What Is Helpful to Know About How Your Body Changes

I had my first baby when I was 23. My husband and I had been married just 7 months when conceiving our first born–so 16 months after saying our ‘I dos,’ along came our first little girl.

I wasn’t prepared for how my body would change–wow, all of a sudden I no longer had the figure of a young 20 something–now I had a matronly figure! Yikes!

That’s one reason why I am a postpartum doula. I want to help moms come to be comfortable their new selves–amidst how their body has changed and will continue to change postpartum.

Recently I read this article from ‘Today’s Parent,’ from February of 2023, by Bonnie Schiedel. My next blog posts will be devoted to sharing the 17 ways that she outlines of how your body changes. Read and learn!

In the hours, days and weeks after you give birth, there’s a certain running commentary in your brain, at least part of the time. It tends to veer from a kind of hell, yeah pride (“I made an actual tiny human with my actual body!”) to a shocked disbelief at the changes your body is going through yet again (“FFS, what is that trickling down my...” and “this can’t be right…” and “oof, why does that hurt?”).

Your body undergoes a major transformation during pregnancy—and an equally major one after labour and delivery. And while there’s plenty of week-by-week information about your growing belly, your health and body after birth often get overlooked, as you cope with the admittedly big issues of caring for baby and functioning on little sleep. Trish Perrin Chang*, the Mississauga, Ont., mother of four-month-old Eric*, says she felt completely blindsided by her post-baby body, which included lots of vaginal bruising from a long, rough labour and delivery, episiotomy stitches and brief Hulk-like swelling in her legs and feet. “I did all my reading on being pregnant and our delivery options, all of that, but I realize now I was really unprepared for afterwards,” she says. “I was healthy and strong while I was pregnant, so maybe that’s why I felt kind of defeated after delivery.”

So while, yes, there is a ton of stuff to learn about being pregnant, delivering and caring for your sweet babe, it’s also crucial to do some homework on those early days after birth. A number of studies have found that when moms feel unprepared or are struggling to cope with all the changes to their physical health after they’ve had a baby, they are more likely feel overwhelmed, stressed, anxious or depressed—which is the very opposite of how you want to feel as a new mom.

Giving birth is deeply awesome, but giving yourself the tools and time to restore your nutrient levels, hormones, muscles and everything else is going to affect how you experience the early days of motherhood.

Next blog post: first tip to entering this sublime and challenging stage of early mothering!