During the C-section recovery process, discomfort and fatigue are common. To promote healing:
- Take it easy. Rest when possible. Try to keep everything that you and your baby might need within reach. For the first few weeks, avoid lifting anything heavier than your baby. Also, avoid lifting from a squatting position.
- Seek pain relief. To soothe incision soreness, your health care provider might recommend a heating pad, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others), acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or other medications to relieve pain. Most pain relief medications are safe for women who are breast-feeding.
- Avoid sex. To prevent infection, avoid sex for six weeks after your C-section.
You might also consider not driving until you are able to comfortably apply brakes and twist to check blind spots without the help of pain medication. This might take one to two weeks.
Check your C-section incision for signs of infection. Pay attention to any signs or symptoms you experience. Contact your health care provider if:
- Your incision is red, swollen or leaking discharge
- You have a fever
- You have heavy bleeding
- You have worsening pain
If you experience severe mood swings, loss of appetite, overwhelming fatigue and lack of joy in life shortly after childbirth, you might have postpartum depression. Contact your health care provider if you think you might be depressed, especially if your signs and symptoms don’t fade on their own, you have trouble caring for your baby or completing daily tasks, or you have thoughts of harming yourself or your baby.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that postpartum care be an ongoing process rather than just a single visit after your delivery. Have contact with your health care provider within the first three weeks after delivery. Within 12 weeks after delivery, see your health care provider for a comprehensive postpartum evaluation. During this appointment your health care provider will check your mood and emotional well-being, discuss contraception and birth spacing, review information about infant care and feeding, talk about your sleep habits and issues related to fatigue and do a physical exam. This might include a check of your abdomen, vagina, cervix and uterus to make sure you’re healing well. In some cases, you might have the checkup earlier so that your health care provider can examine your C-section incision. Use this visit to ask questions about your recovery and caring for your baby.