How you can help yourself

When to speak to a healthcare provider

For more information

Constipation: You may feel blocked or constipated the first few days after having a baby. 

How you can help yourself

• drink lots of water and eat high-fibre foods;
  
• take stool softeners (only use these for 5 days).

Fecal incontinence: inability to control your bowel movements.

How you can help yourself 

• talk with your care provider immediately about possible causes;
  
• speak with a BCW physiotherapist about pelvic floor retraining.
  

Hemorrhoids: swollen veins near your rectum/anus.

How you can help yourself 

• use a hemorrhoid cream
  
• avoid straining with a bowel movement
  
• rest lying down to relieve the pressure
  

Call your healthcare provider if you have:

• not had a bowel movement for more than 3 days;
  

• blood in your stool (poo);
  

• inability to control your stool;
  

• painful haemorrhoids.
  

For more information

• Healthy Families BC. Managing Bowel Movements After Pregnancy

Having a baby can stretch and weaken the pelvic floor muscles and occasionally affect the nerves controlling the bladder.  Leaking urine is common for the first 6 weeks following delivery.

Urinary Incontinence: involuntary loss of urine.

How you can help yourself

• frequently empty your bladder in the first few days after birth.
• attend the Postpartum Physiotherapy Class at BC Women's and learn how to find your pelvic floor muscles and do muscle strengthening exercises correctly. 

Call your healthcare provider if you have:

• severe pain when urinating;
  
• constant leaking; 
  
• inability to pee;
  
• a strong need to pee but very little comes out;
  
• leaking for more than 6 weeks after delivery.
  

For more information

• BC Women’s Exercise in Pregnancy
  
• BC Women’s Continence Clinic
  
• Pelvic Floor Health 
  

Cramping (after-pains) is common after birth as your uterus returns to its regular size. Cramps are often more intense when breastfeeding. It takes about 6 weeks for your uterus to return to normal size. 

Take ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) or acetaminophen (Tylenol) to manage pain.

If you had a c-section, you may have stitches or staples in your lower abdomen.  The stitches will go away (dissolve) within 2 weeks; the staples will be taken out before you leave the hospital. It is common to feel tender and numb around the incision (cut).

If you had a c-section help yourself by

• keeping the incision clean and dry; 

• shower using mild soap and warm water;

• giving yourself time to heal by resting and not doing too much;

• trying not to lift anything heavier than your baby;

• not driving until you are pain-free and moving well.

Call your healthcare provider if you had a c-section and notice any of the following:

• redness;
  

• leaking from the incision;
  

• bleeding;
  

• worsening pain;
  

• fever greater than 38 C or chills;
  

• opening of the incision.
  

For more information

• HealthLink BC - What to Expect after a C-Section

During delivery you may have had vaginal tearing, or you may have had an episiotomy (cut) requiring stitches. Your vaginal area will take time to heal and the stitches will dissolve on their own. It's common to feel tender and sore for a few days or longer. 

How you can help yourself

• place a cold compress or frozen sanitary pad wrapped in a thin cloth on the sore area for 10 minutes at a time for relief;
  
• have warm sitz baths (sitting in water up to the hips) for 10 minutes, 3 times a day after the first 24 hours to ease pain;
  
• rest lying down to relieve the pressure and improve swelling or pain;
  
• take ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) or acetaminophen (Tylenol) for pain.
  

Call your healthcare provider if you have:

• vaginal pain that is getting worse;
  
• increasing swelling between your vagina and anus;
  
• stitches coming out.

For more information

• Healthy Families BC - Vaginal Care After Giving Birth
  
• SOGC - Vaginal Recovery
  

Blood loss after birth is called lochia. For the first two to three days after birth, the blood is bright red and the flow is heavy. Bleeding will slow down and change to a reddish-brown colour, then a pinky-white colour. Bleeding can last up to six weeks.

How you can help yourself

• use sanitary pads for bleeding, not tampons, to prevent infection;
  
• change your pad every 4 hours if you had a vaginal tear to reduce your chance of infection;
  
• bleeding may increase with activity, and is normal.
  

Call your healthcare provider if you have:

• bright red, heavy bleeding even when resting;
  
• passing blood clots larger than a loonie over several hours;
  
• bleeding soaks more than 1 large pad an hour for more than 2 hours;
  
• bleeding that lasts beyond 6 weeks.
  

For more information

• HealthLink BC - Vaginal Bleeding After Delivery
  

How you can help yourself

Postpartum Physiotherapy Class

• learn to recognize the signs of healthy recovery in the days, weeks, and months postpartum;
  
• find out how to take care of yourself while taking care of your newborn;
• get the right information about how to begin early, safe, exercies (following a vaginal or c-section birth);
  
• learn how and when to progress your exercise;
  
• learn more about ongoing back or pelvic pain, leaking urine, gas or stool, bulging abdominal muscles, and/or pain or numbness in your hands. 

When to Speak to a healthcare provider