Mustela. The skin care specialist for babies and mothers-to-be.
Post partum: a period of almost perfect happiness
Introduction
Learning the right positions
Fighting against “heaviness” on a daily basis
Relaxing
Helping the body to “recover from pregnancy”
Helping the body to “recover from pregnancy”
It took nine months to house and “produce” your baby, the placenta, the amniotic fluid, increase the uterus to forty times its size, lengthen the abdominals, etc.
After birth, the uterus remains large, the stomach distended and the tissue rather infiltrated, even if you have not put on a lot of weight.
You must help the body with the elimination process, by stimulating uterine retraction, digestion, the kidneys and liver, discharge of the bladder, and venous and lymph return.
Abdominal breathing and a particular breathing technique – fake thoracic inhalation – are extremely effective on these different points (see below).
• Draining, strengthening the deep abdominal muscles and the back muscles, stretching and toning, protecting the perineum and putting it to work without any pain.
- The perineum
In practice, lie down on your back, keeping it quite flat, a cushion under the knees, or on your side, your upper knee raised towards your chest so as not to arch the back.
Imagine that you have to hold in wind or the desire to urinate or defecate and concentrate on the movement that this gesture provokes.
It is not painful, even if there are sutures in the perineal area. On the contrary, if you cough, sneeze or laugh, you will feel less pain if you remember to hold yourself in. You are going to work your muscles, soften the scar and cause blood to circulate in the perineum without exhausting it.
Breathe out every time that you make this effort, starting from the perineum so as to send all of the thrusting force upwards and thus lift the organs like a girdle.
- Fake thoracic inhalation
In a lying down position, slowly breathe out from the perineum, and then close your mouth, pinch your nose with one hand, press the back of your head (occiput) against the ground or the pillow, or simply move your neck back if you are on your side and “pretend to breathe in” with your chest, without taking in any air. You should feel your stomach go down dramatically and your breasts lift. This provides a real internal massage.
Repeat this exercise extremely often, at the end of each feed, for example.
• Closing up and supporting the pelvis: manoeuvres and bandages.
- The pelvis support belt
After childbirth, many mothers feel “dislocated” and open in the pelvis area.
In any event, the pelvis expands a little with childbirth and the abdominals are incapable of immediately containing all of the visceral mass.
The pelvic joints in the lower back move, triggering pseudo-sciatic pain, or at the front of the body, sensations of heaviness in the lower abdomen and on the perineum are very frequent when standing.
In traditional societies, in which women have a lot of children, manoeuvres are performed from the moment of birth and bandages are used to help rebalance the body.
Wearing a small elastic belt that does not constrict the stomach, but “closes up” the pelvis a little by containing the hips, sacroiliacs and symphysis, is extremely effective on pelvic pain when standing and helps to reposition the organs and take the pressure off the perineum.
This belt has soothing effects, even in the case of a Caesarean.
Do not hesitate to wear it when you are standing up. There is no risk that it will prevent your abdominals from working; on the contrary, you will stand up straighter, which will help the musculature of the lower abdomen to recuperate.
Of course, there are many other stretches and postures in answer to different problems, for example “pseudo-sciatica” and allowing the abdominals to recuperate without any risk to the perineum.
This text was written by Dr Bernadette de Gasquet.
A doctor, yoga teacher and mother of three, Dr Bernadette de Gasquet has been supporting parents-to-be for over 25 years. In her work, she combines a body-oriented approach, traditional know-how and modern medicine. Known through her books and the mass media, Bernadette de Gasquet also teaches health care and sports professionals.
In particular, Dr de Gasquet is employed as a trainer in a great many maternity clinics in France and abroad, offering postural guidance for pregnancy, childbirth and the post partum period.
Website: www.degasquet.com