Dr. Christine Cui 2017-Feb-10

After labour, a mother may need support from her husband in order for her to recover sooner from delivering a baby. It is not an easy task to take care of the newly born baby for 24 hours. The role of a husband here is significant as it may give emotional and physical support for his wife. This will avoid baby blue and eliminate depression.

A husband needs to understand that a mother also needs to nurture. Try to replenish her “love bank” and she will not be “bankrupt”.

These are some examples that a husband can do for his wife:

• Share workload, especially at night time. Dad can feed the baby while the mother asleep.
• Cook dishes for your wife. Make sure it is healthy and nutritious for both of you.
• Do not force her to do sexual activity if she is not ready, especially after C-section.
• Provide her with a bottle of water while she is breastfeeding.
• Give a regular massage or send her to a professional massage or acupuncture for relaxation and lose the weight.
• Give encouragement for her and positive words. Assist her in regaining their positive self-image. Do not mention about their stretch marks or say something that makes her feel unattractive.

The impact of labour on women – Healthy labour recovery

Some women may have a faster recovery than others; these are some of the impact on women after delivery:

• Stomach cramps. This means your uterus/womb still contracting to its pre-pregnancy size. Women uterus was about enlarged by 25 times after the baby is born. Therefore, it will need sometimes for the body to recover. The pains may be like period pains but sometimes it can be severe. This may last weeks for the uterus to return to normal size.
• Poor sleep. A mother who just had a baby usually will have a very little amount of sleep due to the baby who keeps waking up every 2-3 hours. It is necessary for a husband to share her duty so that she will have enough energy.
• Low energy/lethargic. As mentioned earlier poor sleep will cause a new mum to have low energy. Therefore, if possible, when the baby sleeps, a mother needs to sleep as well.
• Stretch marks. This is variable with all women, but it will definitely appear on your stomach. However, you can try to eliminate it by coconut oil or olive oil or other products such as “Palmer’s Cocoa butter massage cream”.
• Leaking wee. It is common to have leaking wee, especially when you cough, laugh or sneeze because the pelvic floor was under great strain.  It is recommended to do pelvic floor exercises at least 2-3 times a day to restore pelvic muscles back to normal. The midwife/nurse usually will teach you how doing it with the right techniques.
• Swollen Feet and ankles. The feet and ankles are swollen due to excess fluid that moves around inside the body. However, you still need to drink plenty of water to prevent constipation.

The other recommendation after labour:

• Always keep the feet warm, it is recommended that women after labour do not walk with bare feet because the negative energy can travel easily into the body through meridians.
• Eat food that is warm or fruits (preferably stew/soupy food).

How acupuncture may treat postpartum/after delivery?

There are several challenges that women need to overcome after labour. These challenges include:

• Breastfeeding
• Fatigue
• Depression/baby blue
• Haemorrhoids/constipation
• Bloating
• Pain and healing from C-section surgery/incision
• Nonstop uterine bleeding

Acupuncture may help women recover faster from the incision of C-Section. It  may help to repair the tissue around the incision, muscles recovery and other internal organs, especially the bladder and reproductive organs and improve abdominal core muscles

Acupuncture may also help in eliminating depression by releasing endorphins in the body and make women feel happier. It may also help to balance mood swings, improving blood flow, relaxing the mind and body.

In conclusion, acupuncture combines with Chinese medicine may eliminate the pains and challenges that women experienced after delivery of their baby.