Postpartum Care: Your Body and Feelings After Giving Birth

Taking home a new baby is one of the happiest times in a woman's life, but it also brings physical and emotional challenges.

Taking care of your body

• Rest as much as you can. You may find all you can do is eat, sleep and care for your baby — and that's perfectly okay.
• Bleeding: expect spotting or bleeding, like a menstrual period, off and on for up to six weeks.
• Other changes: you may have swelling in your legs and feet, constipation, and menstrual-like cramping.
• Breasts: even if you aren't breastfeeding, milk may leak from your nipples, and your breasts may feel full, tender or uncomfortable.
• Activity: follow your doctor's advice on how much activity — such as climbing stairs or walking — you can do over the next few weeks.
• Sex: doctors usually advise waiting four to six weeks after birth before having sexual intercourse.

Your feelings

Feeling sad — the "baby blues" — is common. But if you are extremely sad, or can't care for yourself or your baby, you may have a serious condition called postpartum depression. Talk to your doctor.

Sources

Based on "Postpartum Care," MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, drawing on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health; a work of the United States government in the public domain.