April is Cesarean (C-Section) Awareness month! I had a C-Section myself in January and learned a lot over the last three months. As I write this blog post, I’m currently 13 weeks post-op and wanted to share the top 11 things that made for a smoother recovery!  I received lots of helpful advice pre and post-surgery, but these are the things that made the biggest difference for me, especially in the first few weeks after surgery. 

Share this blog with expecting parents to help them get a head start on recovery in the event of a planned (or unplanned) cesarean birth. 

1. Use a long handled loofah (bending is hard!)

• Bending is so much harder than I thought it would be after a C-Section! It’s also difficult to lift one leg because of pain, let alone balancing on the other leg at the same time. A long-handled loofah allows you to reach your legs, back, feet, and shower more independently sooner. My husband still had to help me shower for the first week or so!

2. Put a chair outside the shower to sit on

• Honestly, this was one of the best things I did. You don’t realize how exhausting a shower can be until you have a stomach surgery and standing for 5 minutes becomes a real task. There are so many benefits with having a chair sitting just outside the shower! I’m going to list a few

• You can sit and rest before and after the shower

• Helps you gain independence with showering and dressing sooner

• Allows you to take your time getting dried off and getting dressed

• Makes it easier for you to get dressed when you can take breaks as needed

3. Wear an abdominal binder (and put ice under it for 20 minutes at a time for pain relief)

• The abdominal binder provides so much support for the abdomen and back after getting sliced open 

• Compression helps reduce swelling and pain 

• Bonus tip: Put an ice pack under the binder (but over your clothes) for 20 minutes at a time to help relieve pain 

4. Get some nursing shirts or button up shirts

• You seriously have no idea how much you’ll need to leave the house that first week after having a baby. These shirts make it much easier for nursing (if you plan to breastfeed) because it’s hard to move around in your chair and feed at the same time - you’re balancing a baby and your core just isn’t there (yet!).

5. Wear regular high waisted undies (don’t waste money on the special c-section ones)

• After some trial and error, I can confirm that the regular Hanes high-waisted underwear work just fine. They don’t put pressure on your incision and can comfortably hold a pad in place, which is so needed those first couple of months. Truthfully, I felt like the special made-for-cesarean-recovery underwear were a waste of money - the silicone scar cover didn’t really make much of a difference, they were expensive, and were more difficult to use. 

6. Light tummy massage to reduce swelling (work on the scar after 6 weeks)

• Doing some light massage work to your stomach is so helpful in stimulating your lymphatic system and reducing swelling! Avoid going directly over the incision for several weeks - we want to make sure that bad boy heals nicely! After about six to eight weeks, if the scar is healed (and with permission from your doctor), start working the incision to reduce scar tissue adhesions. 

7. Brace with a pillow when coughing

• Not only does this feel about a million times better than coughing without support for the abdomen, but it protects your stitches and the incision itself. You can use a pillow (or your hands work in a pinch) to apply counterpressure to the incision prior to coughing.

8. Use face wipes to wash your face instead of bending over the sink

• Nobody talks about how hard it is to wash your face those first two weeks! Face wipes make it so much easier and I was able to avoid bending over the sink. Yes, you can use a warm washcloth with soap and water to wash your face, but I just found these to be more convenient. 

9. Logroll in and out of bed

• I’m just going to say that it’s pretty much impossible to get in and out of bed otherwise. Make sure to breathe during the movement, exhaling as you push up to sit or as you roll over into bed. Lifting the legs into bed is the hardest part, sometimes you just gotta use your hands to lift them up. I also relied on my husband to help me with this a lot during that first few weeks. It was surprisingly difficult to move around in bed. 

10. Practice deep breathing

• Deep breathing is kinda weird for a while after being pregnant because you just have SO much more room to breathe. So it takes a little practice to adjust! Even though I coach people through breathing every day, I found that it was much easier to learn when I had hands- on feedback from my PT. This is something you can start doing from day one after your C-section! 

11. Start pelvic floor rehab early (I started at 3 weeks post-op with Becca at Tri-Cities Pelvic Health)

• Perhaps the most important part of my recovery journey to date! Becca helped me get started with my own recovery plan. There was a lot of really basic recovery at first - re-learning how to breathe, activating muscles, and manual therapy to the stomach to help reduce swelling and pain. From there we’ve made a lot of progress. Becca made sure that I didn’t push it too hard and progressed appropriately with exercises. We’re now able to work the scar tissue more aggressively and getting after any muscle imbalance. At this point in my rehab, we’re finally getting to some of the more fun exercises and I’m feeling confident in my recovery. 

And there you have it - some of my favorite tips and tricks to make a smoother post cesarean recovery. Hope you found this helpful!