Podcast
Navigating the Postnatal Period: My Expert Midwife
This month for Midwife Monthly, we are joined by My Expert Midwife for advice on postnatal recovery tips. Whether you are recovering from a vaginal birth or a C-setion, My Expert Midwife suggests products from their range that support recovery and some healthy tips and tricks for understanding and aiding your recovery.
What is Matrescence?
Bringing a new life into the world is life-changing, but so is the journey that follows, a process called Matrescence. When we think about motherhood, often the focus is on pregnancy, birth, and caring for a newborn. But there is a profound journey that begins long before your baby arrives, and it continues long after. This journey is called matrescence.
Matrescence is the emotional, psychological, and physical change that occurs as a woman becomes a mother. It’s often compared to adolescence, the transition from girlhood to adulthood, because it involves a deep reshaping of identity, relationships, and self-understanding. As midwives, we see this transformation every day. But it’s a side of motherhood that often goes unspoken, unseen, and misunderstood.
Matrescence helps women understand why they may feel overwhelmed, exhausted, or emotionally raw, even if everything “looks fine” on the outside. Matrescence reminds us that motherhood isn’t just about milestones or physical changes; it’s about becoming a whole new version of yourself.
The fourth trimester, those first 12 weeks after birth, is often overshadowed by focus on the baby, yet it’s a pivotal time for mum’s physical, emotional, and mental well-being. Here’s our top tips to help you navigate this gentle but essential recovery period. Even though caring for a newborn is demanding, carving out daily time for yourself is vital. Self-care isn’t selfish, it’s non-negotiable!
Self Care Tools:
- Warm Baths: Soothe a sore perineum or healing C-section wound with a gentle soak in Soak for Bits and Body, infused with Epsom salts, arnica, calendula, and bergamot offers physical relief and emotional calm.
- Targeted Care: Relief sprays with Spritz for Bits can ease soreness, while Nipple Balm can protect and soothe feeding discomfort.
- Pelvic Floor Exercises: Begin as soon as you feel able, simple routines help rebuild core strength and improve bladder control.
- Set Aside “You Time”: Even 30 quiet minutes, whether it’s a walk, nap, or warm shower, it can create a reset moment in the chaos of postnatal recovery.
Postnal recovery tips after vaginal birth:
Healing from a vaginal birth varies, and often, pressure to “bounce back” can do more harm than good.
Key steps for postnatal recovery:
- Understand Tears: About 90% of first-time mums and 70% of those with subsequent babies, experience perineal tears or require an episiotomy.
- Stick to prescribed or over the counter (OTC) pain relief.
- Choose comfortable feeding positions (like side-lying) to ease pressure on stitches.
- Soak or shower twice daily to keep the area clean and reduce infection risk.
- Change maternity pads every four hours and wash hands thoroughly before and after.
- Watch for Warning Signs: If there’s increasing pain, unusual smell, discharge, or swelling, reach out to your midwife or GP.
Postnatal recovery after a caesarean section (C-section):
C-section is major abdominal surgery, healing takes patience, time, and tender care.
What to expect and how to care:
- First few days: Expect soreness, tiredness, and limited mobility. Gentle movement, restful sleep, and nourishment are crucial.
- 1–2 weeks postnatal: A community midwife usually removes your wound dressing around day 2-7 but this can vary depending on the type of dressing and your wound. Your wound may appear bruised or raised, but sutures (stitches) are dissolvable.
- By 6 weeks: Your wound is usually healed, but full cellular recovery may take up to 2 years.
- Soreness at the wound site and internally, using Spritz For Bits regularly directly onto the site of the wound can cool and soothe the area bringing much needed instant relief.
- Difficulty sleeping – sleeping on your back is recommended for surgery recovery as it puts the least amount of pressure on your incision site.
- Additional discomfort including shoulder and neck pain caused by trapped wind, vaginal bleeding, constipation, cannulas and catheters, etc. Don’t forget that Spritz for Bits is great for freshening up following removal of a urinary catheter and for post-birth blood loss.
- You may be advised to continue wearing your compression stockings and will be prescribed a course of anticoagulation (blood-thinning) injections to continue at home to reduce your risk of developing post-surgery blood clots.
Tips shares across all postnatal recovery journeys:
- Prioritise Daily “Me Time”: Whether it’s a short walk, warm soak, or restful pause daily rituals help restore balance.
- Gentle Movement & Nourishment: From pelvic exercises to mindful nutrition and hydration these are healing essentials.
- Grounding Self-Care Products: Midwife-developed tools like Spritz for Bits, Soak for Bits, and Nipple Balm bring comfort while aiding recovery.
- Rest Without Guilt: Healing takes time. Allow yourself to do less and be patient with your body’s pace.
There’s no sugarcoating it, the fourth trimester is tender, tiring, and deeply transformative. But with each gentle bath, restful pause, and nourishing meal, you’re reminding yourself that you matter too.
