Reasons for sweating after childbirth

Nowadays, many pregnant women sweat a lot after giving birth. Is postpartum sweating a disease or a normal physiological phenomenon? After experiencing the disaster of childbirth, many pregnant women are always worried about what sequelae or other problems will remain on their bodies. Or some physical discomfort may occur due to improper attention. Postpartum sweating has become one of the symptoms they worry about. Today I will take you to understand the causes and solutions to this problem.

After childbirth, it is common for women to sweat more. If you sweat too much while sleeping and your clothes and bedding become soaked, then this is postpartum puerperal sweat. The recovery time for postpartum sweating is related to the physical condition of each mother. Those with good physical conditions will recover faster and return to normal in one to two weeks. Those with weak bodies will take longer to recover.

Causes of postpartum sweating

One to three days after giving birth, new mothers sweat a lot. If it is summer, their clothes may get soaked with just a little exercise. This is because the body undergoes many physiological changes after giving birth, resulting in abundant sweat in the body.

1. Increased skin blood volume during pregnancy

During pregnancy, a lot of fluid between tissues will seep into blood vessels, so the blood volume will increase by 10-20%. Moreover, during pregnancy, estrogen levels increase, adrenal gland function is vigorous, the expectant mother's basal metabolism speeds up, and blood vessels dilate, all of which lead to an increase in skin blood volume. In addition, after the baby is born, the blood circulation of the placenta will stop and the uterus will begin to contract, causing a large amount of blood to return to the human circulation.

2. Excrete excess water after childbirth

After giving birth, the expectant mother's body metabolism and endocrine levels will gradually return to normal levels. In order to reduce the burden on the heart and promote postpartum recovery, the body will excrete retained water, the main methods are urination and sweating. After the water is excreted, your weight will drop rapidly and your figure will be restored to a certain extent. So mothers don’t need to worry too much, this is a normal phenomenon after giving birth.

What are the symptoms of postpartum sweating?

1. In the early postpartum period, new mothers sweat significantly more, often just after waking up or doing a little exercise, they will sweat, and their clothes may be soaked as a result. However, this type of postpartum sweating is not pathological, but a normal physiological condition.

2. If you sweat a lot for a long time after delivery, it is pathological postpartum sweating. One is involuntary sweating after falling asleep, which is called postpartum night sweats. Another type is postpartum spontaneous sweating during the day. In this case, even if the weather is not hot and the mother is not wearing too many clothes, she may still sweat profusely.

Types of postpartum sweating

1. Postpartum puerperal sweat

This is common when a mother is lying in bed or doing a little exercise after childbirth. It is a self-regulating phenomenon of the new mother's body after childbirth, expelling excess water and impurities through sweating. In addition, eating too hot food (hot soup, hot porridge, etc.) can also cause new mothers to sweat more.

Postpartum puerperal sweat can be divided into physiological and pathological types. The physiological type is a normal condition and will improve within a week; the pathological types include night sweats and spontaneous sweats, and it takes a longer time to recover.

2. Postpartum spontaneous sweating

New mothers sweat a lot during the postpartum period and the sweat lasts for a long time, which is called postpartum spontaneous sweating. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that spontaneous sweating is mainly caused by physical weakness after childbirth, excessive blood loss during delivery, insufficient qi and blood, lung qi deficiency, and decreased skin resistance.

The main symptoms are heavy sweating that cannot be stopped on its own and is aggravated by exercise. Sometimes the person feels cold when the wind blows, has a pale face, is short of breath and is unwilling to talk. The person has a very small voice and is tired and weak. These symptoms are different from the sweating caused by heat stroke and fever. If left untreated for a long time, due to excessive sweating, the human yin fluid will be deficient, wind evil will enter the body, menstruation will stop, yang energy will leak out, and the yin fluid will not be solid, which will eventually turn into postpartum spasm, amenorrhea, paralysis, cold body, etc.

I believe that many people now have a very detailed understanding of postpartum sweating. In fact, sweating is good for the body no matter at what stage, because sweating will bring out some toxins in the body. This is a very healthy detoxification process. Therefore, pregnant women do not need to worry too much about their bodies when sweating after childbirth.