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Postpartum Perineal Pain – Cause and Relief
You might think that labour and delivery are the most painful part of childbirth. But you may experience considerable pain even after the birthing experience. A baby can weigh around 6 to 8 pounds (2.5 - 3.5kgs) and might find it difficult in passing through a narrow opening, leading to vaginal tears or some form of discomfort in the perineal area.
What Is Postpartum Perineal Pain?
The perineum lies between the vagina and the anus, and it undergoes a lot of stretching and immense pressure during delivery. The intensity of pain coupled with the recovery time varies on the method of delivery. If you had a vaginal birth without any tears (episiotomy), discomfort in your perineal region might last for about 3-5 weeks. The pain could last for as long as 6 weeks if you underwent an episiotomy. Some perineal discomfort may be felt even after a C-section delivery, depending on how long you pushed.
To relive vaginal pain after birth, you can resort to the following measures.
Ensure the area is clean: You can spray warm water with the help of a squirt bottle over the painful area.
Apply a cold pack: Crushed ice with an inbuilt cold pack can be applied on the area to reduce the amount of swelling. It should be applied for a couple of hours, after 24 hours of the delivery.
Why Does The Perineum Become So Sore After Delivery?
In a vaginal birth, compression on the perineum is immense because it needs to be stretched for the head of the baby to be accommodated. During the process of birth, the perineum is prone to wear or tear, or your doctor may suggest an incision, creating a wider opening for your baby’s head. This procedure is termed as an episiotomy, and you will encounter immense soreness after birth if you are required to go through one.
As discussed earlier, if the birth is accomplished without a tear or episiotomy, chances are there that the perineum could be tender or swollen afterwards. It may heal in a week, or it could take a couple of more days to get back to normal. The healing period is longer if you went through an episiotomy.
How Long Does it Take to Heal Perineal Pain?
The process of healing varies from one woman to another. The deeper the cut, the longer the recovery procedure is expected to be. A tear of first-degree means more skin is involved than muscles, and you may not even need stitches. First-degree tears are known to cause a minimum amount of discomfort, as they tend to heal quickly.
When it is a second-degree tear, then both muscle and skin are involved. This requires stitches, and would need a couple of weeks to heal. During this time, the stitches dry out, and some women experience pain for a few days, whereas for others it may stretch to months as well.
If it’s a third or fourth-degree laceration, deeper sutures are required, and the pain could stretch to more than a month. Any individual could experience these tears, but chances will increase if you have had an episiotomy. After a few days of birth, you are likely to experience difficulty in bowel movements or urinating. There could be chances of an increase in passing motion and gas, which could prevail for several months.
How to Deal With The Pain And Heal The Area?
Your doctor or healthcare service provider is going to provide you with detailed inputs on how to take care of yourself. The onus of treatment mechanisms is centered around postpartum perineal pain relief.
Immediately after the birth of the baby, an ice pack needs to be applied with a smooth covering over the perineum. That is a primary requirement, and your nurse will provide you with one. This is going to reduce the discomfort along with swelling. Over a period of the next 12 days, apply a single ice pack each day.
Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen can reduce the pain. If you are breastfeeding, it is better to avoid aspirin. When you experience an unexpected tear, a pain medication prescription may be advocated.
Change the sanitary pad frequently during the day.
Do not sit for long hours at a single place till the perineum is sore.
A squirt bottle is generally provided by your hospital whereby you can spray warm-hot water on your perineum. This water has a soothing impact, and it does not burn much once contact is established with your skin.
The wound should be exposed to air as much as possible.
You can plan for warm soaks in the bathtub or a sit-in bath after 24 hours have passed since delivery. In this form of bath, a shallow basin is filled with hot water and put over your toilet seat. The utility of it is that you can soak your perineal area several times a day without having to get into a tub full of water and undress each time. Most hospitals have this form of bath in their repertoire, and if you desire, you can take it home as well. It is also available at most drug stores.
Try to take things easy and do not indulge in unnecessary chores. All your energy should be directed on taking care of the baby and speeding up your recovery.
If the tear happens to be of higher magnitude, ensure that your fluid intake is on the higher side and enough roughage is part of your diet so that you do not suffer from constipation.
