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Looking after yourself

Rest

During the weeks or months that you are feeding your baby at night and your body is recovering from childbirth, finding time to catch up on rest is essential. It’s tempting to use your baby’s sleep times to catch up on chores, but try to have a sleep or a proper rest at least once a day.

 

Physical activity

Continue with any postnatal exercises you were shown in hospital. You’ll begin to benefit quite soon if you keep them up and they shouldn’t be difficult to fit in during odd moments.

Do your pelvic floor exercises– try doing ten sets of five tightenings a day. You can carry on with the stomach strengthening exercises. Abdominal exercises to strengthen, firm and flatten your tummy should be done three or four times a day:

  • lie on your back, with your feet on the floor, hip-width apart;
  • press your back to the floor;
  • put both hands on your thighs and curl your head and shoulders off the floor reaching towards your knees;
  • breathe out as you go up, and in as you slowly come down;
  • do 10 each time to start with, gradually increasing to 20, several times a day.

Besides these exercises, try to fit in a walk with your baby. A short walk in the fresh air will make you feel good.

 

Food

It’s very important to continue to eat properly (Your health in pregnancy).

If you want to lose weight, don’t rush it. A varied diet without too many fatty foods will help you lose weight gradually. Try to make time to sit down, relax, enjoy your food and digest it properly. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Try food like baked potatoes with baked beans and cheese, salads, pasta, French bread pizza, scrambled eggs or sardines on toast, for example, followed by fruit mixed with yoghurt or fromage frais.

 

A healthy diet is especially important if you’re breastfeeding. Breastfeeding uses up a lot of energy. Some of the fat you put on in pregnancy will be used to help produce milk, but the rest of the nutrients will come from your diet. This means that you may be hungrier than usual. If you do need a snack, try having cheese or beans on toast, sandwiches, bowls of cereal or fruit. (See Your diet when breastfeeding).

 

Information provided by Health Promotion England.