Your Stomach After C-Section: Getting That Flat Look Back

Your Stomach After C-Section

Pregnancy is hard on the body, but the recovery process may be even harder. That’s because, across the board, we generally fail to acknowledge just how much of a toll delivery takes on the body. And when a woman delivers via C-section, recovery time is even longer, typically beginning with a longer hospital stay.

The C-section recovery process isn’t easy, but for many women, the greatest challenge comes from grappling with their post-baby, post-surgery body. To get that flat stomach back will take extra work, and some even opt for surgical interventions.

The Great Divide – Diastasis Recti

During pregnancyDuring pregnancy, everything in the abdomen shifts, but unlike skin that stretches and organs that are compressed or pushed out of the way, the muscles have a harder time making space. This can cause the abdominal muscles to split, a condition called diastasis recti. This split can be hard to overcome and is why many women struggle to regain their pre-baby body. Having a C-section can make the condition worse, though, because many of the nerves to the area are cut, making it harder to reactivate those muscles.

Flattening With Fitness

It will be about two months before you can really begin exercising after a C-section, but diet and exercise are at the core of any effort to regain that pre-baby body. With that in mind, it’s best to start with the diet element of the plan, and make it easy. Proven diet plans like Nutrisystem and Personal Trainer Food deliver all the food straight to your door, cutting out the time-consuming food prep that may be too much with a new baby at home. Then, once you have the food component under control, you can move on to gentle recovery exercises like belly breathing, kegels, and wall-sits that will strengthen the pelvic and abdominal muscles.

Post-Pregnancy Tummy Tucks

plastic surgery to tighten stomach skin and musclesDespite their best efforts, many women can’t get the results they want from diet and exercise alone. At that point, some turn to plastic surgery to tighten stomach skin and muscles. There are two major approaches to this. Some women choose to have what’s known as a C-tuck, which is a combined C-section and tummy tuck, but this is a relatively risky procedure. Typically, a better option is to have a tummy tuck six months to a year after having a C-section and after you’re done having children. This gives the mother time to reach a stable weight, bond with the child, and finish breastfeeding if they plan to do so.

Women who do choose to have a tummy tuck immediately following a C-section tend to have worse results and a harder recovery than those who wait to have the procedure. That’s because the body has just gone through an extremely stressful procedure in the form of the C-section and it’s going to undergo continued change in the weeks and months to come, and many women end up having additional procedures if they opt for a C-tuck.

Culturally, we don’t do a good job addressing just how hard it is for women to recover from pregnancy, and we certainly don’t address barriers to losing the baby weight and getting back in shape. Women shouldn’t feel guilty about taking whatever steps they need to in order to feel confident in their bodies after giving birth.

Article Submitted By Community Writer

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