Well, my long wait is finally over! My sweet baby girl was born Sunday night after laboring for about 2 days, and she was worth every moment! As I journeyed through early labor, active labor, transition, and pushing, there were quite a few hiccups. Like most women things did not go as I’d imagined, and hard decisions had to be made about when and how to stick to my birth plan, and when it was necessary to make adjustments. No matter how prepared we think we are, surprises are a “normal” part of the birth process!
I thought it might be helpful to some other first time mommies to discuss one surprise I had after it was all over and we proceeded to postpartum recovery. Knowing what I know as a PT and working with postpartum women, I was expecting abdominal weakness, and certainly some pain. But I was not expecting such shortness of breath! In the hours following birth I found it quite difficult to draw a deep breath, as well as stand up straig.ht, roll and movein bed, and get in and out of bed.
Long before my due date I had obtained an abdominal binder to bring to the hospital (the Belly Bandit, specifically). Sometimes the claims of such devices are not consistent with research, or there is no solid research on their efficacy, and I wanted to test this brace out for myself in the interest of being able appropriately recommend it to my patients. I think some hospitals do provide these to patients, but my delivery location does not, so I was very glad I had brought one to try. As soon as I put it on, I felt better. I could breathe, stand straighter, reach overhead, roll, and move more easily. I felt much stronger immediately, and better able to take on all my new respnsibilities as a mother.

I have been wearing the Belly Bandit 24/7 since coming home from the hospital. In the past I advised patients to wear a brace during the day for support, but I did not realize how much better it feels even when lying down and sleeping to have the brace on. In addition, I think it is definitely  helping my belly bulge shrink down faster. Granted, you can’t call my case study of one (me) scientific evidence for efficacy, but  but gently compressing the abdomen I think it is helping with elimination of excess fluid as well as preventing my from developing bad abdominal motor patterns that can contribute to DRA and other dysfunctions.

I hope this bit of advice helps you plan for your recovery! I will be posting regularly on my postpartum workouts, so stay tuned for ideas on how to get your body working again safely after baby!