Cesarean Birth Advice

After helping many mothers after a caesarean section, I have a few pieces of advice that might be helpful.

1. Raise your knees in bed. After surgery, it helps to raise your knees a bit so that your incision doesn’t feel like it is being stretched. It works great when you are resting or feeding your baby.
2. Bring lots of pillows. Pillows can be helpful to support your tummy when sneezing or coughing. They are also helpful to position your baby when feeding. I encourage my friends and family members to bring 4 bed pillows from home to use. Just put them in a pillow case that is not white so housekeeping doesn’t think it belongs to the hospital. Trust me on this one.
3. After surgery keep those bowels moving. You can do this with gum, lots of water, or broth. You will likely be on a liquids only diet until your bowels start moving things around. One of the things that causes the most pain in a post surgery mom is gas pain. So, get up and get moving when you get the green light to do so. Moving around and walking can help prevent gas build up and pain.