Things to note when taking a physical examination during breastfeeding

Not only do pregnant women need to go to the hospital regularly for prenatal checkups to ensure the health of their babies, but new mothers also need regular physical examinations. During the breastfeeding period, the pregnant woman's body is relatively weak. Examinations can be used to detect the missing components in the body and conduct targeted treatments. Drugs with less irritation to the body can be selected to alleviate the condition. In addition, pay attention to your own safety during the examination.

1. The best time to measure your body weight is about two hours after lunch, as the weight measured at this time can best reflect your physical condition. Additionally, since postpartum weight checks do not measure a single number, it is critical to retain your prenatal and pre-pregnancy weight values.

2. New mothers must be in a quiet state when measuring their blood pressure. If they have just done light activities, they should rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Otherwise, measuring blood pressure immediately will cause the blood pressure reading to be falsely high. It is best not to eat, smoke, or hold urine within half an hour before blood pressure measurement. Tension, anxiety, excessive cold, excessive heat, etc. should also be avoided as much as possible, as these factors will affect the accuracy of the measurement.

3. Pay attention to the cleanliness of the breasts before examining them. Clean the breasts with cotton balls and water or baby oil. Try to avoid using alkaline cleansers because alkaline substances will also remove the natural oils on the breasts, which are very useful in protecting the skin from dryness and cracking. After cleaning, do not wipe it dry hard, pat it gently and let it air dry naturally.

4. It is best not to perform vaginal irrigation or use vaginal medications before a gynecological examination (at least within 3 days), because this will wash away or cover up some potential diseased cells, affecting the effectiveness of the examination. Even without a gynecological examination, most doctors do not approve of douching. On the one hand, douching will wash away some beneficial bacteria that can prevent infection. On the other hand, there is no guarantee that douching is absolutely clean.

In addition, the bladder must be emptied before a gynecological examination. If you have dry stools or difficulty defecating, take a small amount of laxatives one day in advance to promote defecation. Because the bladder is located in front of the uterus and the rectum is located behind the uterus, if the waste in them cannot be cleaned out, it will interfere with the examination results and even be mistaken for a pelvic mass.