What to Know About Using Ice Packs After Childbirth

Childbirth is painful. That’s not generally debatable. Your whole body shifts during pregnancy, and then it has to shift back. Not to mention that you birthed a whole human! Postpartum pain relief mainly involves over-the-counter medications and simple solutions. Ice packs are one simple solution that can be a huge help in relieving postpartum vaginal and perineal pain.

Recovering After Birth

Even people who have had the most serene birthing experience will have pain and discomfort after childbirth. Not only is your body recovering after the actual act of having a baby, but it’s trying to recover after all the changes pregnancy made to your body.

Common postpartum symptoms after a vaginal birth include:

• Contractions. Sometimes called afterpains, these are a way for your body to shrink the uterus back to its original size and prevent excessive bleeding in the uterus by compressing the blood vessels. You may feel these pains more strongly while nursing because your body releases a hormone called oxytocin.
• Hair loss. During pregnancy, extra hormones cause extra hair growth. When these hormone levels drop, you’ll start to shed the excess hair. This can keep going for up to five months after giving birth.
• Hemorrhoids and painful bowel movements.Trying to have a bowel movement can be one of the scariest parts about postpartum life. It’s common to be nervous about aggravating an already sensitive area, especially if you have stitches. You may also experience hemorrhoids, which are swollen veins in your anus or lower rectum.
• Incontinence. Your pelvic floor muscles can become stretched or injured during pregnancy, labor, and vaginal delivery. This can cause urine to leak while you cough, laugh, or sneeze. This usually improves within a few weeks.
• Mood changes. Pregnancy and childbirth cause a major disruption to your hormones. On top of that, you’re likely feeling a lot of emotions from bringing a new life into the world, and you’re also probably not sleeping well. This can result in what’s called the “baby blues” for the first couple of weeks. More severe mood changes, especially ones that don’t go away, can be signs of postpartum depression or anxiety.
• Tender breasts. Whether or not you plan to nurse your baby, your breasts may become engorged. This happens when your breasts fill with milk and become full, firm, and tender.
• Vaginal discharge. After delivery, your body needs to get rid of the membrane that lined your uterus during pregnancy. It does this through vaginal discharge, called lochia, which will be red and heavy for the first few days. This will start to become more watery and change to pinkish brown to yellowish white. Light bleeding and discharge can last up to six weeks after birth.
• Vaginal and perineal soreness. It’s extremely common to feel pain in the vagina and perineum, the area between the vagina and anus, after birth. This area may tear or your doctor may have to make a small cut called an episiotomy to help the baby get out. Even if neither of these things happened, this area can still be sore and swollen after birth.
• Water retention. Also called postpartum edema, this happens when your body retains water due to an excess of a hormone called progesterone. This usually lasts until a week or so after birth.
• Weight loss. Most women lose about 13 pounds after delivering the baby, placenta, and amniotic fluid. You may still look pregnant for a few days after birth as your body continues to get rid of extra fluid.

Cesarean sections, or C-sections, have many of the same postpartum symptoms as vaginal birth. The primary difference is that you likely won’t have vaginal pain, but will have abdominal pain, especially near your incision.