Postpartum Vaginal Care – The Best Care Remedies

The vagina is one hell of a peculiar and special source of the groove and she who is comfortable in the nether regions is at peace and exudes ultimate confidence.

• Forget all the hype about certain special exercises

• Forget all the hype about comfy clothes, makeups and dresses

• Forget all the hype about routines, diets and workouts

The essence of true beauty and glow emanates from how clean and secure you feel with your inner shine. It is an undeniable fact that the comfort, confidence and pride that comes from a healthy and well cared for vagina is second to none.

You can actually feel that exuding and exhilarating confidence envelope you when you as a woman have taken care to ensure that your beauty emanates from a very hygienic and beautiful nether region as the confidence and glow you exude is very infectious and clearly noticeable to admirers.

If your genital area is not healthy and clean, no matter how fantastically you look, smell and dress, there is this nagging feeling of discomfort and lack of confidence and unease that follows you wherever you go and the feeling that this is noticed by friends and acquaintances that it affects your glow, freedom and happiness.

The vagina after giving birth

Not withstanding whether you have had a seamless short duration vaginal delivery or a prolonged labor, the vagina bears so much of the brunt of the delivery process that it can’t go unscathed after this process, likewise the rectum and the perineum. The persistent pushing, combined with all that pressing and pulling of the delivery process has immense effects on the whole of the perineum and the pelvis with the head of the baby in most cases tearing the vaginal wall especially in first births as it descends the birth canal. This culminates in the lacerations of the edges of the vagina as the head crowns and is delivered. This is so peculiar that in some cases it may require an episiotomy to expedite delivery and avoid giving you major injury to the perineum.

The lochia

The lochia is the vaginal discharge that follows the delivery of your baby. It usually lasts for approximately two to six weeks. The lochia is bloody or reddish in the initial stages as the uterus gets rid of the extra blood within uterus following delivery. It gradually fades to a pink color as the extra cells formed in the uterus to accommodate the pregnancy is shed and the uterus returns to its prepregnant size and shape and it finally moves to a colorless discharge as the uterus completely involutes. It is non smelly and you should inform your doctor if the discharge with lochia rubra is more bloody than expected or keeps coming out in clots or the discharge becomes foul smelling or turns bloody again after being clear.

The discomfort, soreness and swelling

The vagina gets swollen, tender and sore from the delivery process and it can also be dry from the effect of the changing hormone status after delivery on the vagina, there are also minor tears on the wall of the vagina from the delivery that also accounts for the soreness, the vagina may feel loose also after delivery especially if you have delivered a very big baby

The urinary problems

The effect of the vaginal delivery on your pelvic floor may make the floor to be weak and cause the bladder neck to descend below the pelvic diaphragm especially as urine accumulates in the bladder causing you to have frequency of urination and urgency that makes urine to dribble once you have an increase in intra-abdominal pressure that even laughing causes you embarrassment and sadness.

The perineal tears / episiotomy

When you are given an episiotomy or you have a tear in the vagina or perineum during the delivery of your baby, it comes with bleeding and swelling that usually resolves over time. The repair of the episiotomy and perineal tears will lead to rapidly subsiding pain and discomfort, then as the days progress it becomes itchy which is a sign of healing. Following the repair of either the perineal tear or episiotomy, you should be completely healed within two weeks. If it hasn’t healed by this time, please see your doctor as the wound may have become infected or may have broken down, needing reassessment and appropriate care.

How to treat the vagina postpartum

The vagina needs TLC especially considering the trauma it has been through and when you also know that it is one of the main building blocks for your ongoing and future happiness and freedom. To ensure that the vagina remains its ultimate self in this journey you have to give it the attention it deserves to regain its lost luster occasioned by the delivery process. On account of this desire to keep the source of the groove fresh and healthy and unhindered, some couples actually elect to undergo an elective cesarean section just to ensure the vagina remains intact and tight .

Sitz Bath

A sitz bath is an essential therapy if you have had a tear during delivery or an episiotomy was given to you and has been repaired. A sitz bath improves blood flow to the perineum helping the tear to heal. It also serves as an antiseptic preventing wound infection and facilitate healing within a week of delivery while taking care of discomforts associated with vaginal delivery.

To perform a sitz bath you put warm water in a sitz bath or basin, you can also use a clean bathtub or a hospital supplied kit. Fill the basin or tub with warm water and sit on it so your vulva and perineum is submerged in the warm water for about 10 to 20 minutes at least twice per day for maximum effect. You can add antiseptic solution to the warm water or ordinary salt. You may also if you prefer do herbal sitz bath all to the same purpose.

Spray bottle

The unpleasant feeling you go through while attempting to urinate after delivery calls for an attention from the ever pleasant spray bottle – the peri bottle.

This is a miniature plastic hand held squirt device that you fill with tepid or lukewarm water and spray it on your perineum while peeing to dilute the irritating and discomforting feeling of urine on your nether regions following delivery. Do not spray into the vagina as that may be discomforting. You can apply more squirts following urination to clean out the area and avoid the use of the discomforting toilet paper to wipe out after urination considering that the whole area is still tender and swollen.

Ice packs

Ice packs applied to the perineum within 24 hours of delivery is a lifesaver when it comes to relief of pain following delivery. The ice pack can be hospital supplied and wrapped with a cloth and placed in your perineum hourly or as needed to alleviate pain of delivery.

Anesthetic sprays

Lidocaine sprays and other anesthetic sprays that can be obtained over the counter provide a very soothing and relaxing relief to a sore vagina following delivery. You can also use this spray following urination to ease the irritation that is occasionally associated with peeing after giving birth.

Witch hazel pads

You can apply witch hazel between your butt lips to ease the pain and inflammation associated with giving birth. Witch hazel is a herbal remedy that contains tannin and other oils and chemicals that has been found useful in reducing swelling and fighting bacteria infection. It has also been noted to help control minor bleeding as it has hemostatic properties. It combines well with other soothing agents and can be used in conjunction with them.

Sexy lubes

As always sex and love making is never far away from the discussion table after delivery and the vagina is never the same after a delivery with the pain, soreness, tears, stitches and of course the dryness occasioned by the fluctuating hormones after delivery. You can get maximum comfort and relief if you invest in some sexy lubricants to ease the pain and enhance the pleasure of intercourse when it does happen.

The Role of TLC

The joy of motherhood knows no bound if the mother has total freedom and happiness after the delivery of the baby and all forms of pain and discomfort are far removed from your daily lives. The vagina bears the final brunt of the delivery process and unlike the pain of uterine contractions and the rest of the discomfort of the labor process, the vaginal pain and discomfort persists after the baby is out and can continue to be a source of irritation and unpleasant feelings for you if you do not or know not how to handle this afterpains.

Investing some time and a little resource to taking care of the vagina post delivery offers and pays tremendous benefits and dividends to you and enhances your march toward total freedom. It should never be overlooked or trivialized in your quest for complete recovery and happiness following delivery.

Dr mawa

mypostnatalmanagement.com

To your postnatal health and freedom

Please if you have any comments, suggestions, ideas or experiences you want to share concerning postpartum vaginal care kindly use the comments box below