When I was pregnant for the first time, I had a rough idea of what to expect during pregnancy. But when I was postpartum, I was totally lost.
I had no idea what was going on with my body after I gave birth.
There were no fun apps, like the ones I used when I was pregnant, explaining that my baby was the size of a lemon and why I was having weird pains in the front of my hips. There weren’t any postpartum books that were recommended to me.
In part, that’s because they didn’t exist when I first gave birth in 2013, but also it’s because discussions about what to expect postpartum were presented as less urgent than how to care for my pregnant body and how to prepare for labor and delivery. The health of my baby was the priority—my recovery was an afterthought.
In some ways, this hasn’t really changed. Postpartum care in the United States is utterly insufficient and leaves so many women—as well as their families—struggling. Much of that is systemic—rooted in an ideology that cares more about the idea of babies and families than the everyday reality of them. That ideology needs to be thrown out and the systems that perpetuate it requires radical change at structural levels.
And that is gonna take some serious work, my friends.
So, while we roll up our sleeves and get to that work, here are five basic ways you can support yourself postpartum and feel better in your body now.
1. Gather Information and Supplies
This might seem basic, but the best way to prepare for your postpartum experience is to have a broad understanding of what you’re heading into. Ask friends who’ve given birth what their postpartum experience was like and what helped them find relief. Ask your OB/midwife/doula what to expect physically and emotionally postpartum. If you’re comfortable, ask family members who have given birth what their experience was like and what they needed—both what they had and what they wish they had.
While every postpartum experience is different, the more you know, the less likely you’ll be blindsided by what happens during your own recovery.
Once you know, you can make a postpartum “go” bag—like the one you packed for the hospital, but for home. Instead of being filled with a baby outfit, clothes for you, and other essentials for your hospital stay, this is more of a “ready” bag.
Here are some suggestions crowdsourced from moms who’ve been through it:
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Comfy pillows, heating pad, and a weighted blanket
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Pajamas that fit your postpartum body and aren’t itchy or restrictive
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Nipple cream
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A spill-proof water bottle you can use one-handed
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Eye mask for daytime naps
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Notebook/journal
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Formula (whether you plan to breastfeed or not)
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Different bottle nipple types to see which shape your baby prefers
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Padsicles (extra-thick menstrual pads soaked in witch hazel and frozen – for sitting on after giving birth)
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A squeeze bottle for going to the bathroom
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Cozy socks/slippers
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Easy-to-eat, nutritious snacks
2. Get Your Support System in Place
One of the hardest things about postpartum is taking care of a tiny, helpless newborn while also managing everyday adult responsibilities. But the lack of paid postpartum leave in the United States often pushes parents back to work before they’re ready—first, by leaving the birthing parent without support postpartum and then ultimately forcing them to return to work quickly.
What moms need postpartum is more support. Ideally, it starts with their partner. Have a conversation about your needs and expectations. But if they’re back at work one week after birth—like my partner was—there’s only so much they can do.
You need more of your village for support.
This can look like:
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A meal train where friends drop off meals so you don’t have to cook
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A friend who walks your dog
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Someone who does grocery shopping (or use Instacart)
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A visitor who gives you a break from holding the baby so you can shower, nap, move your body, and see to your needs
The key is asking for help. People often want to help—they just don’t know how. Asking is hard, but so important.
Feeling better in your body starts with asking for what you need.
3. Schedule an Appointment with a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist
As Dr. Sara Reardon, aka the Vagina Whisperer, says, “pelvic floor issues are common, they are not normal.”
Pelvic organ prolapse, incontinence, pelvic pain, and painful sex are common after giving birth. But they are treatable. You don’t have to accept them as normal side effects.
And regardless of whether you had a vaginal delivery or a c-section, simply carrying a pregnancy can impact your pelvic floor. That means pelvic floor physical therapy can be helpful for anyone who has been pregnant and is experiencing symptoms.
Tending to your pelvic floor postpartum is one of the best things you can do to feel better in your body.
4. Eat Enough Food (and Drink Enough Water)
One of the common refrains during pregnancy is “eating for two.” But as soon as you give birth, you’re encouraged to “bounce back” quickly in order to fit into her pre-pregnancy jeans and also into the expectations of the patriarchal system that prefers women small and meek.
Let’s be clear: giving birth is a labor-intensive act. Of course you need rest to recover—but with a newborn, infant, or toddler, that rest is hard to come by.
What you can do is eat enough food. This is especially true if you’re nursing, since breastfeeding demands a lot of energy.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what happens to your body when you’re not eating enough: Your body tries to conserve energy since you’re not fueling it, so you start to feel low energy and brain foggy. Not eating enough will impact your mood and your ability to make decisions, 2 things that are already difficult when you are immediately postpartum.
Here’s what happens when you’re not eating enough: your body conserves energy, you feel foggy, moody, and low-energy. It affects your mood and decision-making—two things already taxed during the postpartum phase.
Your body needs more calories, not fewer.
Fuel your recovery instead of depriving it.
5. Move Your Body—Gently
The common advice is to wait until you’ve stopped bleeding—typically around six weeks—to resume exercise. If you start bleeding again, you’re likely doing too much.
And while it is important not to overdo it as your body is healing, that doesn’t mean you need to be completely inactive. In fact, your body will likely feel a lot better with a little bit of movement, even just a few days postpartum, than none at all.
How much and what kind of movement depends on:
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Your fitness level pre- and during pregnancy
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Your birth experience (vaginal or c-section)
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Any complications (like prolapse or diastasis recti)
Always get clearance from your OB or midwife. But that said, if you had a relatively standard vaginal delivery, there’s a lot of movement you can do postpartum that will feel really good.
- Cat/Cow is one great option that you can do on your hands and knees in table pose, but also seated on the couch.
- You can do seated twists to create some gentle rotation for your spine and release tension across your chest.
If you had a c-section, you could do small, simple actions like shoulder rolls and ankle rolls.
Chair Dog is a pose nearly everyone can do postpartum, once you’re ready to stand up again.
And here’s a few YouTube yoga videos I created that you might find helpful:
Starting small and gentle will help ease your body back from the intensity of labor and delivery, while connecting you to your new, postpartum body. Gentle movement early on will also help lay the foundation for a more challenging practice when your body feels ready.
Let me know which of these postpartum recovery tips feels most essential to you. And remember, your healing matters too. —Naomi
