You will usually stay in hospital for 2-4 days after your c-section. If you and your baby are well, and you have someone to help you at home, you may be able to go home after 24 hours.
Most women can leave hospital 1 or 2 days after having a caesarean section.
After a c-section, you should sleep on your back or side. This shouldn't put too much strain on your c-section wound. You can also try sleeping on your back with your head elevated.
Gentle exercise, such as walking, will help you recover from your c-section. But avoid anything more active until you have no pain and you feel ready. For example, avoid driving, carrying anything heavy, having sex or doing heavy housework, such as vacuuming, until you feel able to.
For the first couple of weeks, avoid lifting anything heavier than your baby. Seek pain relief. To soothe incision soreness, your health care provider might recommend ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others), acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or other medications to relieve pain.
It's important to get out of bed and walk around within 24 hours after surgery. This can help ease gas pains, help you have a bowel movement, and prevent blood clots. You can try gentle exercises a few days after the C-section: Deep breathing: Take 2 or 3 slow, deep breaths every half-hour.
C-section Recovery Time
Unlike vaginal delivery, C-section recovery takes time. You need to give your body at least 6 weeks for the incision to heal, and for the abdomen to recover from the trauma. The doctor will advise bed rest on day 1 but after that, they will ask you to start moving.
The day right after your surgery, you'll be encouraged to walk around within the first 12 hours after delivery to help relieve gas buildup in the abdomen, and to eat something light as soon as you feel able.
Always sit well back on a supportive chair, your feet should be able to touch the floor in order to support your posture. Use pillows to support your back and to rest your baby on your lap to bring them into a comfortable feeding position. You can then use pillows to support your own arms.
Walking after the C-section is important to speed recovery and pain medication may be supplied too as recovery takes place. Most mothers and infants do well after a C-section, and often, a woman who has a C-section may have a vaginal delivery if she gets pregnant again.
What is the Golden Hour? After the birth of the baby, both vaginal and c-section birth, the Golden hour consists of uninterrupted and immediate skin to skin contact, limited interventions that are not necessary, if possible and desired having delayed cord clamping, and having the first feeding of baby completed.
“It's recommended that you get up and walk around,” says Dr. Higgins. “We don't want someone lying in bed for two weeks.”
Pooping After C-Section
For Cesarean births, apply pressure over the abdomen with a pillow. This supports the healing incision while you poop, and also supplements the muscles of the abdominal wall that normally help to regulate pressure during defecation.
After C-Section: The First 24-48 Hours
Again, you've just had major surgery, so fatigue and pain are to be expected. Many women also report experiencing nausea for the first few hours. Depending on the composition of your epidural, you may have some itching.
Increased bleeding after your lochia starts to decrease can be a sign you're overdoing it and need more rest. Seeing ongoing clots could mean your uterus is having trouble getting back to its pre-pregnancy size. In either case, it's always best to call.
Most women will remain in the hospital for 2 to 3 days after a cesarean birth (C-section). Take advantage of the time to bond with your new baby, get some rest, and receive some help with breastfeeding and caring for your baby.
The Day of Your C-Section
They will start an IV, which will provide hydrating fluids and antibiotics. The obstetrician and anesthesiologist will consult with you and answer any remaining questions or concerns regarding the delivery and recovery.
Women should walk for about 20 minutes at a moderate pace to increase circulation and speed up healing. Fit mothers recover quickly and can be back on their feet in a matter of weeks. Walking after a cesarean delivery is regarded as an important part of recovery exercise.
Doctors, traditionally, have advised women to avoid stairs after a C-section. But Kathryn Houston, a clinical instructor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco, shrugs off that recommendation. “Stairs are fine as long as you take them slowly,” she says.
Even though labor and vaginal birth can be hard work, they are generally easier on a woman's body than a cesarean. Recovery after vaginal birth is usually shorter and less painful than after a C-section, and allows the woman to spend more time with her baby.
Painful urination after a C-section
Contrary to what you might expect, postpartum urination pain may actually be a little more common in moms who've undergone C-sections compared to those who've given birth vaginally, research suggests.
Along with pain while walking, you may experience serious stinging or burning while peeing, or you may not feel that you've fully emptied your bladder. These symptoms are thanks to the catheter.
Straight talk: The first poop after giving birth can be challenging. It can be hard to pass, and may be more painful than you expected. That's because after you give birth, the perineum (the area between the bottom of the vaginal opening and the anus) is still sore and tender, especially if you have stitches.