Avoid any of rectal treatments along with enemas (fluid injected for bowel cleansing or to relieve constipation).
If you feel that the pain is not reducing within a few weeks, then it is better to seek professional help.
When to Seek Doctor’s Help?
Perineal pain after delivery is an inevitable part of the childbirth process, and as your hormone levels will be fluctuating, you might feel highly emotional during this time. An emotional counselor would be of immense help now. As a golden rule, if you feel that things are not on the right track as far as you and the baby are concerned, immediately seek the expert advice of a doctor.
Seek the doctor’s help if you encounter the following symptoms:
Any form of vaginal discharge with a strong odour
Dizziness or fainting
Difficulty in urinating or pain during the process
Vomiting at regular intervals
Breasts become sore and are too soft or red to touch
Any form of pain in your legs with swelling or redness
Your doctor is the right person to figure out the underlying causes of the above-mentioned symptoms. It is possible that you could have an infection.
Conclusion:
Childbirth can be a painful process. There might be chances of developing anal fissures and haemorrhoids while pushing the baby out. This can be highly uncomfortable and at times extremely painful. But with good care, hygiene and time, perineal pain can heal quickly. Read more
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Your Child Is Your Reflection, So Practice What You Preach!
It's often heard a strict mother is good mother...so are lenient mothers bad? Children learn by observing things around them, they become what they see, listen & act the way we conduct ourselves around them.
Is there a way to determine what is the best possible practice in upbringing your little ones?
See this illustration:
Image source: iñternet goohle images parenting style
I have this fear that if we fail to raise him right at this stage then it will have a huge repercussion on him future. So I become the nagging mother, who is constantly poking her nose (with pure intentions of his goodwill) in smallest of tasks he does, my husband has named me "helicopter mom" because of this. This doesn't end here, one day I insisted my husband that we should try to follow all the knowledge. I have read online about the authoritative approach, but soon we realised there's no black and white in parenting...its always grey! As much we want to reason with our son, its practically impossible to explain him consequences every time.
So we moulded the theoretical gyan to our practical lives. It made our lives much easier. Now we try to make him an all rounder but we never force our desires upon him. We just try and reason with him that he should try everything once, if he is scared of us, we try to make him face it, because if something instills a fear inside him, it should be curbed out with immense love and support from us at this stage! Later he'll learn to fight on his own. Similarly, if he is disappointed or frustrated by several trials and not succeeding (yes such feelings are there in a 2 year old too!) We hold his hands and work with him on it, and when he succeeds ,we clap and say very good in acknowledgement. It boosts his confidence a lot and it reflects in his personality too!
Because when a baby is raised with not just love & care but equal amounts of teaching what is right & wrong and never give up attitude, he/she shall grpw up to be a healthy person not just physically but mentally too!
Hope you liked my writing, let me know
Disclaimer: The views, opinions and positions (including content in any form) expressed within this post are those of the author alone. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The responsibility for intellectual property rights of this content rests with the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with him/her. Read more
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Talking and Communicating with your Child
Talking to your preschooler and listening to what she has to say plays a crucial part in ensuring that you have a free-flowing communication with her. By talking to her regularly, you can ensure that all is well in her little world. Here are some thoughts on the importance of talking with your child, and the ways to communicate effectively.
Just like adults, your preschooler needs someone to talk to her, and to tell someone how her day has been. Kids like to express their thoughts, feelings and fears to someone close. This is very important for developing a sense of bonding, as well as improving a child's self confidence and their overall sense of well-being. Here are some thoughts on why talking to your preschooler and communicating with her is important, and some tips to do it effectively.
Why Talking to your Child is Important
1. Improves her Sense of Observation
Talking to your child does not mean lecturing her about the various do's and don’ts you have chalked out for her. Talking to your child should foster a sense of communication, which will help your child to open up to you. Talking to your child about the world around her and its little wonders will also encourage her to observe and understand things. Next time you go for a walk in the park with your preschooler, instead of tugging her along, make a conscious effort to talk to her about what you see around you, what interests you, and so on. Find out what she finds beautiful and appreciate it.
