The “6-Week Clearance” Myth: What physical recovery really looks like beyond the doctor’s visit.
You’ve just had your baby! Bliss! All is well after the first 24 hours and your doc says, “see you in 6 weeks”. (Sidenote, can we normalize an earlier postpartum visit for moms, please?!)
At your six week appointment, the doctor says, “Everything looks great! You can resume regular activities (including intimacy)!” But you, in your gut, know you’re not ready. Trust your gut, mama! While there are many exercises you CAN do, even immediatly postpartum, depending on how the birth of your baby progressed, and how you are feeling, you MAY need a little (or a lot) more time before doing all the things you did before baby was born. And that’s ok! You know your own body, so trust it, and if you need a few more weeks to get back up to speed, take that extra time. Your body ran a marathon at top speed for many, many (did I say many) hours. A longer recovery is not that uncommon.
So how can you prep now, while you’re still pregnant, to be “okay” with taking longer than the standard 6 weeks?
- Spend a little time researching (see below for some links to get you started).
- Take your hubby out for dinner and have a good heart to heart about what that early postpartum window MIGHT look like if your labor and birth are rough (or not!).
- Plan for a longer recovery window now. If you end up feeling great at 6 weeks, consider that a bonus!
- Set up help – take advantage of your family and friends’ offer to help. They can clean, make food, do a nighttime diaper shift so you can sleep a little less disturbed. Don’t try to do this alone unless that’s what you prefer. If you’re not into having people in your home postpartum, then add that to the husband discussion above and coordinate a Meal Train and a system for people to drop and run (a cooler on the front porch?).
- If friend/family events give you joy, plan a “meal shower” rather than a standard shower that is just eat, play games, and open gifts. Yep, gifts are still welcome (especially for first babies) but forgo the games and have your best friend set up food making stations instead. This is a ton of fun for everyone too!
Below are a few articles to get you started so you and your family can be better prepared for your potential postpartum recovery window:
A Realistic Timeframe for Postpartum Recovery is 6-18 months, not 6 weeks
Self-Care tips for Postpartum Recovery at Lamaze International
Reddit Post discussing experience with a longer postpartum window (to be clear, I don’t see Reddit as a valid “research” tool. But I found this discussion interesting.
The First Forty Days book on Thriftbooks (also available everywhere else and at your local library)
Indeed, once you start researching you’ll find that many midwives and obstetricians are saying it can take a full 2 years for full recovery postpartum (and they recommend waiting to get pregnant again until those 2 years pass). While that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do normal activities for the entire 2 years, this focuses on the fact that your hormones, fertility, etc., are not back to peak until about 2 years have passed. So if you’re still feeling worn down, “not normal”, etc., don’t be surprised. Some women comment that they’re surprised to find how great they feel, all of a sudden, when they hit that 2 year mark!
How about you? Do you have a plan for an upcoming postpartum window? Or if you’ve experienced a longer than 6 weeks recovery, what did that look like for you?
Annette Yen, the Oma Doula is a birth and bereavement doula as well as a Perinatal Patient Advocate in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. You can follow her online at www.omadoula.com or on Instagram at @omabirthdoula.