Your stay in the maternity hospital after delivery
During those days you will spend in the maternity hospital, one of your main tasks will be as much as possible rest, restore strength, because during labor( although they are a natural process), a lot of energy is expended. This is all the more important if you have had any complications in childbirth or in the postpartum period.
When can I get up? For example, our grandmothers were not allowed to leave the bed within 3 weeks after childbirth. Today, women are not prescribed complete rest - too long lying weakens the muscles, hampers blood circulation, contributing to the stagnation of blood in the veins of the lower limbs, and also slows the restoration of the normal functioning of the intestine and bladder. Women are encouraged to gradually stay on their feet for a longer time. The benefits of early activity after childbirth are now not discussed, but some precautions must still be followed. In the first hours after birth, you should not get up without the presence of any of the staff of the maternity hospital - at this point dizziness often occurs. The next day after birth, you can already walk in the ward and corridor, but do not get carried away.
After childbirth, it is necessary to carry out the toilet of the external genitalia 3-4 times a day with the change of the napkin( to control postpartum excretions from the uterus).Hygienic pads can be used from the 5th-6th day after delivery.
If there are stitches on the perineum after recovery of the rupture or incision( episiotomy), the doctor should warn that you can not sit, even after returning home, for 10-15 days. To get out of bed it is necessary from a position lying on a side, dropping feet on a floor, as though sliding off, and to lay down - not sitting down, at once on a side. After the toilet of the external genitalia, the seams on the perineum are treated. Remove the stitches on the 5th day after childbirth before discharge. It is recommended that after each visit to the toilet carry out hygiene procedures.
If a cesarean section has been performed, it is not at all necessary that you will feel worse than the women who underwent natural childbirth. You will rise to your feet, like other women, on the first day after giving birth. The midwife in the hospital will show you how to protect stitches, when you get up or lie down: first you lower your legs from the bed, and then gently slip off. When you want to lie down, first sit securely on the bed, and then raise your legs. Hold the seams when you sit down and stand up, bend down and straighten up, use the toilet, and also if a cough has attacked.
If after surgery the doctor has prescribed antibiotics to prevent inflammation, you can breast-feed the baby, because, as a rule, prescribe medications that do not penetrate into the milk and, therefore, are safe for the baby. In neonatal disorders, stools are quite often regardless of whether their mother took antibiotics or not, and if necessary, the child will be prescribed drugs that restore normal intestinal microflora.
Sometimes after cesarean section milk appears somewhat later than after natural birth, but it is necessary to apply the baby to the breast, this will stimulate the appearance of milk.
Each woman at the first feeding the nurse teaches to properly feed the baby - the baby should grab the nipple together with a pink sucking mug. Feeding should not last more than 15-20 minutes to avoid the appearance of cracks in the nipples. In the first days after childbirth, it is easier to feed the baby lying down.
After giving birth, women are recommended to do gymnastic exercises to activate blood circulation and strengthen the abdominal muscles and perineum, wear a post-partum bandage, especially after a caesarean section. But the elasticity of muscles is best restored and restored much faster, thanks to gymnastics. And after your discharge home, continue to perform the recommended exercises for several weeks to get to your old form faster.