3 Things Your OB/GYN Will Give You to Help You Recover After You Have Your Baby

After going through labor and delivery, your body is not only going to be physically exhausted but also is going to be incredibly sore. Having a baby vaginally is an amazing thing, but it can also leave your pelvic floor in need of repair and healing. A large number of women need to get stitches internally, externally, or both. Once you have been all stitched up, there are then certain things your OB/GYN will give you to help you begin the process of recovery. This article will discuss three things that your OB/GYN will give you while you are still in the hospital. However, you will continue to use these things even after you have gone home.

Ice Packs

Ice packs are perfect for providing relief to your pelvic floor, and they do an excellent job of reducing the swelling. You will be given some mesh underwear to wear, along with a large pad. This catches all of the blood flow that you have coming out of your vagina. The ice pack is then going to be placed directly inside of the underwear, right on the pad. Many hospitals use ice packs that you can break to activate the cooling properties, but others use the traditional freezer ice in a plastic bag. Both work great and help to reduce your pain and swelling. 

Medicated Hemorrhoid Pads and Soothing Spray

To help reduce the pain in your pelvic area and vaginal opening, you will be given both medicated hemorrhoid pads and a medicated cooling spray. You will spray the spray directly onto your vaginal opening to create a cooling relief and also to help numb the pain in this area. Then, you will place the hemorrhoid pad over the top of your ice pack so that it directly touches your vaginal opening. This will give you continued relief until the pad dries out and needs to be replaced. 

Stool Softeners 

You use a lot of your muscles when pushing out a baby, and afterwards many of these muscles are going to feel quite strained and weak. Because of this, your first bowel movement post-birth is going to be a difficult one to have. However, because your OB/GYN knows this, they will start giving you stool softeners soon after you have your baby. You will continue taking these until they have softened your stool enough so that you are able to have a decent bowel movement. You can, and likely should, continue taking these stool softeners until your pelvic muscles have had time to recover.

If you have any questions, be sure to consult your OB/GYN or another professional, such as an OB/GYN from Bee Ridge Obstetrics Gynecology.

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