2. Improves her Grasp of Languages
Your child is in a much better position to improve her language skills if she is constantly surrounded by people who talk to her, and encourage her to communicate back. What is important to remember here is that a dialogue between you and your child is more advantageous than her being a passive listener. So ensure that you take out time every day to have a conversation that interests your child.
3. Improves her Sense of Emotional Well-being
Your preschooler may go through a lot of emotions that may not make sense to her. Talking to your child in a non-judgemental and gentle way will help her see you as a confidant. It will build in her the confidence that you love her unconditionally, and have her best interests in mind.
4. Improves her Self-esteem
When you teach your child to manage stress and encourage her to face challenges, it has a positive impact on her confidence. Talking to your child positively and praising her little successes will help her feel good about herself and improve her overall self confidence.
Ways to Effectively Communicate with Your Child
Remember that listening is as important as talking. Take out time to listen to her and give her your undivided attention. Only then will she be open to listening to what you have to say.
Take the effort to see that you carve out some time every day to talk to her with absolutely no distractions.
As far as possible, try to be a good listener. Do not try to correct your child as she speaks and try to be as non-judgemental as possible. If she is confiding about a mistake that she has done, resist the temptation to scold or blame her. Assure her that everyone makes mistakes, and it is important that you learn from them.
Give your child positive feedback and celebrate her positive points and work on her negatives.
Encourage your child to talk to you without the fear of criticism or judgement. Give your child the time to finish whatever she is talking, and try not to interrupt in between. If you need to explain things during a conversation, do it in a way that she can understand.
By talking to your child, you can find out what is going on in her little world and help her develop a sense of happiness and well being. It will help her develop into a self confident and articulate person. Read more
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Sharing Few Things About Diet for Happy and Healthy Pregnancy!
I am a mom of twin boys. I feel every pregnancy is different and unique in their way. I believe it's a beautiful phase of life when everyone pampers you and you are like soaked up in pieces of advice. Everyone wants to share their pregnancy tips or wants you to be safe and take good care of yourself and your baby. In the whole pregnancy phase, we should take care of many things such as our doctor's visit, prenatal tabs, exercises and most importantly, our diet.
We should have at least one glass of milk daily and lots of water. Instead of juices have whole fruits. Avoid fried foods.
In my last trimester, I was in lack of Omega 3, so I had flax seeds powder, and it really helped me, so go for it. We should have small meals throughout the day; it can be six small meals or seven also, it depends on you. In our pregnancy, we tend to have cravings for so many things but better to avoid junkies. Mostly all the gynaecologists do share food chart so follow that.
Add lots of green veggies in your diet like beans, methi, spinach etc. They are a rich source of iron, folate, zinc and many more.
In between your meal make sure you have one fruit.
If you have a sunlight area at your home, do try to sit in sunlight for at least 10-15 minutes daily in your pregnancy. It will take care of the deficiency of vitamin D for you and your baby.
If you are a green tea lover try to avoid green tea, no doubt green tea is immensely beneficial but as it triggers stimulation in the uterus, it can cause preterm labour, and it interferes with absorption of iron and folic acid so better to be safe.
Most importantly stay positive and happy!! Don't let negativity come in your mind!
Disclaimer: The views, opinions and positions (including content in any form) expressed within this post are those of the author alone. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The responsibility for intellectual property rights of this content rests with the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with him/her. Read more
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My journey to bring My little Warrior to This World!!!!
