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Afterbirth pains

2K views 28 replies 20 participants last post by  GnomeyNewt 
#1 ·
I didn't notice them at all with my first. With my 2nd, they left me retching into a trash can while I tried to nurse. I mean literally toe-curling pain. Not pleasant. All the midwife told me to do was take tylenol. After taking nothing my whole pregnancy and labor, it seemed wrong to be popping tylenol left and right and it didn't help much. I had bought afterease (I think it was called) before the baby but that didn't help either.

I've heard it is worse after each birth. Anyone found anything that really works? Any suggestions?
 
#2 ·
You know, with women that have such horrible after pains, nothing natural I've found works. I used to suggest AfterEase, then cal/mag, chamomile tea - but nothing really touches it.

I have had clients who get a rx of Tylenol 3 for afterbirth contractions. The only thing to be aware of is that you will need to stay well hydrated with anything stronger than regular Tylenol - even with Aleve or Ibuprofen. Anything stronger than regular Tylenol will put you at risk, too, for constipation, so that needs to be looked at preventively. I think Tylenol 3 is by far the one thing that really affected my clients in a positive way. It's not natural, but I have seen some women with horrible pains after the birth - a couple said they were worse than the labor.
 
#4 ·
T3 has codiene in it and only made me sleepy and in pain. Ibuprofen and a heating pad was the only thing that made it bearable with my 3rd. Good news was 4th wasn't as bad and I am hoping it will be that way with #5. I know it is the body's protection and a good sign, but man it HURTS!

From what I remember, it did ease up after 4-5 days. After 2 weeks it was gone.
 
#5 ·
Heating pad made them so I wasn't moaning to get thru them. Afterease helped to take the edge off. If I was up moving around I was fine, but it was laying down in bed or sitting in chairs doing nothing that made them really hit me HARD.
I did alot of slow deep breathing. THe thing I noticed was with labour contractions, I could sway my hips back and forth and not really notice "pain"...with afterpains it was 2398573846538946 times worse (my labour and birthing were actually really comfy with Jhonen..I never even reached the point where I thought it hurt).
 
#6 ·
I've heard that your uterus after having been stretched by a previous pregnancy has to contract a little stronger to go back to its normal size. I had no afterbirth pains with my first kid, but man it hurt with my 2nd kid! As bad as contractions! I started wondering if there was a twin in there making its way out LOL

I found that it hurt the most during nursing and I just used my relaxation breathing to help me through it. I told myself it was my uterus going back to normal and that helped a lot. I believe my pains were gone after that first week

Don't feel bad if you need pain meds to help. I saw it as taking care of my body and giving it a rest after all it had been through. Hang in there, you are not alone and it will be over soon
 
#7 ·
The difference, for me, between labor pains and after pains is that I'm not supposed to be a functioning human being during labor. I am supposed to be at least up, nursing my baby, showering, etc in the week following labor.

Pamamidwife, can you take Tylenol 3 if you are breastfeeding?

Karen
 
#8 ·
I am not Pamamidwife
But have been told it is just fine to nurse while taking Tyl3. Think of the mom's that have c-births and are usually given stronger meds than Tyl3, they are nursing their babes


I had it after my 1st (hospital birth) and it did help, but I had more perineum pain than afterpains.

My second, (born at a freestanding birthcenter, all natural, wonderful labor and birth!) well, the afterpains and the pain in my bottom (terrible spasms, bad tearing, etc) were terrible. Even when transported to the surgeon for major suturing, I was NOT given anything, though they told me they never do surgery w/out pain meds, their idea of pain meds was local aneth. shots in my allready torn bottom. If I have to go through that again, I will be insisting on a shot of Demerol or something, it was excrutiating and I felt every stitch.

Next birth I will be getting a prescription for at least Tyl 3 for the afterpains and other pain I seem to suffer afterbirth. I think back to my 2nd and really do think the pain after the birth was worse than the actual labor pain. I will have to see my regular doc while pregnant to get a presciption, as I very much plan to have a homebirth or birth center birth next time and my midwives don't carry narcotics


Posted by BoobyJuice "The difference, for me, between labor pains and after pains is that I'm not supposed to be a functioning human being during labor. I am supposed to be at least up, nursing my baby, showering, etc in the week following labor. "

I totally agree! It was very hard trying to have visitors, etc. while dealing with the pain.
 
#9 ·
I think that for some women Tylenol 3 works better than ibuprofen. However, I would definitely start with ibuprofen first with heat and then move on to something stronger if it doesn't touch it. Women who are having their third + babies are not expected all the time to be down dealing with constant pain.
It also really affects how much baby is put to breast when you have aftercramping like this - if you know you're gonna have some intense pain each time, you may let your baby go longer between nursings and that's not always good.

The good news is that the cramping begins to get remarkably better on the third day.
 
#10 ·
Yikes, I threw up blood and fainted after taking tylenol 3.

I personally had worse pains after the birth of my first than after my second. It could be that the birth of my first was much, much more traumatic to my body in general. I took ibuprofen for a week after the birth of my first, and took a single dose after the birth of my second.
 
