5 Common Post-Pregnancy Conditions You Should Expect

Written By Brooke Chaplan / Reviewed By Ray Spotts

Pregnancy can be an exciting experience for everyone involved. Some of your loved ones may offer some helpful tips that they wish they knew during their pregnancy. However, some new mothers are unaware that there are some post-pregnancy issues that they will experience sooner than later.

If your bun is still in the oven, here are five common conditions to get ready for so that you can prepare accordingly.

Postpartum Contractions

When your baby is still in-utero, your uterus significantly grows to accommodate your baby’s growth. After your delivery, your uterus gradually shrinks from a few pounds to a couple of ounces. Therefore, you’ll likely notice you’re experiencing contractions for a while after you’ve given birth.

This is especially true for women who breastfeed. It’s perfectly normal to expect some pain or discomfort during this time. However, most of the pain should subside within about three days.

Engorged Breasts

Speaking of breastfeeding, you can expect your breasts to grow as your body begins to produce milk. As your body gets used to producing larger amounts of milk, you’ll subsequently have swollen breasts. Swollen breasts due to milk production is called engorgement.

If this isn’t your first baby, you are likely aware that engorgement can be very painful, especially when your breasts begin to crack. Luckily, you can easily solve your engorged breast problem.

For one, you can use warm compresses to reduce the swelling. You can also apply oils and ointments to the cracked and irritated parts of your body while they adjust to regularly feeding your baby.

Hormonal Changes

It can be difficult to anticipate every change that your body will experience during and after pregnancy. Your body naturally increases your hormones to help your baby’s development. Your postpartum hormones can take some time to regulate, resulting in hair loss, weight fluctuation, and even mood swings.

Postpartum depression is a condition where new mothers experience sadness, exhaustion, and other symptoms. This is an especially important change to look out for both the mother and children.

Urinary Incontinence

Oftentimes, women will have difficulties controlling their bladder after delivery. This condition is known as urinary incontinence and can make it difficult to complete daily tasks comfortably.

Luckily, this condition can be treated with the help of a medical professional. Treatment can consist of minimizing bladder leakage and can even involve strengthening pelvic floor muscles.

Changes in Belly Size

Sure, some women drop their baby weight. If you’re not one of those mothers who immediately lose their belly, it’s completely normal. You may have diastasis recti, which occurs when your abdominal muscles separate to make room for your growing fetus. Give your body some time to adjust and continue eating nutritious food. Eventually, your belly can shrink.

Giving birth is a beautiful part of life. If you’re still waiting to have your bundle of joy, always begin preparing for potential post-pregnancy conditions.

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Written By:

Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most of her time hiking, biking, and gardening. For more information, contact Brooke via Facebook at facebook.com/brooke.chaplan or Twitter @BrookeChaplan  

Reviewed By:

Founder Ray Spotts has a passion for all things natural and has made a life study of nature as it relates to health and well-being. Ray became a forerunner bringing products to market that are extraordinarily effective and free from potentially harmful chemicals and additives. For this reason Ray formed Trusted Health Products, a company you can trust for clean, effective, and healthy products. Ray is an organic gardener, likes fishing, hiking, and teaching and mentoring people to start new businesses. You can get his book for free, “How To Succeed In Business Based On God’s Word,” at www.rayspotts.com.