C-Section Recovery

In the U.S., about 32 percent of babies are born by Cesarean section, which meant that in 2021 alone, over 1.1 million American mothers were recovering from a surgical birth. After two unmedicated vaginal births, I’ve now had three C-sections myself: an unplanned C-section, then a scheduled C-section, then another unscheduled. Recovery is never easy—it’s major surgery, on top of caring for a new baby and general postpartum changes—but with some preparation, there are a few ways to make the transition to post-surgery motherhood a little less painful. Below is my recommended shopping list for those items that can make a physical difference in the healing process.

High-Rise Bottoms

I’m normally a low-rise person when it comes to pants and undies, but when recovering from a C-section, I don’t want clothes rubbing against my incision. Once we’ve moved beyond the disposable mesh underwear that the hospital provides (and feel free to keep using those if that’s what works for you), high-waisted panties are more comfortable than bikini cuts. I mostly wear dresses and nightgowns in these early postpartum days, but some loose-fitting, high-waisted lounge pants or shorts are a good idea. I’ve been in love with Old Navy’s maternity pajamas—they’re super soft, lightweight, and flowy.

Functional Dresses

While we’re updating our wardrobe, I also recommend long, comfortable dresses to eliminate the need for pants or shorts. If you’re breastfeeding, make sure you can nurse comfortably in your dresses: front buttons, wrap-styles, or low cut necklines are all possibilities, and may be more readily available (and budget-friendly) than dresses specifically designed for nursing. I bought a few flowy summer dresses at Bealls that fit over my baby bump during pregnancy, and I’m getting plenty of use out of them in the postpartum period too.

Breastfeeding Basics

A nursing pillow such as a Boppy is always helpful for nursing, and even more so when our abdomens could use a layer of protection. It's also important to have a comfortable chair or nursing nook where we can use (relatively) good posture.

Pantry Power-Ups

After abdominal surgery, the pressure is on to get your bowels moving again. Your hospital may provide or recommend stool softeners or even a laxative to help, but you can also stock your pantry with high-fiber foods to encourage your body to get back to normal. Oatmeal, dried fruit, applesauce, and chia and flax seeds sprinkled into oatmeal or applesauce are easy and tasty ways to increase your fiber intake—and hopefully, your output. Drinking plenty of water is essential, too, so a refillable water bottle or straw cup can be helpful.

For any postpartum period, we’ll want to save our energy for the things that matter: taking care of our own recovery and our babies. We can stock up on nutrient-dense snacks we can eat with one hand and easy-prep meals. A short-term switch to paper plates might save someone from having to wash dishes. (Opt for recycled and compostable plates for less of an environmental impact). And if you have older children, don’t stress if their dinners consist of cereal or peanut butter sandwiches for a few weeks: it’s temporary, and there will be plenty of time for balanced, home-cooked meals—if that’s your goal—when you recover. 

One thing I hadn’t anticipated is an aversion to carbonated drinks. I normally love Zevia soda (it’s sweetened with stevia, an herb, so there’s no sugar or artificial sweeteners), but anything bubbly isn’t helpful to an already gassy post-surgery stomach. Instead, I’ve been drinking hot or iced peppermint tea, which aids digestion, and isn't bubbling over with carbon dioxide.

Pain Protection

In my experience, the two most painful parts of C-section recovery are getting in and out of bed, and coughing or sneezing. It may be more comfortable to sleep in a recliner for the first few nights rather than getting into a horizontal position in bed. In the absence of a sleep-friendly chair, excess pillows are our friends.

We don’t often realize how much we use our abs when we cough until we have a healing incision in that area. When a need to cough or sneeze comes on, a small pillow pressed against the incision can help. Personally, I’ve become addicted to throat lozenges. I found my childhood favorite Pine Brothers drops on Amazon and have been keeping them in arms’ reach since the birth. Anytime I feel a tickle in my throat, I pop in a lozenge to prevent the need to cough.

Another one of my postpartum Amazon purchases was a heating pad. A little heat layered over the abdomen can be very soothing. Just remember to avoid overheating the baby by shutting the heating pad off before picking them up.

Belly Binders

Some cultures practice belly wrapping for postpartum healing, even with a traditional birth, and many mothers claim that belly-binding helped restore their abs after surgery. Opinions vary about their long-term effectiveness for postpartum healing, so check with your provider for advice, but in immediate days following a C-section, it can be comforting, and protective, to have something holding one's insides together. Your hospital may provide a basic Vel-cro style wrap, but there are many other options on the market if you'd like to expand your options for shrinking your waist.

A Place to Process

Finding peace will help our recovery more than anything else.

Some Cesareans are scheduled or even preferred, but for many mothers (myself included), a surgical birth wasn't how we wanted to welcome our child into the world. If our birth experience was not what we hoped for or imagined, it can be very helpful to write out or talk about our birth story to process the experience and the emotions that surround it. Whether it's with a journal, a therapist, or an understanding friend, we can help ourselves by working through our feelings and coming to a place of acceptance. 

We are fortunate to live in a time when we can schedule overnight deliveries of comfort items to ease our pain. But finding peace in the postpartum period will help our recovery more than anything else.

- MJ

Life of You

Have you given birth by C-section? What helped your recovery the most?