The road to recovery

Regardless of the type of anaesthesia you received, within 24 hours after surgery, you will be helped out of bed and asked to move around. This will help your circulation and greatly decrease the danger of getting blood clots. The longer you stay upright the faster you'll heal. Make sure to get adequate pain medication so that you can move around, sit, and feed your baby comfortably.

After 24 hours, you'll be relieved of your IV and urinary catheter and be able to eat very bland, mild foods. As you introduce solids, expect to feel some gas pains - a sign that your intestines are beginning to function again. The slower you introduce solids, the less gas and bloating you'll feel.

Within two to four days, your sutures, staples, or clamps will be removed, and you?ll probably be allowed to go home.

The first week: emotionally
Your hormones will be rebalancing, as if you'd had a vaginal birth, so expect to experience the same gamut of emotion as your fellow new mums. However, mums who've had C-sections often have to contend with feelings of guilt, inadequacy, frustration or resentment, if you had your heart set on a vaginal birth and feel you were cheated out of it. These feelings can be hard to dismiss, especially when everyone keeps telling you how irrational you're being. If you feel this way, remind yourself that giving birth is just one part of the pregnancy process. You did a fantastic job of nurturing and protecting your unborn baby - the outcome being a healthy mum and baby. Also remember that many women find their babies' births, whether vaginal or C-section, bear only scant resemblance to what they actually expected.

At home
Accept you'll need help. Ask for support from your partner, parents, in-laws, and friends or, if you can afford it, hire paid help. You may need prescription painkillers for up to a week after surgery, gradually changing to over-the-counter pain relievers. Just as you would if you'd had a vaginal birth, you'll experience a discharge called lochia, which originates from the site where the placenta was attached to the uterine wall. For the first week or so it will be bright red; it gradually turns pink and then yellow-white, and may last up to six weeks.

If heavy menstrual-type bleeding continues after the first week or recurs after slowing, call your healthcare provider. If you're saturating a sanitary pad within an hour or appear to be haemorrhaging even more blood, call your doctor immediately. This could be a sign that a piece of the placenta was left in the uterus or that the uterus isn't shrinking properly.

Within six weeks you'll be able to start exercising moderately - but wait until your caregiver gives you the go-ahead. It may be several months before you're back to your former fit self. Remember you've undergone major abdominal surgery. All the same, you'll be able to resume sexual intercourse within four to six weeks, with your medical practitioner's OK.