'm super pumped about it, and talking about like, what does it look like to support your body and nutritionally to help the process of healing? Generally speaking, you're healing for about three to six months postpartum. Now, that doesn't mean that three to six months postpartum, you don't feel like yourself at all, or you feel like still in a ton of pain, right? Like, that's not true for everyone. Many people feel a lot less pain, or maybe no pain by six weeks or eight weeks postpartum. But if you think about the, the last part of your journey in this parenting, in this pregnancy space as your fourth trimester, which lots people like to call that postpartum time, that is your last set of 12 weeks, right? So that 12 week period, then becomes kind of its own space in terms of healing and adjusting, and all of that. And that's of course, factoring in like, if you have other kiddos running around, or if this is your first time doing this, or if you're making milk or trying to make milk or any of those kinds of things that are part of what impacts this time. Okay. So, generally speaking, for
Kaely Harrod 4:38
our mean, six, six to eight weeks is what we talk about. What I mean to say is three to six months is what I really think of in my mind as like your body, brain, hormones, etc, recovering. Now, the other part of that is this idea that your body is Back in some way, right. And I don't mean just size, but like, size as part of that, that we talk about. We also talk about emotions we talk about like desires and whatnot. And I think it's important in the postpartum time to also think about the fact that this pregnancy has been altering to your body. Right? So it's not, you never are the person who wasn't pregnant with this baby before. Right? So So thinking about going back is unhelpful in my mind. Because really, from a from a like holistic standpoint, you want to think about going forward, right? You want to think about, what does it look like to heal and recover, and be a really healthy version of you, you in this postpartum time, right? And, and you're not the person who was who you were before you were pregnant in a really holistic way, in terms of your body, right. And again, I do not just mean size, I also mean how your metabolism functions, how your, how your, your GI tract functions, how your mental health functions, how your Hormonal Health is, like, all of those things are impacted by a pregnancy in some really beautiful, wonderful ways, and sometimes in some challenging ways, right. And it's not something where you can just be what you were, for lack of a better term, before you were pregnant, right? You are always going to be a little bit different after a pregnancy because your body has carried that baby to term or to the end of pregnancy. And that in some way has changed who you are physically, emotionally and otherwise. Okay. So that's a very general answer to that question. We're going to on Friday, I'm chatting with Olga, this wonderful, wonderful, wonderful specialist who will give you some more information about nutrition, and really nurturing your body in the postpartum time with food. And so tune in for that on Friday. And then next week, we have a few more postpartum episodes, so that we can kind of wrap up season one with some postpartum stuff to get us ready for season two. All right, so I'll see you on in Friday's episode. In the meantime, I wish you well informed consent filled for the experiences. These episodes are edited and produced by Kaely. Harrod rod, as I'm sure you can probably tell, and our amazing music is credited in the shownotes as well. So we look forward to seeing you on the next episode, and in the meantime, have a wonderful and consent filled
Unknown Speaker 7:57
birth.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
The timeline of healing after a birth is slightly different for everyone. How quickly you heal from a birth depends somewhat on what kind of birth you had. There is a variety of parts of postpartum that impact healing after a birth.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
If you have had a cesarean it takes longer to heal because there’s major surgery involved
If you’ve had a tear during vaginal delivery that makes healing a bit longer as well
Letting your body rest and recovery is important no matter what kind of birth you have
It’s important to see the postpartum time as an adjustment period rather than a “come back” time
RESOURCES
FREE OXYTOCIN GUIDE:
6 Ways to Increase Oxytocin for Labor Progression
https://www.harroddoulaservices.com/free-guide-6-oxytocin-tips
CONNECT with Kaely on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/Harroddoula/
This podcast is hosted by the Birth Prep Blueprint - comprehensive Childbirth Education for expectant parents to feel calm, prepared and confident about labor and birth. Podcast listeners (that’s YOU!) get 10% off! Use the link below to get that great deal!
https://thebirthprepblueprint.com/offers/884d5a56-9089-4482-a944-6bb7c26c9b04
If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me @harroddoula
Kaely Daily is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services
It is sponsored by The Birth Prep Blueprint Childbirth Class
Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay
