Month: August 2019

Back Pain and Breastfeeding? Here are 5 Tips to Help!

~ jesspreale ~ Leave a comment

Did you know that last week was international breastfeeding week? I know this event and really, even discussions about breastfeeding can lead to lots of thoughts amongst mamas. Pride, having accomplished something challenging. Sadness, if your breastfeeding journey did not necessarily go as planned. Fear, as to whether your baby is actually getting enough milk and growing the way she should. Joy. Guilt. Happiness. Anger. The list goes on.

I think it’s important that while we recognize that breastfeeding has incredible benefits, we also recognize what is most important– a fed and growing baby and a healthy happy momma. There is so much that goes into the decision a parent makes about how to feed their baby, and it’s important that we help all feel supported and loved– not judged and put down. (Again, let’s build each other up, parents!!)

Musculoskeletal pain postpartum is fairly common. A 2019 study of 400 breastfeeding women found that around 37% experienced neck pain and 22% experienced low back pain. Another 2015 study looked at the experiences of 229 individuals after giving birth. Around 50% experienced back pain and 25% had an onset of back pain at 2 or more weeks postpartum. (This later onset makes a lot of sense to me based on the big changes in movement and positioning that often happen after having babies.)

So, if you are having back pain after childbirth, you’re in good company. I’ll add here that while this is indeed common, it if not normal. This is good news, because it means that we actually have strategies to help this improve.

What can a nursing mama do to help these aches and pains?

1. Be sure you are using good mechanics when you feed your little one. My daughter takes 20-30 min to feed and ate every 2-3 hours after birth (and now, at 9 weeks old, still eats every 2 hours or so during the day–but sleeps more at night!! Yay!). That means that she feeds anywhere from 160-360 minutes each day. That is a long time to be in the same position. So, to minimize aches and pains, aim to sit with support at your back. If possible, find a comfortable place to feed your baby where your body can relax and you aren’t having to work to stay in a good position for feeding. Also, be sure you bring your baby to your breast not your breast to your baby. If you are having to bring your breast to your baby, you’ll inevitably slump down and holding that position for 20-30 minutes makes my back hurt just thinking about it.

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My first little nursling, Emma, after she just finished eating.

These recommendations also hold true for my pumping and bottle feeding mamas. Pumping also leaves you in one position (unless you have one of the new styles of pumps like the Elvie– more to come later on that!!) for a long period of time, so being sure you have a comfortable place to pump and feed your baby is key!

2. Use pillows and cushions to provide support. Remember, 360 minutes in one position each day can be touch. Try using pillows like the boppy, brest friend, or others that support the baby being lifted to the breast. I actually find for my daughter that I like the boppy more when I sit in my glider or recliner, but I prefer the brest friend when I’m sitting in bed (used with a pillow under it for positioning). Right after birth, depending on where I was sitting, I sometimes just preferred using a few pillows, or using a football hold position to nurse. So, try a few options and see what helps you get into the most optimal position.

If you are bottle feeding, using pillows and supports like this can still be helpful to keep you in an ergonomic position and support your baby during your feed.

3. Change it up. When it comes to posture, the current thought is along the lines that there is not one perfect posture per se, but rather variability in posture and movement seems to be important. So, changing up your position to feed can sometimes help. This can mean feeding in a wrap or a carrier (I have yet to master that!), or nursing while lying down (my most favorite!). Sometimes mixing it up like this can make a big difference.

4. Take movement breaks between feeds. This goes along with Tip #3. Movement breaks like this feel amazing to me after nursing my little Mary. The following movement sequence is meant to take you out of the position you’re in to feed, and help restore some variability. Doing a short movement series between feeds like this can really help improve these aches and pains.

Cat-cow: I love this exercise because it allows your spine to move well into flexion and extension. This can feel great when you have been feeding for so long or holding your baby in a slightly flexed position. Pairing this with breathing can be fantastic as well (and helps to get your deep core–including your pelvic floor–involved). To do this, inhale while your back extends and your head comes up. Exhale while you arch your back, tucking your pelvis and allowing your head to drop down.

Wall Angels: This is another of my favorites. This exercise stabilizes your low back while encouraging movement at your shoulders and mid-back. It feels AMAZING if you have been sitting for a while at a computer…or in this case…sitting for a while and feeding a little one!

