As soon as the baby arrives, every eager mom will devote all her love and attention to her child. This initial period after giving birth is considered essential for building that early bond with your child, so it’s natural for any mom to spend her time tending to her baby, even if you have other family members such as the grandma and your spouse helping with household chores. During this time, you also need to be mindful of your own wellbeing. After all, the more you take care of yourself, the more energy and vitality you’ll have to share with your little bundle of joy!
A bit of rejuvenation and restoration is crucial for your post-partum body. Depending on where you live and what your family support system looks like, you can create your own self-care plan and ensure that you’re giving your body the nourishment, rest, and movement you need to recuperate properly. Here, we’ll suggest a few helpful ideas that you can use in creating that plan when you’re recovering from giving birth.
Gentle massages to relax and unwind
Your entire body might be strained due to giving birth, especially if you don’t get enough rest in the first weeks upon coming home. While you’re still figuring out your new rhythm with your baby, you can introduce relaxing and tension-reducing tactics that will improve the quality of your sleep, but also prime your body for exercise when you’re ready.
For example, rejuvenating massages can be extremely helpful in restoring your sense of wellbeing. Use calming oils that put your mind at ease, but that also help take care of your skin and allow your muscles to relax. Only once you recover from childbirth can you begin planning for your post-partum training goals.
Make sure you can sleep enough
As a new mom, you’ll first go through a period when your baby and you have yet to create a routine or feeding and sleeping, changing, bathing, and all other beautiful bonding activities you’ll share. In the midst of it all, many moms don’t get enough rest and sleep, which is essential for you to reduce stress and have the energy to go back to your exercise routine.
If you can’t consume certain foods and beverages because you’re breastfeeding, you can consider natural options like essential oils to infuse your bedroom with soothing scents. This will help you unwind before bedtime and slowly recuperate for when the moment comes you can train and be more active.
Get your doctor’s advice
There’s no need to go it alone, when you have people with expertise by your side to help you make the smartest possible decision. Many moms are eager to go back to their lifestyle and keep working out after giving birth, but in order to do so, they’ll consider supplements like pre workout for women to keep their energy levels elevated. Before you start changing your nutrition and introducing supplementation, make sure you talk to your doctor to know what kind of supplements are beneficial and safe for you during this period.
If you’re feeling exhausted, which is perfectly natural after such a challenging experience, you should optimize your nutrition, to make sure you can breastfeed your baby and that you don’t lack any vital nutrients.
Find your inspiration
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Many moms struggle with post-partum depression and thus find it extremely difficult to go back to their routine, let alone build a new one after giving birth. In addition to leveraging your own family support system to slowly recover, you can look for inspiration in other moms like Anupriya Kapur who have experienced similar post-partum troubles.
Their stories, personal experience, and advice can help you find different ways to get yourself moving, work on your nutrition, or discover energizing meals that can help you recover and feel better in your own skin. Remember, your mental and emotional health are as crucial as your physical wellbeing. To be able to start being active and kind to your body, you need to feel strong enough emotionally and psychologically.
Incorporate exercise only when you’re ready
Childbirth might be a life-altering experience, but much like every mother is different, giving birth differs from one woman to another. Some women will experience extremely difficult childbirth with complications and health issues to follow, and this means you need to be extra careful with how active you can be. Of course, with the help of your family and spouse, it will be easier to take a moment to yourself to rebuild your strength, but first make sure you’re ready.
Dr. Aruna Muralidhar notes that starting exercise after giving birth is highly individualized, and while it’s safe to get started as early as two weeks postpartum (if there were no complications), exercise should be restorative. Light walks and gentle stretches are a good place to start, but even later on during your recovery period, make sure that you pick exercises that refresh your energy, not the ones that drain you.
Listening to your body will help you stay on the right track and recognize any issues you might experience, from back or neck ache, all the way to insomnia or exhaustion. While your lifestyle might have looked differently before you’ve had your baby, this is a good moment in your life to reevaluate your priorities and find new and effective ways to lead an even healthier life from a holistic perspective, and set an example for your child. With more energy and zeal thanks to optimal recovery, you will be able to take care of yourself and your baby in the months and years to come.
AUTHOR BIO:
Sophia Smith is a beauty and lifestyle blogger, and food enthusiast. She is very passionate about eco-friendly and green topics, sustainable fashion, eco beauty, and conscious business. Sophia’s other hobbies centre around her love for yoga, wellness rituals and living in balance with nature. She loves sharing meaningful content that inspires people and has covered topics ranging from organic beauty products and sustainability to self-care and mental health.
Sophia has contributed to a number of publications including Longevity Live, Naughty Nutrition, Mother Earth Living, Best Self Media, Literally Darling, Sivana Spirit, Urban Naturale, Carousel, and Cause Artist.
You can find out more about her writing by following her on Twitter (@sophia_bri)
Lovely content!
Thank you Sarah 🙂