It was on 11 March 2019 I came to know that I am going to be a mother... It's after a long wait I found those two lines on the pregnancy strip... Now let me tell you my story.... I got married on February 2017... First 3 months we weren't prepared for a baby... After that we started trying.... Every month we used to eagrly wait but making it all in wain my periods would show up..... Months went by every month periods showed up regularly some months even earlier.... After 6 months of trial we planned to consult a gynecologist... She did a couple of blood tests and PV... Everything was normal prescribed some folic acid tablets and send us back giving hope... Again couple of months went by trying no postives .... Finally we planned to check his count... That also came out normal.... I started feeling low.... Everything is normal but y not conceiving.... I desperately wanted to have a baby....I used to really feel sad when I hear someone is pregnant..But my family and my husband stood by my side....and after 1 and half years of marriage we thought we will start infertility treatment and went to an infertility clinic... But as a second opinion we consulted another gynecologist...she suggested a plan... That was the best decision we took... Thanks to my mom for introducing that angel to us....Three months of ovulation induction and scanning... Nothing happened... Every month after scanning yes ovulation happened... Now waiting for next periods... And the periods would show up... again same cycle..After 3 months she said we will do a tube test.. date was fixed and now waiting for that day to know if my tubes were blocked... Finally that day has arrived.. Early morning empty stomach went to hospital for the test....all preparations done I was taken for the test...my mom and husband waiting outside... First trial done dye is going inside doctor prescribed some medicine for dialation and she went... Nurses gave me the medicine and asked me to wait for some time... I was having mild cramps doctor came again tried push the dye inside my uterus again failed.... She said ok come and meet in the op... Tension has built up in each one of us...We had to wait in front of her op.. though it was for 10 mins we felt like 10 hours.... Finally it was our turn to meet her... She said my cervix is closed so we have to do a laproscopy to see what is the reason.... We all got tensed on what to do.... And finally we came to a conclusion to do surgery. Date was fixed.....again the wait started January 28 2019 was my hysterolaproscopy.. after the surgery doctor came out and told there was some obstruction in cervix which was either because of chicken pox or urinary infection. My tubes were clear...after surgery on second day I was discharged....I got my periods on 10 February 2019... Again she prescribed ovulation induction tablet....our wait for the periods again started... And on 11 March 2019 we came to know that all these struggles had showed a positive result... Those two lines which I was waiting for this long showed up.... I couldn't explain my happiness.... Happiest day I would never forget till my death.....On November 12 2019 our little bundle of joy came to us.....
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Rashmi has added a new answer
Guardian of 0 children
2 hours ago
Q. Which medicine i should take for cold during 9month pregnancy?
Rashmi
Mom of a 9 yr 8 m old girl
2 hours ago
A. Only whatever your gynaecologist suggest because during the time of pregnancy we don’t advise you to take any medicine without consulting the gynaecologist as some women can have side-effects also so better to check with your doctor
Dr Priyanka Kalra has added a new answer
Trying To Conceive
2 hours ago
Q. I have taken dydraboon tablets for 5 days started from 28 day it has been 8 days after last tablet yesterday I have done pregnancy test I got faint I have attached pic let me know what it's means I have taken pic within 5 mins only
Read moreDr Priyanka Kalra
Obstetrician and Gynaecologist
2 hours ago
A. do serum beta hcg. better to show to specialist always as they get the correct diagnosis. try to avoid self and extra medication that will only complicate this and create more damage to the child
Nm Anish Ali Hamja has added a new answer
Mom of a 3 yr 2 m old child
2 hours ago
Q. is there any tablet to prepone periods
Nm Anish Ali Hamja
Father of a 3 yr 1 m old girl
2 hours ago
A. No
Anu Sharma has added a new answer
Expecting Father due in 6 months
2 hours ago
Q. from which month or week to take calcium and iron tablets during pregnancy
Anu Sharma
Mom of a 1 yr old boy
15 mins ago
A. after 12 weeks
PiaPiousPM has added a new answer
Expecting Mom due in 5 months
2 hours ago
Q. after 7 missing of periods I got faint line first then I have tested USG and TVs it was 7 days after I missed my periods there was negetive results then doctor gave me a medicine which called macgest sr 200 then after 15 days of missing my periods I got this result am I pregnant because I do not have nasuea but have tender brest only this is the last test photo and 2 image was the 7 days of missing my periods
Read morePiaPiousPM
Mom of a 3 m old boy
1 hour ago
A. Yes you are.. Get it confirmed with an ultrasound for viability
Rashmi has added a new answer
Guardian of 0 children
1 hour ago
Q. I am 28 weeks pregnant and layed on my stomach for few seconds. is it worrisome?
Rashmi
Mom of a 9 yr 8 m old girl
1 hour ago
A. If it was just a few seconds and it is not going to make a difference yet if you want to be more sure about it if it is more for you then you can get an ultrasound done with your doctor but as far as I know few seconds are not going to make any difference but still you can check with the doctor
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