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Home › Articles › Mom's Health › Healing "Down There" After Delivery

Healing "Down There" After Delivery

Recovering After C-section and Episiotomy

By Katherine Bontrager

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You thought that pregnancy was tough, but for some that doesn't hold a candle to what happens after the delivery. Whether you have a C-section, an episiotomy or tear naturally, getting back on your feet can be an unexpected battle.

That certainly was the case for Regina Haas and Erin Bocherer – two moms with very different deliveries but the same complaint: What happened after baby was a little bit brutal.

"Between the episiotomy and hemorrhoids (I'd heard about them, but never experienced them before), boy, was I up for a rude awakening," says Haas, a mother of one from Dallas, Texas.

Bocherer is a mother of three children under 5, all of whom were delivered by C-section. "My first C-section recovery was a total shock because I never expected it to be so painful," says the Atlanta mom. "Even a month later, I still had difficulty walking up the stairs, and I'm a small-framed person who works out regularly. Because C-sections have become so common, I just assumed that recovery would be somewhat easy – even though my doctor warned me it was major surgery."

For all moms, there's nothing like the joy of seeing your little one for the first time. And while much of the focus is rightly on the new tiny miracle, women need to focus on themselves, too. Regardless of the type of delivery, moms need to know what to expect in the healing process and take active steps to quickly be on the mend.

Healing After Cesareans
Dr. Wendy Wilcox, an OB/GYN from Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, says that it takes most women about two weeks to feel somewhat back to normal after a C-section "It will probably take up to eight weeks for full recovery, such as being able to lift things or exercise," she says. "While the skin may heal in three to seven days, some moms may experience numbness on the abdomen for up to a year."

Dr. Wilcox also urges her clients to take pain medication after a C-section. "It's better to take pain medication and ambulate than to lie in bed with pain," she says. "It's so very important to get up out of bed after a C-section (so as not to get a DVT – [deep vein thrombosis] or PE – [pulmonary embolism]), and so moms should take pain medication."


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