How long is the postpartum recovery period?

The currently clinically recognized routine puerperal recovery period is 42 days, which is 6 weeks. However, there is no unified standard answer for the actual recovery time. It ranges from 3 months to 1 year or even longer. The time difference between different groups of people and different recovery dimensions is actually quite large.

A while ago, I accompanied my cousin who had just given birth for a 42-day review. She had a normal delivery without side incision, and her pregnancy weight only gained 22 pounds. She continued to exercise lightly during the entire pregnancy. During the review, her uterine involution, diastasis rectus abdominis, and pelvic floor muscle scores were all within the normal range. The doctor said that she should be careful not to stand and hold the baby for too long, and that she would be able to return to her pre-pregnancy exercise intensity after another month of rest. But another mother in the same clinic was not so lucky. The twins she gave birth to had second-degree tears. She gained almost 40 pounds during pregnancy. Her pelvic floor muscle score was only 58 on the 42-day reexamination. She leaked urine when she caught a cold and coughed in the winter, and her rectus abdominis separated three fingers. The doctor arranged for her to have pelvic floor muscle repair courses twice a week, saying that it would take at least half a year to return to a state that does not affect her daily life.

There is still a lot of controversy on the Internet about the recovery period. Some people say that half a year after childbirth is the golden recovery period. Repair after this time will have no effect. Many gynecologists and rehabilitation practitioners also suggest that as long as targeted repair training is done within 1 to 2 years after delivery, significant improvements will be seen. There is no need to fall into unnecessary anxiety just because half a year has passed.

In fact, you can think of the process of pregnancy and childbirth as inflating a balloon for 10 months. After deflation, it will not shrink back to its original flat shape immediately. The skin, muscles, fascia and even the pelvis will take time to rebound. If you stretch too much during pregnancy, or if you have to hold the baby or stay up late after giving birth, without taking care of targeted repairs, the rebound speed will naturally be much slower.

There are still many people who ignore the emotional recovery. Many mothers' physical condition has improved significantly after confinement, but occasionally they will shed tears for no apparent reason. In fact, it usually takes 3 to 6 months for postpartum hormone levels to completely return to the pre-pregnancy state. If there is no one to help take care of the baby and not enough rest, the emotional recovery period may drag on even longer. This invisible recovery should actually be included in the postpartum recovery period.

Don’t be too fooled by the rhetoric on the Internet about “recovering pre-pregnancy vest lines in three months”. Everyone’s physical foundation, degree of injury during childbirth, and postpartum recuperation conditions are different. Just take your time and there is no need to rush the so-called “standard progress.”