But before you do, check out these tips for your first bath. Before you take precautions for your incision site, you first need to be sure you can get in and out of the tub. Even if your incision is healed, your strength may not be back to normal. Instead, stick to a gentle, fragrance-free soap — you could even use what you use on your newborn.
This strictly gentle rule also applies to lotions or moisturizers. Use warm water rather than hot or cold. When you wash the incision site, be careful not to scrub it, especially with a harsh washcloth. But you also need to be careful not to irritate the area. To avoid this, always pat down with a towel rather than rub across the incision site. Once you get the all-clear to take a soak in the tub, do it! Taking a bath, especially during the postpartum period, is good for the body and the soul.
Before you take a shower or get into the bathtub, examine your incision area and take note of any signs of infection, which may include:. Recovering from a cesarean section takes time. Some people are ready for pre-pregnancy activities like taking a bath within a few weeks after the C-section. But for others, it may take 4 weeks or longer for the surgical site to heal. The decision to take a bath comes down to the incision site. It needs to be well healed before submerging your body in the water.
This includes no bleeding or signs of infection. When it comes to safely taking a bath for the first time after having a C-section , there is no one timeline that will apply to everyone. Ali Rodriguez , M. In terms of bathing, postpartum showers are OK to take as soon as you are feeling strong enough to stand.
Jennifer Conti , M. This time frame also applies to those who gave birth vaginally. Submerging the vagina and the incision site in non-sterile water any earlier can put new parents at risk for infection.
Wayne Furr , M. Besides safeguarding against introducing bacteria to the uterus, holding off on that soak helps keep the danger of a skin infection at bay. She tells Romper that new parents are fine to take a soak after that. Still, in many childbirth classes , a C-section delivery—and the recovery that follows—is not covered in much depth, if at all.
Here's what you need to know about C-section recovery week by week. Immediately after surgery, you'll move to a post-operative area where you'll remain under observation, with hospital staff monitoring things like bleeding from your vagina and incision , blood pressure, and temperature. An IV will deliver fluids and a catheter will collect your urine in a bag, which eliminates the need to get up for the bathroom.
At this point, you still won't have sensation in your lower body because of the anesthesia, and you may feel a bit shaky and woozy from morphine in your IV. The good news: Barring complications, you'll be able to hold and breastfeed your baby right away. After several hours considering there aren't any complications , you'll be wheeled from the post-op area to the postpartum recovery unit. You may be offered ice chips and then switched to a liquid diet think broth and juice until your doctor clears you to eat solid food.
Following your surgery, nurses will massage your uterus to encourage it to contract and shrink to its normal size. Sadly, this isn't as soothing and spa-like as it sounds. You'll be encouraged to get out of your bed, if possible, on the same day.
Yes, you just had major abdominal surgery—but the activity will help speed your C-section healing. C-section pain typically spikes 18 hours after delivery. At that point, you'll be given an oral narcotic—or you may have "patient controlled analgesia," in which pain medication is delivered through your IV. By the time you go home, you'll probably only need a nonprescription anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen. Doctors will likely remove your catheter on the morning of the day following your C-section surgery.
This means you'll be walking—at least to the bathroom and back, and possibly farther. Caughey, M. You also can shower within a day of your surgery; doing so helps reduce the risk of infection. Don't scrub your incision, but let the soapy water run over it. Your bandages will be removed about 24 hours after surgery and replaced with small sticky bandages called Steri-Strips; it's fine if these get wet. Dry the area by gently patting it or using a blow-dryer set on cool.
Prefer to take a bath after a C-section? Unfortunately, submerging yourself in water is only safe once the incision has healed—generally seven to 10 days after surgery.
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