Your bundle of joy is here, but your ordeal may not be over just yet. There are often some further issues after giving birth, such as pain in the lower pelvic areas and thyroid inflammation.
Back Pain After Complicated Labour
Complicated labour, such as “back labour”, can cause pain after you give birth. When the baby’s head is positioned wrong, back labour occurs, and it causes a lot of pain during birth. But the pain can last after the child is born. Yet even standard birth can also cause back pain. These can last for around 6 months, so it might be worth booking an osteopathy appointment with a local clinic to ease your pain and work on getting some muscle and joint strength back.
Pain in Your Perineum
The lower part of your body around the pelvis area is really put through its paces when you deliver a baby. And the perineum between your butt and vagina can become torn or begin to swell during and after your labour. This can be very painful for around two weeks or more and feels like a burn. Fortunately, it is very easy to treat. First, keep the area as clean as possible, and try not to touch it. You can also use OTC treatments such as analgesic sprays like Ibuleve.
Incontinence is Common After Giving Birth
Peeing and pooping yourself during labour is expected. But you can experience urinary incontinence for quite a while after giving birth. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, and it happens to a quarter of women following childbirth. There are some things that can affect this, such as how your baby was delivered, your weight at the time and your breastfeeding habits. It can take from a week to a few months for incontinence to stop, but it rarely continues past this.
An Inflamed Thyroid Gland
The thyroid gland helps produce and regulate your body’s hormones and plays a major role when you are pregnant. But it is so active before, during and after birth that it can become inflamed. Thyroiditis, as it is known, can cause anxiety, weight loss and mood swings. Fortunately, this is pretty rare and affects around 3% of women. But it is known to last for up to a year after giving birth. However, there isn’t much you can do in the way of treatment but wait.
Fluctuating Glucose Levels
Diabetes and “gestational” diabetes can wreak havoc on your blood sugar levels after giving birth. If you are diabetic, then you must control your condition more strictly than before. This means checking your blood sugar levels more often and being careful about what you eat. Gestational diabetes is temporary and will go away after a while. You can level off your symptoms and make them go away quicker with a healthy and nutritious diet and daily exercise.
Summary
After giving birth, your body will need to recover from the trauma of it all. You can expect issues such as back pain, loss of bladder control, and massive swings in your blood sugar levels.