Reach and Roll: This exercise is a good one to get some movement in your shoulders and thoracic spine. Keep your pelvis “stacked” and your knees and hips bent to 90 degrees to encourage movement through your upper back.

Child’s Pose: This is a nice position to open your hips, lengthen your spine and extend your shoulders. As a bonus, a wide-kneed child’s pose also encourages lengthening of the pelvic floor muscles, so this is a favorite exercise of mine for individuals with pelvic floor overactivity or pelvic pain. **If you are fairly early postpartum, you may not want to lengthen your pelvic floor this way. So, in your case, consider keeping your knees together rather than wide.

5. If pain persists, seek help! This could mean seeing a lactation consultant if you are needing help positioning your baby. It could also mean seeking an evaluation with a physical therapist who has experience working with people postpartum (usually, this primarily includes pelvic health PTs). While back pain can be very aggravating, it is often very treatable. We usually see good results for people experiencing this, very quickly.

I hope this helps some of my fellow nursing mamas! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out!

Have a wonderful weekend!

~ Jessica

Early Recovery After Caesarean Birth

~ jesspreale ~ 2 Comments

6 weeks ago, we welcomed our second daughter into the world. Mary Lynn was 6 lbs 10 oz of squishy, adorable, babyness. And she came into the world via a Caesarean birth. And it was amazing. And hard. But good.

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In the recovery room right after Mary’s birth!

C-sections come with challenges, just like vaginal births do, and for me, these challenges included a significant blood loss that led to me fainting on the second day, a super low blood pressure due to a response to the epidural that contributed to the fainting but also meant going off of my epidural pain meds really early, and nerve pain that lasted for about a month after Mary was born. (We’ll y’all more about that another time.)

Since I am living the early postpartum life, I thought it would be fun to do a series of posts on my own rehabilitation journey (since, in many ways, each of my births has been a mini-case study for myself!).

So, let’s talk Cesarean rehab in the first 6 weeks!

Moving well after major abdominal surgery

I love when people imply that birthing via Cesarean section is somehow “the easy way out” compared to birthing via the vagina. Hello people, this is major abdominal surgery! All mommas get birthing badges– let’s support each other in our journeys, right?!

Initially after a Cesarean, movement alone can be challenging. Standing up from a chair. Rolling over in bed. Lying down in bed. But the good news is that with some easy tips, this movement can become much easier. First, as you are moving, bending, standing, etc. remember to “blow before you go.” This easy to remember phrase comes from my friend and colleague, Julie Wiebe. This means, begin to exhale before you initiate a movement. Breathing like this with movement helps to control pressures within the abdomen and pelvis, so it can significantly help you in your movement after having your baby- both in terms of ease but also in protecting your pelvis and abdomen.

When standing up from a chair, remember, nose over toes. Scoot to the edge of the chair first. As you go to stand, lean forward first. This puts your body weight over your legs and helps take the burden away from your core.

When you lie down or get up from lying down, channel your inner log. So, when you lie down, first sit on the edge of the bed. Slowly lift your legs onto the bed, then lower the rest of the body down, using your arms for support. If you need to roll over, bend your knees, then roll your body as a unit- like a log. Reverse these steps for getting up out of bed.

Abdominal Binders and Compression Underwear? It depends. It may be worth considering  using an abdominal binder for the first few weeks after your birth, progressing to wearing compression underwear or shorts(ie Spanx, SRS recovery shorts, Core shorts). These types of garments provide support to the abdomen and can be incredibly helpful for moving and walking around after your surgery. The flip side with compressing the abdomen is that it can impact how well you can move your ribcage and can influence pressure mechanics within the pelvis. So, if you are already struggling with pelvic organ prolapse or urinary leakage, or if you pushed for a period of time before having a Caesarean birth, it may be worth talking with a pelvic floor PT prior to utilizing this during your recovery. Generally, the compression underwear/shorts provide more support to the pelvic floor and abdomen, so they may be a little better with pressure modulation than the binder. For me personally, the binder and compression undies were amazing! They took away my nerve pain, and helped me move much better. I chose to wear these sporadically during the day (a bit on, a bit off), and practiced breathing well with my diaphragm during the times the binder was off.

