Instructions for cleaning, bathing, and wearing a belly band after caesarean section

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted with Doctor Nguyen Thi Man - Obstetrician and Gynecologist - Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology - Vinmec Danang International General Hospital.
Caesarean section helps pregnant women to "go through labor" successfully, quickly and avoid many dangerous events. However, women after cesarean section need to be cared for properly so that they can return to normal activities soon, starting with cleaning, bathing, wearing a belt or riding a motorbike.

1. How long after cesarean delivery can I clean and bathe?

Women after cesarean section can wash and bathe immediately after giving birth. However, care should be taken to use warm water and dry immediately after bathing or contact with water. In the second week, the mother can bathe normally, limit wetting the incision and absolutely do not rub strongly on the incision. In addition, for daily activities, the mother was able to wash her face, rinse her mouth, and brush her teeth every day right after giving birth. Choose a soft toothbrush to avoid bleeding gums.
To avoid urinary retention after giving birth, women can practice urinating 2 to 3 hours after the catheter is removed. If the first half of the day after giving birth, the mother feels weak, she should use the potty to urinate on the spot, on the second day, she can go to the toilet, but still need close supervision from family members.
In general, cleaning tasks and light activities can still be done, but after giving birth, mothers need to focus on resting a lot to be healthy and take care of themselves and their babies.

2. How long does a cesarean delivery take?

Finding a slim figure like before giving birth is the top concern of postpartum mothers. Exercise is a good thing to do, but in reality, taking care of your baby will take up most of a mother's time, especially when breastfeeding. Because it is very difficult to arrange time for practice, many people seek the support of corsets. So how long does it take for women to have a caesarean section?
Belly corsets can often be used after cesarean section from the 4th week onwards, because at this time the surgical scar has healed relatively well, so it is not greatly affected by the belly band. However, how long it takes for a C-section to wear a corset depends on the mother's location, some people have a longer incision, so it is not advisable to use the belly band gene too soon, then it is necessary to wait a little more time to for the wound to heal completely. Absolutely do not wear a belly band when the incision is not completely healed or immediately after giving birth. On the other hand, wearing a belly band not only pays attention to wait for the incision to heal completely, but also needs to be careful not to tighten the abdomen too tightly, leading to friction on the incision, or avoiding the incision when wearing a belly band.
However, postpartum women should not be too dependent on the belly band gene because if abused, it will create an uncomfortable feeling, even potentially causing suffocation due to poor blood circulation. Postpartum mothers need to feel the body, when feeling uncomfortable, they need to take it off to ensure blood circulation is not obstructed.
Besides, along with the belly gene, in order to soon regain the desired slim waistline, it is important to work hard and exercise regularly and properly. From about 6-8 weeks postpartum, the mother can practice with relatively gentle exercises and gradually raise the level according to body condition. In addition, postpartum women also need to have a scientific and reasonable diet to ensure they have breast milk without making the mother fat. Moreover, breastfeeding is also a way for women to soon regain their pre-pregnancy body shape.

3. How long before a cesarean delivery can ride a motorbike?

Many women after giving birth often worry about how long it will take to ride a motorbike after having a cesarean section. In fact, this depends on many factors, such as health situation, work, circumstances,... If a mother has just given birth, her body is still very weak and cannot even take care of herself. It is not advisable to go out and ride a motorbike. When your health does not allow it, you should take time to rest and recover. If there is an emergency or you need to go out, ask a loved one for help. When the health is more stable and feels healthy, the mother can go out in the car, but need to be very careful and should only go near the house.
On the other hand, when going out on the street, sometimes the effects of the environment such as sunshine and wind will easily affect the mother's health. Therefore, in all cases, postpartum women should limit dangerous situations and risks to protect their bodies and health.

4. What to do to avoid complications after cesarean section?

Mothers after cesarean section are often at risk of experiencing dangerous complications, such as fever, infection, inflammation of the incision, bleeding at the incision site, etc. Therefore, the mother should pay attention to follow the instructions. doctor's instructions to limit the possibility of complications after cesarean section.
In the first day after surgery, should not lie motionless in one place continuously on the bed, need to turn, lie on the right or left side. On the second day on, the mother, if possible, should get up and walk. You can lie down on your stomach every day for about 20-30 minutes, it will help the fluid to drain more easily, and you should do abdominal massage every day to make the uterus elastic and push the product out faster. Breastfeeding should be done early, because breastfeeding also works to increase uterine contractions and limit bleeding after cesarean section. Moreover, when the baby is breastfed early in the first 3 days, the baby will enjoy the source of colostrum from the mother. Colostrum contains a lot of antibodies passed on from the mother, helping the baby quickly improve the immune system, less allergic or minor diseases. The mother should eat enough nutrients, eat increased meat, balance foods, to help the incision heal quickly and increase the body's resistance to the best.

However, the most important thing is the devoted monitoring and care of the father and his family members, in order to protect the health, as well as to encourage and encourage the woman's spirit. Born on the way to motherhood.

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