Take 1-2 hours of horizontal rest per day – when your baby sleeps, you sleep.
Start your pelvic floor exercises ASAP
This can start as gentle flickers, and then when you feel more activation happening down there you can do longer holds.
Aim for 3x day, with a combination of longer holds and shorter flickers. Aim for 10x 10 seconds + 10x faster flickers at a time, after a couple of weeks.
Brace your pelvic floor when coughing or sneezing, to stop any leaking of urine.
Look after your bladder + bowels!
Happy bladder + bowels = happy pelvic floor.
Drink Plenty of water – this should be 1.5-2L per day.. You are going to be losing more fluids than usual due to breastfeeding so keep your fluids up!
Water is preferable to tea & coffee.
Eat plenty of fibre: 2 serves of fruit + 5 serves of veg per day! Have healthy snacks nearby at the ready for when you get hungry.
Avoid straining on the loo at all costs. A stool under your feet can do wonders here!
Use your village!
Family, friends, postpartum doulas etc.
Don’t try to do everything yourself and accept help when offered.
Ask people to make you nutritious home-cooked meals that you can freeze. Cooking elaborate is going to be the last thing on your mind but you need adequate nutrition to heal.
Wear Compression garments to support your pelvic floor and abdominals. Check out these companies
