Is it necessary to have a confinement period after a caesarean section?

Although women who have cesarean sections do not have to go through the pain of cervical dilation and bone opening during natural birth, many people believe that women who have cesarean sections do not need to observe the confinement period. This statement is wrong and very unscientific. In fact, women who have cesarean sections suffer more physical harm than women who have natural births. They definitely need to observe the confinement period after delivery and must rest well. If you do not pay attention to postpartum care, it will affect wound healing.

Do I need to stay in confinement after a caesarean section?

Compared with natural birth, caesarean section requires more confinement period. Because cesarean section requires more physical energy than natural birth during the delivery process, it is like undergoing a major surgery. Therefore, it will take longer for the body to recover after a caesarean section, and careful care is also needed during the confinement period to adjust all aspects of the body. Expectant mothers who have undergone caesarean section may still need to breastfeed, so they should pay special attention to rest and avoid overwork.

Generally speaking, it may take half a year for a pregnant woman who has undergone a caesarean section to fully recover after returning home from the hospital. If you don't take good care of your body, recovery time will be even longer. So, do you need to stay in bed for a month after a caesarean section? You must, otherwise your body will not recover well and will be left with many sequelae. If your finances allow, it is best to hire a confinement nanny to help take care of your baby, so that you will have more energy to breastfeed your baby. It is important to pay attention to the precautions that mothers should take during the confinement period. You should drink plenty of water during the confinement period, which can prevent constipation and help milk secretion. In addition, nutrition must be sufficient. It is best not to take too much tonic, otherwise it will affect the body's recovery. After a caesarean section, you should pay more attention to personal hygiene to avoid wound infection. Wearing large-sized underwear and jackets will help wound recovery.

Precautions after caesarean section Precautions after caesarean section

1. Promote the discharge of lochia

The physical recovery of a new mother after a cesarean section is slower than that of a mother who gave birth naturally, and her uterus contraction is not as good as that of a mother who gave birth naturally. In addition, women will have to stay in bed for more than 12 hours after giving birth, which will make it difficult for friends who have undergone cesarean section to expel lochia.

The main methods to promote the discharge of lochia are massage and adopting the correct lying position. If the mother takes a semi-recumbent position, turns over and massages the uterus, this will help to discharge lochia, prevent lochia from accumulating in the uterine cavity, causing infection and affecting uterine reduction, and also facilitate the healing of the uterine incision. In addition, it is best for new mothers to sleep on a hard bed after a cesarean section.

Massaging the uterus will inevitably cause abdominal pain in the mother, but if the lochia is not discharged cleanly, it may make it difficult for the uterus to recover, and in severe cases it may even cause heavy bleeding in the mother. A hard lump can be felt below the navel, which is the location of the uterus. When the uterus becomes soft, use your palms to apply a little force to the uterus and massage in circles to make the uterus harden, which means the contraction is good. When the uterine contraction is very painful, stop massaging temporarily and lie prone to relieve the pain. If the pain is still uncomfortable and affects your rest and sleep, notify the nursing staff.

2. Use less painkillers

After the cesarean section, the effect of the anesthetic gradually wore off, and the pain from the abdominal wound became increasingly difficult to ignore. Generally within 12 hours after delivery, the wound will convey information of severe pain. In order to get a good rest and allow the mother's body to recover as soon as possible, you can ask the doctor to give some painkillers on the day of the operation or on the night of the operation. But after that, you need to be more patient and it is best not to use pain relief medication to avoid affecting the recovery of intestinal motility function. If conditions permit, a postoperative analgesia pump can be used. It is divided into intravenous and epidural types and can be controlled by the mother herself. Also known as PCA, it can help get through the first two days of pain.

3. Keep the abdominal incision clean

Within 2 weeks after cesarean section, it is necessary to avoid getting the abdominal wound wet, so at this time the mother should not take a full body shower or bath, but a sponge bath. You can take a shower more than two weeks after a caesarean section, but you must avoid taking a bath in a tub until the lochia is completely discharged.

Currently, the main treatment for some conditions that occur in postpartum women is antibiotics. When the efficacy of this type of drug is not very good, other drugs can be considered. Wound inflammation usually occurs about two weeks after the operation. Since the wound of cesarean section is larger than that of natural birth, the amount of bleeding also increases. The longer the operation lasts and the more blood is lost, the greater the chance of wound infection, which is a complication that rarely occurs in natural childbirth.

After a cesarean section, the wound healing time is longer than that of a natural birth. In addition, a scar is left on the uterus. This scar may cause wound rupture or uterine rupture during the next pregnancy. If uterine rupture occurs, it may even lead to fetal stillbirth.

To avoid this tragedy, in addition to taking some time for the wound to heal, disinfecting the wound, using sutures, and paying attention to surgical techniques are all ways to prevent uterine rupture. The specific treatment method depends on the actual condition of the wound. If the inflamed area of ​​the wound is small, oral antibiotics can be considered for treatment.

If the inflamed area of ​​the wound is large, other surgical options must be considered in addition to oral antibiotics. Another type is mastitis, which usually occurs about ten days after delivery. If you have mastitis, it usually starts with swelling of the breasts. There will also be obvious lumps around the breasts. As the disease progresses, the surrounding skin will become red and swollen.

4. Resume urination as soon as possible after surgery

The mother should try to resume activities as soon as possible after the catheter is removed, and should not use the pain of the wound as an excuse to avoid exercise. After the catheter is removed, drink plenty of water and try to urinate as soon as you feel the urge.

5. Diet after cesarean section

About 24 hours after cesarean section, the gastrointestinal function of the mother will slowly recover. After the mother has passed gas, she can eat. However, she should still eat some liquid food at this time, such as egg soup and rice soup, and avoid milk, soy milk, large amounts of sucrose sweets, fruits and other bloating foods. After the intestinal gas is cleared, switch to semi-liquid food for 1 to 2 days, such as porridge, noodle soup, wontons, etc., and then switch to a normal diet.