After Pregnancy

So you have been frantically trying to keep yourself informed about all that happens during the pregnancy period, and preparing anxiously for it. What about the after pregnancy phase? You have taken care of the arrangements for cord blood banking, immediately after birth. Within the first hour of birth you'll think about breastfeeding your baby and begin your bonding. And after you are done with all the necessary medical tests, you are ready to go home.

The first thing that you really ought to do is to get plenty of rest and get that body back! But you can't help worrying about a bunch of things like after pregnancy weight loss, your after pregnancy diet, exercise, getting rid of those stretch marks, when you can expect to menstruate after pregnancy, when you can resume work safely and lots more - and all this while you are coping with post-partum depression - that feeling of sadness that seems to settle in soon after you give birth, as you wonder about this new phase in life and taking care of your baby.

Obviously many more questions are going around in your head, and you would like the answers to them, quick. You want to know the best methods for weight loss to lose all that weight you gained during pregnancy. Can exercise take care of it? What is the best way to make those stretch marks disappear? Can creams help? Hair loss after pregnancy can be another issue because of hormonal changes. What can you do about that? What about sex after childbirth? How soon and what about contraception after pregnancy?

First things first, though. You have probably gained between 25 and 40 pounds during the pregnancy period. You'll lose up to 14 pounds during birth. You want to lose the extra pounds as quickly as you can. Here's how you can lose weight after pregnancy. Read up about tummy tucks and breast treatments. After pregnancy, obviously your breasts are not how they used to be, especially if you are breastfeeding. Sure, exercise helps - but there are breast treatments like breast lift surgery, breast augmentation with implants, etc. Tummy tuck surgery and abdominoplasty are a major procedure to get that flat firm stomach again, but you've got to maintain it through proper diet and exercise. Another common procedure to lose that stubborn weight after pregnancy is Liposuction or lipoplasty which is a procedure that can help shape your body by sucking out extra fat from areas like the tummy, hips, buttocks, etc. Also, during the pregnancy period and delivery, you might experience the tearing and stretching of your genitals. Today, with advancement in cosmetic surgery, you can revert to your prepregnancy appearance with a procedure called labiaplasty or labioplasty. Ensure that you understand all these well before you opt for them.

As far as menstruation after pregnancy, if you are breastfeeding, your periods can resume anytime from two months after childbirth till after you stop breastfeeding. If you are not breastfeeding, then you are likely to start your periods again two months after delivery. Since it is not possible to guess when you start ovulating again, better use a contraceptive if you have sex soon after your baby is born.

Your doctor might advise you to refrain from sexual intercourse for at least four to six weeks after you deliver your baby. You do have to heal and recover from the experience of pregnancy. So when you plan to resume your sexual activities, chat with your doctor about contraception. While you are unlikely to get pregnant again as long as you are breastfeeding, it is not entirely impossible, so don't rely on it as a contraception method.

We have the answers to all the possible questions related to after pregnancy you might come up with - if you do not find a particular question answered here, do feel free to let us know.