Looking after your health postpartum+ a new mum giveaway

AD-Paid post and giveaway

Today, I’m talking about navigating all things postpartum and dealing with that tricky fourth-trimester transition. If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know I have blogged on here about my pregnancy and then life with my son Jude who has just turned two! Today I wanted to talk about a topic I’m really passionate about and that is women’s postpartum health-which is often neglected since we focus so much on baby!

Over on my Instagram last week, I talked about how many women are neglected by the six-week checkup. We read so much about pregnancy and then looking after baby but many new mums don’t get proper advice about how to look after themselves after going through childbirth or a c-section; which is major abdominal surgery!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jen|gluten free, IBD+ gut chat (@jennafarmeruk)

Don’t assume tiredness is just sleep-deprivation

Most of us are exhausted from sleep deprivation that comes with having a baby (read my post on dealing with sleep regressions) but at the same time, this means lots of postpartum health issues can go ignored. It can be common for new mums to suffer from low iron or have thyroid issues; both of which can cause tiredness can be easily tested and controlled with medication. So if you have a feeling of fatigue that won’t shift, do speak to your doctor.

Mental Health is important

Again we hear a lot about mental health during pregnancy but not as much postpartum-I’ve already talked on here about my journey with postnatal anxiety and there are services available specifically for new mums so don’t be afraid to speak to your midwife or health visitor. The pandas foundation is an amazing charity that supports this.

Don’t neglect ‘me time’

When I was trying to conceive, I took great care of myself and worked on self-care, multi-vitamins and diet but I completely neglected that in the early days with Jude when it’s SO important. Not only is your body still in recovery but you’re also often operating on less sleep, higher stress and 3 meals a day feels like a victory.

When I was trying to get pregnant, I used the books and supplements from Zita West but they also have a postnatal range too for relaxing and also meeting the needs of breastfeeding. I’ve teamed up with them to giveaway one of their candles and postnatal bath oil to one lucky new mum and mum to be-scroll down the post to find how to win!

It may take years to feel like you again

One of the biggest lessons since my son turned 2 is that I rushed trying to recover from my c-section and just generally tried to return to normal too quickly. I was so frustrated at how slow recovery seemed and didn’t recognise my body for a long time after he was born. But it does get easier: I wrote this post about how many weird things happen to your body after having a baby. it really does impact everything from your shoe size (bigger) to your skin and your periods (horrible). So do take time and be realistic about what you can achieve.