What happens to the mother's body after giving birth? & bull; hello healthy

Childbirth is a stressful process, but after that a feeling of relief and joy arises in both the mother and the family. But wait, the process still continues for several weeks after giving birth as the body recovers and adjusts to its new condition. After giving birth, the body is still making various changes.

Changes to the uterus

During pregnancy, the uterus, abdominal muscles, and skin stretch for 9 months, so it takes a long time for the body to return to its original state as before pregnancy.

At the time of pregnancy, your uterus is bigger and heavier. The uterus can weigh up to 15 times more and its capacity can be up to 500 times greater than before you became pregnant. A few minutes after you give birth, the contractions cause the uterus to shrink to the size of a fist. Yes, you still feel the contractions after giving birth.

This contraction also causes the placenta to escape from the uterine wall and then descends under the uterus, then the placenta also leaves your body. After the placenta is expelled, the uterus then closes the open blood vessels where the placenta attaches. The uterus will continue to contract and may cause you to feel cramping in the abdomen.

In the first few weeks, your uterus will drop in weight, roughly half the weight of your uterus after delivery. After two weeks, the uterus weighs only 300 grams and lies entirely in the pelvis. At about four weeks, the uterus is close to pre-pregnancy weight, about 100 grams or less.

Even after your uterus has shrunk back into your pelvis, you still look like you're pregnant a few weeks after giving birth. This is because your abdominal muscles dilate during pregnancy and it takes a long time to get back into shape.

Changes in body weight

You will lose weight after giving birth, around 4.5-6 kg. This weight loss consists of the baby's weight, placenta, and amniotic fluid. You also experience fluid excess during pregnancy because extracellular fluid builds up during pregnancy. If you gave birth by caesarean section, your body will also be bigger because of the intravenous or intravenous fluids you received during the operation.

This excess fluid in your body then starts to come out for one week after giving birth. You may feel like urinating a lot and sweating because this is the body's way of getting rid of this fluid. Night sweats are common after childbirth. In a day, you can excrete up to 3 liters of fluid and by the end of the first week you will have lost about 2-3 kg of water weight. The amount of water that is lost from your body varies depending on the amount of fluid that has accumulated in your body during pregnancy.

However, you may find it difficult to urinate. A long labor process can prevent you from feeling the urge to urinate in the first days after giving birth. If you have trouble urinating, it will make it difficult for your uterus to contract, causing you to experience more cramping and bleeding. If you can't pass urine within a few hours of giving birth, you may have a catheter placed in your body to drain urine from your bladder. It's best to talk to your doctor or nurse right away if you have problems urinating.

You may also have difficulty passing stools or constipation after giving birth. This is natural because you feel aches and pains after giving birth. We recommend that you drink a lot and consume foods high in fiber to make it easier for you to defecate.

Changes to the vagina

When you give birth normally, the vagina and perineum (the area between the rectum and vagina) will be stretched, swollen, bruised. Your perineum may tear and require several stitches. How much stretch in the vagina depends on the size of the baby, genetics, vaginal muscles, the state at which you give birth, and how many times you have had a normal delivery.

This pain in the vagina and perineum makes you uncomfortable when sitting. To relieve the pain, you may need to take a shower and soak it in water, or you can apply ice to relieve swelling and pain. For a few days after giving birth, the swelling in your vagina will begin to decrease and the vaginal muscles will tighten again.

Bleeding

After a normal delivery or by caesarean section, you will experience bleeding or what is commonly called lochia, which consists of leftover blood, mucus, and tissue from the lining of the uterus. In many women, the bleeding will be profuse in the first 3-10 days after delivery, sometimes even more than during menstruation, but this is normal and will decrease over the next several weeks. You also don't need to worry if blood suddenly comes out or blood clots occur, this is also normal. However, if you think that the bleeding is abnormal, you should tell your doctor right away.

Changes to the breast

After delivery, your milk may not come out right away. It will take 3-4 days after delivery for your milk to come out. As soon as you give birth, your breasts will produce a small amount of colostrum, which is the first milk that is more concentrated. The first two hours after the baby is born is the right time to breastfeed the baby for the first time or to do Early Initiation of Breastfeeding (IMD) because at this time the newborn tends to be awake.

When your milk comes out in the first days after delivery, your breasts may be swollen, painful, hard, sensitive, and full. Breastfeeding your baby in the first days after birth will trigger the release of the hormone oxytocin, which causes contractions and cramps in your stomach.

Skin changes

The hormonal changes, stress, and fatigue you experience after giving birth have an effect on your skin. Some women who used to have clean skin during pregnancy may develop acne after giving birth. Or vice versa, for women who have acne during pregnancy, it may disappear after giving birth. If you had chloasma, which is dark patches of skin on your lips, nose, cheeks, or forehead, during pregnancy, this will also disappear after you give birth.