As soon as your baby is out, your body begins its physical healing process in a bid to restore itself to its pre-pregnancy state. Don’t be alarmed if you experience some or even most of the following symptoms after giving birth.

1 Discomfort and Swelling
This is common for women who have gone through a vaginal delivery. Some resulting tears and episiotomies in the vaginal area can be significantly larger than others, and these will therefore be accompanied with more discomfort while taking a longer time to heal.

It is important to reduce the risk of infection as a wound which does not heal properly can lead to scarring. Washing your nether regions on a daily basis, especially after using the toilet and while you are bathing, is recommended. It is good to use specially-formulated feminine wash to keep that area clean while changing your sanitary pads regularly. Ice packs can help to reduce swelling, and sitting on padded rings and soft pillows can help to ease some of the discomfort.

2 Lochia
Many women have vaginal discharge called lochia after delivery, and this can even last for up to 6 weeks post delivery. It usually starts off as bright red discharge before changing to a brownish colour, and finally white as the bleeding stops. Occasional passing out of blood clots is normal, as the womb contracts and more frequent changing of sanitary pads instead of using tampons is advisable so as to reduce the risk of infections. Take note of and see your gynaecologist for any excessive bleeding, fever or foul-smelling discharge.

3 Urinary Discomfort
Some women may experience temporary urinary stress incontinence especially whenever they laugh, cough or sneeze after a vaginal delivery. This is a result of overstretching of the connective tissues around the bladder base and nerves – it tends to resolve spontaneously as the tissues contract and heal. This process can be helped further with Kegel exercises which are designed to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, increase vaginal tone and to restore the bladder support.

Swelling and bruising around the bladder area can also cause difficulty passing urine, which is made worse with the fear of pain during urination. This should recover with time. It is important to see your gynaecologist if this does not improve, or if there is fever or burning pain during urination.

4 Piles and Bowel Problems
Piles (haemorrhoids) are abnormal swelling of the veins around the anus, and this can be exacerbated during pregnancy or after vaginal delivery. Because of the fear of hurting their perineum or aggravating the painful haemorrhoids or episiotomy wound, some women will avoid emptying their bowels regularly, and this can lead to chronic constipation. Topical creams or oral medication can be taken to shrink the haemorrhoids. In addition to this, stool softeners and increasing dietary fibre intake (fruits, vegetables and whole grains) may help to make it easier to pass motion.

Difficult and traumatic vaginal deliveries can damage pelvic floor muscles and the anal sphincter, which in turn leads to faecal incontinence. Kegel exercises are helpful, but if the problem still persists after several months, a gynaecological assessment is advisable.

5 Contractions
Following delivery, the womb continues to contract back to its original size, and these ‘contractions’ can be felt for several weeks. This process is induced by breast feeding and is necessary for your body to return to its original size as well as for reducing the bleeding, but can sometimes be very painful.
Oral analgesics are often sufficient to relieve pain. Women should see their gynaecologist if there is excessive pain accompanied with fever, as this could indicate a uterine infection, which requires urgent treatment with antibiotics.