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Postpartum Recovery: Looking After Yourself After Birth

What to expect physically in the first weeks and how to rest and heal.

Before you use this guide: This is general educational information, not an individual medical assessment. We do not identify a clinician reviewer on this page, so please confirm personal health decisions with your doctor, midwife or paediatrician.

The weeks after birth, often called the fourth trimester, are a time of huge physical and emotional change. Your body has done something extraordinary, and healing takes time. Recovery is different for everyone, and it is not a race.

Bleeding (lochia)

After birth you will bleed from the vagina for up to four to six weeks. It is heavy and bright red at first, then becomes pink or brown and eventually yellowish-white. Use maternity pads, not tampons. You may pass a few small clots.

Call your midwife or doctor, or seek urgent help, if you soak a pad in an hour, pass clots bigger than a golf ball, or the discharge smells foul.

Afterpains

Cramps as your womb shrinks back to its normal size are common, particularly while breastfeeding and in later births. They usually ease within a week or so. A warm pack, and paracetamol or ibuprofen, if suitable for you, can help.

Perineum, tears and stitches

• Keep the area clean, change pads often and pat dry after washing.
• Rinse with warm water when you pass urine, and use ice packs wrapped in cloth for swelling.
• Sit on a soft cushion and lie on your side when you can.
• Eat fibre, drink plenty of water and ask about a stool softener to avoid straining.

See our guide to perineal tears and stitches care. Seek help for severe pain, a foul smell, fever or if the wound opens.

After a caesarean

Recovery takes longer. Support your tummy, avoid heavy lifting, keep the wound clean and watch for signs of infection. See our caesarean birth guide.

Your breasts

Your milk comes in around days 2 to 5, and breasts may feel full, hard and tender. Frequent feeding or expressing helps. Cold packs and supportive bras can ease discomfort. Call for help with pain, redness, a lump or fever, which may signal mastitis.

Bladder, bowel and pelvic floor

• Leaking urine when you cough or sneeze is common, and it often improves with pelvic floor exercises. See our pelvic floor guide.
• Constipation and haemorrhoids (piles) are common. Eat fibre, drink water and ask a pharmacist about creams.
• If you cannot control your bowels or bladder, or your symptoms are not improving, tell your doctor.

Tiredness, sleep and rest

Broken sleep is hard on your body and mood. Rest when you can, accept help with housework and meals, and share night-time tasks with a partner if possible. Our guide to sleep and rest for new mums has practical ideas.

Nutrition and fluids

Eat regular, balanced meals with protein, fibre, fruit and vegetables, and drink to thirst, especially if you are breastfeeding. Keep snacks within reach. See our postpartum nutrition guide.

Hair, skin and body changes

• Hair loss usually begins 2 to 4 months after birth and settles by around a year. See our postpartum hair loss guide.
• Stretch marks fade over time. Night sweats are common in the early weeks.
• Your tummy will not return to its old shape overnight. A gap between the stomach muscles (diastasis recti) is common, and our guide explains what to do.

Moving your body

Gentle walking from the first days is good for circulation and mood. Wait for your doctor's approval before more intense exercise, usually at the six-week check, and build up slowly. See our returning to exercise after birth guide.

Sex and contraception

There is no set time to resume sex. Wait until you feel ready and bleeding has settled. You can become pregnant before your periods return, even while breastfeeding, so talk about contraception. See our contraception after birth guide.

Emotional health

Mood swings and tearfulness in the first two weeks, often called the baby blues, are very common. If low mood, anxiety, intrusive thoughts or numbness last longer than two weeks, or you feel unable to cope, tell your doctor or midwife. Postnatal depression is common and treatable. Our guide to baby blues and postnatal depression explains the signs and where to get help.

Seek urgent help if you have

• Heavy bleeding, or large clots
• A fever of 38 °C (100.4 °F) or higher
• Severe headache, vision changes or swelling of the face and hands, which can be signs of postnatal pre-eclampsia
• Chest pain, difficulty breathing or a racing heart
• A painful, swollen, red calf, which could be a clot
• Foul-smelling discharge
• Thoughts of harming yourself or your baby

In an emergency, call 911 in the US and Canada, 999 in the UK and Ireland, or 000 in Australia.

Your check-ups

You will usually be seen by a midwife or health visitor in the first days and weeks, and have a check-up at around six weeks. Use these visits to ask about anything worrying. See our six-week postnatal check guide.

Be kind to yourself

Healing takes time. Accept help, lower your expectations, and ask for support when you need it.

This content is for general information only and is not medical advice. Every pregnancy and every baby is different. Always talk to your doctor, midwife or paediatrician about your own situation, and seek urgent care if you are worried.