You may shower, bathe or wash your hair at any time after the birth of your baby. During your first six weeks, avoid strenuous work. You may choose to limit visits with family and friends during the first two weeks, as it may cause undue fatigue for you and could also be detrimental to your baby's health.
How long after natural birth can you shower? "Generally, after a vaginal birth, a person can take a shower as soon as they are able to stand," says Dr. Ghosh. "If you had an epidural, we recommend waiting until the pain medication has worn off to ensure that you can safely stand up on your own.
Recovery and sleep after giving birth
Your baby may not eat much at each feeding during the hospital stay. At some point, you will need to use the bathroom, and you'll want to shower. If you have an epidural, you'll need to wait for it to wear off enough that you feel comfortable walking.
You can take sponge baths or showers. Drip plain or soapy water over the incision and dry gently with a clean towel. Your incision may itch as it heals. Be careful not to scratch it.
Based upon knowledge of the gate control theory of pain, the nurse may suggest showering to the patient in labor. It may ease the pain (decrease the stimuli) and promote an adaptive response in the physiologic mode.
The 411 Rule for Active Labor
According to the "411 Rule" (commonly recommended by doulas and midwives), you should go to the hospital when your contractions are coming regularly 4 minutes apart, each one lasts at least 1 minute, and they have been following this pattern for at least 1 hour.
Prodromal labor consists of contractions that can be fairly regular (between 5-10 minutes apart) and can be painful like active labor contractions, more so than Braxton Hicks contractions. Typically each contraction will last just shy of one minute. These contractions are preparatory.
Avoid stairs and lifting until your doctor says these activities are OK. Don't take a bath or go swimming until the doctor says it's OK. Don't drive until your doctor says it's OK. Also wait until you can make sudden movements and wear a safety belt properly without discomfort.
For perineal stitches : These will heal in 3-4 weeks on their own, they do not need to be removed. Showers for the first 2-3 weeks, if you have no shower, take a sponge bath or a tub bath but do not add bubble bath to the water or shave during the bath.
In those first few weeks postpartum, your cervix is still somewhat dilated, regardless of whether you had a vaginal delivery or a c-section. There's a theory – though no research has confirmed this – that tub water could travel into your uterus, introduce bacteria, and cause an infection.
Take it slowly for your first six weeks postpartum, and stay at a workout intensity at which you can maintain a conversation but not belt out a song. Try to build up to walking three to five times a week for 30 minutes at this exertion level.
In a video that has more than 3.7 million views on TikTok, Grant Buechner, who is also a registered nurse and lactation consultant, explains that grooming is not recommended beyond 36 weeks gestation. “Shaving pubic hair can INCREASE risk of infection at the time of birth, even with Cesarean birth,” she wrote.
Until your six-week postpartum check up, you shouldn't be doing any serious exercise, says Amy Gildner, an orthopaedic physiotherapist and certified pelvic floor physiotherapist at West End Mamas in Toronto. “It's definitely a time to rest and repair,” she says.
One thing that often surprises my patients is that you should not drive for two weeks after delivery. All deliveries, whether vaginal or cesarean, involve some blood loss. This blood loss could cause some weakness which could impair your driving ability.
After a normal vaginal birth, you will probably stay in the birth room with your baby for about 2 hours. You may have a meal and a shower before transferring to the postnatal ward or going home. If you are going home 4 to 6 hours after birth, you might be able to stay in the birth room until discharge.
In fact, the AAP recommends that healthy, full-term infants "be placed and remain in direct skin-to-skin contact with their mothers immediately after delivery until the first feeding is accomplished." Most babies begin to nurse within the first hour or so, given the opportunity.
You may shower, bathe or wash your hair at any time after the birth of your baby. During your first six weeks, avoid strenuous work. You may choose to limit visits with family and friends during the first two weeks, as it may cause undue fatigue for you and could also be detrimental to your baby's health.
When your baby is ready to begin the journey through the birth canal, your cervix dilates from fully closed to 10 centimeters. This process can take hours, days, or even weeks. But once you hit active labor – about 6 cm dilated – it's usually just a matter of hours before you reach full dilation.
“There isn't a minimum cervical dilation. I have done epidurals at one centimeter and when a woman is fully dilated at 10 centimeters,” Dr. McGuire says. A common concern is that having an epidural early in labor slows down labor and delivery.
Pain during labor is caused by contractions of the muscles of the uterus and by pressure on the cervix. This pain can be felt as strong cramping in the abdomen, groin, and back, as well as an achy feeling. Some women experience pain in their sides or thighs as well.
The first stage of labor is the longest stage. For first-time moms, it can last from 12 to 19 hours. It may be shorter (about 14 hours) for moms who've already had children. It's when contractions become strong and regular enough to cause your cervix to dilate (open) and thin out (efface).
The average labor lasts 12 to 24 hours for a first birth and is typically shorter (eight to 10 hours) for other births. Throughout this time, you'll experience three stages of labor. The first stage of labor is usually the longest and it ranges from when you first go into labor until your cervix is open.
While there's no required waiting period before you can have sex again, many health care providers recommend waiting to have sex until four to six weeks after delivery, regardless of the delivery method. The risk of having a complication after delivery is highest during the first two weeks after delivery.
Unless you've had a C-section, you should be able to leave the hospital approximately 24 hours after giving birth, assuming both you and your baby have been cleared by your doctors. The C-section recovery timeline has you staying for approximately two to four days.