It’s hard enough being a new mum without the added layer of struggling with your own injuries or pains. Looking after yourself isn’t selfish, It will allow you to give the time and care to you’re family without having to feel unnecessary stresses and strains.
Mum’s…..Lets talk post partum
We regularly look after entire families, including mums at all stages of pregnancy as well as post partum. Many mums come in during pregnancy to get help for their aches and pains and prepare their bodies for labour. It’s an exciting time, however it can also be a worrying one full of problems and challenges. Mums don’t always realise the amount of stress that goes through their bodies and spine after they have had their baby and are going through post partum recovery.
Whether it’s our body recovering from labour, lack of sleep or just new postural patterns we adopt, it is important to understand the impact and even more importantly to be aware of what you can do to help yourself through this time. It is so easy to shine all of the focus on your new bundle of joy but it is important not to forget some all important self care to help you through the early months of motherhood. I often find that many mums have minimal support or help with childcare to rely on, this can add to the pressures and strains of juggling motherhood, making us more tired, stressed and run down. So anything that can help support and at least remove some of the stress can be so much more impactful than you realise.
The 4th Trimester
The 1st three months post partum is known as the 4th trimester. This is a time where the body is going through many hormonal and physiological changes. There are many physical and emotional adjustments during this period, so knowing how to look after yourself during this time allows the transition into motherhood to be smoother and less stressful. The body has undergone such a significant ordeal so you cannot underestimate the continued knock on effect from it. This can also be impacted more by the type of birth you have had, especially if there has been any added trauma involved. So it’s important to do your best to support your body and healing where you can during this period.
Relaxin
During pregnancy the body creates a hormone called Relaxin which makes ligaments lax and loose to allow movement of the pelvis during birth. What many people don’t realise is that it can still be present in our bodies for several months post birth contributing to many issues that most mums just assume are normal after childbirth and simply something they have to live with. I find
that if mums have struggled with some sort of PGP (pelvic girdle pain) during pregnancy, they have a much higher chance of having issues with aches and pains in the weeks and months after birth.
These are just some of the most common effects that we see from the impact of relaxin.
Joint instability
Ligaments stabilise the joints in our bodies and prevent too much movement through them. The presence of relaxin makes ligaments looser and in turn this creates less stability of the joints. When the joints have less support, they can easily be strained or injured and this makes mums more susceptible to spinal misalignments or the onset of other pains or injuries after birth. So when we add to that all of the lifting and carrying associated with having a new baby, it is no surprise that we see so many new mums in clinic struggling with joint pains and strains.
Postural changes
These happen quite commonly for several reasons. We can often find ourselves adopting many new different postural patterns and positions such as bending with car seats or over cribs. Changing nappies in all of the weird and wonderful positions and locations! Lifting, carrying, not to mention the amount of sitting that often occurs when we are simply feeding baby. Often with breastfeeding, we can find ourselves hunched forwards and slumped for extended periods. This can create alot of discomfort through our shoulders and neck. We sit for long periods of time which also strains and puts pressure through the lower back. Not only this, but I’m sure that many off us find ourselves falling asleep in very awkward positions to find that we have jarred something and wake up feeling very sore.
Pelvic floor and core
Relaxin can also lead to decreased muscle tone in core muscles and pelvic floor muscles. As many of us know, these are key muscle groups that help and support our posture, joint stability and protect our spine against injury. If our supportive muscles are weak then this contributes to another way in which we can develop post partum injuries. Chiropractic has shown to help support and improve tone and strengthen these muscle groups, this is why we feel that post partum care is vital. So, as difficult as it is so find the time, do your best to work on your strengthening exercises including those kegels!
Nervous Stream Stress
It is amazing and beautiful when there is a new addition to the family, but boy is it exhausting! Especially in the first few weeks and months…it is full on both emotionally and physically. Often we are functioning on little or no sleep, not always eating the best foods because we ‘grab and go’ and not to mention having the pressures of all the other daily tasks that need our attention. Yet we still expect to manage all of our daily commitments and expect our body to keep up. In reality our body is still healing from birth and that process uses a huge amount of our energy. When we are firing on all cylinders its puts our body into sympathetic stress (flight or flight mode). This can slow down healing considerably, affect digestion as well as affecting our mood. That is why when mums come in to clinic for treatment, we focus their adjustments on rebalancing the nervous system to boost the parasympathetic activity (rest, digest and healing part of our nervous system). The common effect of having adjustments is that it makes you feel more relaxed, calm and more comfortable.
Recovery
The type of birth we have can impact our recovery or cause extra tension in the spine too. A C- section will affect the core muscles on a deeper level due to surgery so extra care in the post partum recovery period will most definitely be needed. Even with a relatively normal vaginal birth, it can put a lot of pressure on the back and pelvis. No matter how baby comes into the world, care and adjustments will always be modified to support your bodies comfort and recovery.
In essence, birth and the early months after delivery are hard on the body and struggling with aches and pains in addition to this, makes this period even harder than it needs to be.
Getting checked by one of our expert chiropractors can help speed up the recovery drastically as well as getting you on track to feeling more like your self again, whether that’s less pain, easier breastfeeding, strengthening the pelvic floor and other core muscles. We understandably put so much of our love, energy and focus into our new additions and more often than not don’t think about ourselves and the support we need. So come and talk to us, get some advice and get checked!
If you know someone who could benefit from this blog post, please share it with them. We offer a complimentary spine check to anyone who is interested in how chiropractic may be able to help them. You can book this online, or by calling 02082951733.