Handling your incision

Initially, your main focus here is keeping your incision clean, and monitoring it to make sure it is healing well with no signs of infection. Around 6 weeks, if you are cleared by your physician, you can begin to gently mobilize the tissue around the scar and aim to desensitize the scar. I usually start above and below the scar, before working on the scar itself. You can perform gentle massage to the tissue above and below the scar and gently stretch the skin in all directions above and below the scar. You can also gently desensitize the scar by touching it with your fingers or a wet cloth, and gently rubbing across the scar in all directions. We can mobilize this scar tissue further, but we are going to talk about this in a future post as this post is focusing on the early period of healing.

At this time, you can also begin applying silicone gel or silicone strips to help soften your scar and prevent hypertrophic or keloid scars. Silicone is considered a gold-standard treatment for the prevention or treatment of hypertrophic scars. While most of the research regarding silicone is of poor quality with significant bias, evidence does tend to suggest a positive benefit. My first Caesarean did lead to a hypertrophic scar, so I began applying silicone gel to my scar once cleared by my OB to do so, around 4 weeks after Mary’s birth. I’ll report back on the difference between this new scar and the old one (See, mini case study!).

**I also have to note here that my colleague, Kathe Wallace, has a fantastic book that details some recommendations for scar tissue management after Caesarean. Kathe also offers a free abdominal scar massage guide at her website, which is a fantastic resource!

Exercise in the Early Postpartum Period

If I could give you one piece of advice on this early postpartum period, it would be to relax. Give yourself a break. Allow yourself to recover and heal. I find that so many people want to jump into too much, way too soon, and unfortunately, this can be more harmful than it is helpful. Remember, you just did something incredible. You just had major surgery. You deserve to rest. 

When we think about exercise during this initial period of healing, we are going to start very gently. Here are a few things you can get started on:

  • Walking: I’m not talking about going and walking several miles. During the first few weeks, it’s best to really rest, and give your body time to heal. Getting up, walking around the house as you feel comfortable can be very beneficial.  As you continue to heal, during the next few weeks, you can increase your walking. So, this may include some outings and short periods of walking between 2-4 weeks. Between 4-6 weeks, you can generally consider a leisurely walk in your neighborhood or a longer outing. The key here is to listen to your body. Rest when you need to, but gradually move to increase your endurance. After you see your OB for a postpartum visit around 4-6 weeks, and you are cleaned to do so, you can continue to gradually increase your walking as you are feeling comfortable.  Are you antsy to jump back into running? Zumba? Bootcamp? Pilates? Don’t. We’ll get there. But let’s rest right now.
  • Breathing: You all know I am fairly obsessed with the diaphragm. 4 years after this post was written, I still think it’s one of the coolest muscles in the body. The diaphragm works in coordination with the pelvic floor muscles, deep abdominal muscles and deep low back muscles to provide support to the abdominal organs, modulate pressure in the thorax and pelvis, and provide dynamic stability to our spine and pelvis. Slow breathing, aiming to expand your ribcage and relax your abdomen as you inhale, then slowly exhaling your air can be incredibly beneficial to re-establishing these normal functional relationships.
  • Gentle Pelvic Floor Muscle Activation & Relaxation: First, my biggest recommendation would be to SEE A PELVIC PT before and during your pregnancy so you really know your current function and can have an individualized plan to get the most out of your muscles and your body. I encourage people to discuss their delivery with their OB, and ask about beginning gentle pelvic floor and abdominal exercises. The timeline for starting this will depend on the specifics of your delivery, and we want to be smart when activating muscles that have been cut. When your provider is on-board with you starting, I like to pair gentle pelvic floor and abdominal wall activation with breathing. This looks like this:
    • Inhale, expanding your ribcage, relaxing your abdomen and your pelvic floor muscles.
    • Exhale and gently draw in your pelvic floor muscles, allowing your lower abdominal muscles to also gently draw in. Aim for a “moderate” effort to allow activation of the muscles but not overactivate them.
    • Then, relax your muscles again as you inhale, repeating this cycle.
    • Aim to do this for a minute or two, twice each day.

Stay tuned as we continue this journey over the next few weeks and months! What have been your challenges after childbirth? For my fellow health care professionals, what else do you like people to know immediately after a caesarean birth?

Have a great week!

Jessica