The 5-5-5 rule after birth is a postpartum recovery guideline for the first 15 days at home, suggesting: 5 days in bed, 5 days on the bed (sitting up, around the bed), and 5 days near the bed (gentle movement around the house), focusing on rest, bonding with the baby, and minimizing chores or entertaining guests to support healing. It's rooted in ancient "lying-in" traditions and emphasizes that the mother's well-being is crucial for her recovery and the baby's future, promoting self-care over productivity.
The 5-5-5 Rule for Rest recommends five days in bed, five days around the bed, and five days around the home to prioritize recovery after the major physical toll of birth.
The 5-5-5 postpartum rule prescribes 15 days of rest for moms following childbirth – five days in the bed, five days on the bed and five days around the bed. It encourages moms to take a break from housework and caring for older children, and simply spend time with the new baby.
In addition to addressing immediate health concerns, these first weeks after birth are crucial for building relationships and establishing behaviours that affect long-term infant development and health.
Don't Put Anything in Your Vagina.
You may wonder when you can go back to regular activities such as having sex and using tampons. You should wait till your doctor clears you (normally around six weeks postpartum). Your doctor may recommend not to put anything inside you because of the risk of infection.
Rest in a horizontal position:
– Lying in bed/ on the couch (on your back or side). Especially the days in hospital post-delivery as this helps to take stress off the pelvic floor and allows it to recover more quickly.
In reality, the third week might be the hardest week postpartum, since everything seems to feel “normal,” but so much is happening at the same time. This being said, the third week will be an important week to focus on your mental health.
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.
Your uterus will shrink more rapidly if you breastfeed. When your newborn suckles (or you pump), your body makes oxytocin (a hormone).
The 40-day rule after birth, often called confinement or "The Golden Month," is a widespread cultural tradition emphasizing a mother's deep rest, healing, and bonding with her newborn, with family often handling chores and visitors, promoting physical recovery (like stopping bleeding) and mental well-being, rooted in ancient practices from Asia, Latin America, and religious traditions like Judaism and Christianity. Key aspects involve nourishing the mother, sheltering her from stress, and focusing solely on resting and bonding, a stark contrast to Western pressures to "bounce back" quickly.
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.
During your postpartum period, you should avoid strenuous activity, but taking a walk around your neighborhood can boost your mood and energy levels. Spend some quality time with your partner. A new baby can mean less quality time with your partner. Carve out a little alone time — and don't feel guilty.
That's about one feeding every 2 to 3 hours. While waking up a sleeping baby might seem like a bad idea, frequent feedings early on are important for a couple of reasons: Crying is a late sign of hunger. The sooner you begin each feeding, the less likely you'll need to soothe a frantic baby.
Even if you do not experience a vaginal tear from your delivery, the place where your placenta was attached to the uterus needs to heal. The placenta is the size of a dinner plate, so essentially there is a dinner plate-size wound in your uterus that needs to heal.
The Best Postpartum Food to Eat
Don't wipe! Dab and use a peri bottle. Wiping can be irritating to the skin, using a peri bottle to clean after a bowel movement is gentle and will help in healing. Also, if you have hemorrhoids talk to your medical provider about soothing treatments you can use such as Tucks pads, aloe and/or coconut oil.
In fact, we recommend delaying your newborn's first full bath for at least two weeks. Newborns shed about three layers of skin within their first week, which often surprises new parents. Their skin is still adjusting to the dry air, so it's perfectly normal.
Normal lochia after birth has a strong fishy smell like menstruation, lochia usually lasts about 20 days on average, or can be up to 40 - 45 days. The color and amount of lochia after birth can change over time.
The 2-hour rule for babies means they shouldn't stay in a car seat (or travel system seat) for more than two hours at a time, whether in or out of the car, because the semi-upright position can strain their developing spine and restrict their breathing, increasing the risk of low oxygen levels, especially for newborns and preemies. For long journeys, parents should take breaks every two hours to take the baby out, allow them to lie flat for a while, stretch, and feed, ensuring they get proper head/neck support and circulation.
You Shouldn't Do These 12 Things After Giving Birth
The first hour after birth, the “Golden Hour”, when a healthy baby is calmly placed skin-to-skin on the mother's chest, not only facilitates a smooth transition from the womb to the outside world, stabilising the baby physiologically, but also offers a unique opportunity for the mother and baby to connect emotionally ( ...
You may feel some suture material for 1-4 weeks depending on what type of suture was used. Bleeding after delivery will continue for 4-8 weeks but should get lighter after the first few days. You may have a return of bright red bleeding 7-10 days after delivery, this is normal if it is similar to a period or less.
Healthy babies should be placed on their backs to sleep. In 2005, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Task Force on Infant Sleep Position and SIDS (hereafter, the AAP Task Force) issued revised recommendations for reducing the risk of SIDS.
Postpartum nutrition