#13 ·
While I'm sorry so many of you have been miserable, I am very glad to know I'm not alone. I've mentioned it to people in RL and they look at me like I have 3 heads. Of course most people I know in RL took major pain meds during labor so maybe they just hadn't worn off yet.

I'll definitely start looking into some of these options. I hate to take anything while breastfeeding, but as Pamamidwife said "really affects how much baby is put to breast when you have aftercramping like this". Retching while trying to nurse is akward to say the least. So are the not-always-so gentle hugs of enthusiastic 2 yos - and this time I'll have a 4 yo too.

Quote:
I think the shorter the labour the harder the afterpains, too!
That could explain a lot for me if it's true. I have seriously precipitous labors. My 2nd was 45 minutes. The afterpains, however, went on for days!

T 3under3, I love the name Finn. We foolishly used it for our first ds and now kick ourselves because we'd love to use it for a name.
 
#14 ·
Hmm, I've actually had better luck with ibuprofen than with Tylenol #3 both personally and with most of the moms I've attended who had bad afterpains. For myself, I took 600mg of ibuprofen pretty much immediately after birth this last time, and every 6 hours for the first 2 days and found that the pain was quite a bit reduced over what it was the third time (although someone above mentions that #4 was better than #3, maybe that's just how it is?)
I've found for most moms Tylenol #3 just makes them more sleepy. It does work well for pain from stitches, or post cesarean, though.
I'm one of those who thought the afterpains were worse than labor with #3.
 
#15 ·
here's what I did, and it helped me a lot.
one, I would very gently massage my belly *before* putting baby to breast, getting my uterus to start contracting ahead of time so it wouldn't be so horrible when baby latched on.
two, I would take ibuprofen, again *before* putting baby to breast. Anti-inflammatory meds work much better if you take them before you start to hurt. If I didn't already have a tolerance for it, I would have taken alleve (naproxen) instead. Analgesics, like tylenol work better than anti-inflammatories if you are already hurting.
three, I would heat up my rice pillow and apply heat and pressure to my belly while I nursed.
I also drank herbal teas throughout my pregnancy and beyond.

Yeah, I also had a really fast labor... hmmm....
 
#17 ·
I was gonna ask if anyone they had noticed a correlation btwn intense afterpains & short labors. I barely noticed post contrax after my first (almost 10hr labor) but after my 2nd (90 min) it was awful!!! I felt like I was about to vomit every time I'd nurse b/c the pain would be so terrible (plus I quickly got severely cracked & bleeding nipples - double whammy!). My utereus had shifted to the right side of my body for some reason and everytime I'd get the pains they would just shoot straight down my right leg. It was pretty much unbearable. I tried both tylenol & ibuprofin but neither seemed to make a noticeable difference. The afterpains have actually scared me off of having another baby - something which I had planned on doing - although time is healing my fear a bit. Plus my midwife told me that hers got progressively worse so that by the time she had her 5th baby, she had to take morphine for the pain! Scary!

3under3 & Boobyjuice - Finn is my name-of-choice too if we ever do have a son (has been since my first pregnancy)! Funny - I hadn't heard anyone else use it before.
 
#18 ·
Well, labor with my second was VERY short compared to my first, and the pains were much worse after the longer labor.

I might just be the statistical weirdo though.
 
#19 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by pamamidwife
You know, with women that have such horrible after pains, nothing natural I've found works. I used to suggest AfterEase, then cal/mag, chamomile tea - but nothing really touches it.

I have had clients who get a rx of Tylenol 3 for afterbirth contractions.

Yup, I second everything Pam has said. I have gotten a prescription for Tylenol #3 before I deliver - me, who doesn't take a thing during labor. They are worse than labor and last for a few days, just when you want to be relaxing and enjoying your baby.

The only thing I would add is that if you go the route of meds, be careful about co-sleeping. The codeine can make you sleep too deeply to safely co-sleep.

editted to add: I found for me personally, ibuprofen was a joke. I'm sure it varies from person to person, but in the hospital, there are a lot of women taking percocet for afterpains - and they are getting ibuprofen every 6 hours, so I don't think I'm unique. AND I also have very short labors.
 
#20 ·
I know Arnica is mostly for trauma and to relieve swelling and whatnot, but with #3 I was popping them all the time for afterbirth. My midwife said she felt that if it was helping, it would be ok to take it often for 3 days or so. And I sure did (it along with ibuprofen only took the very edge off though).

I had no idea that afterbirth pains would/could be so intense with #3. OY!!! And I do mean that...I felt like I had daggers going down my thighs and I vice grip on my uterus. Unique pain is what it was. Thankfully it didn't last more than 4 days or so.

Abby
 
#21 ·
I am due anytime with #3 and had horrible afterpains with #2. I am more scared of afterpains than anything else! My friend with 4 kids highly recommended a herbal afterpain tea...which I have high hopes for...it's main constituent is crampbark...

I'll let you know...hopefully soon!!


Jen
 
#24 ·
The nursing pains with #3 were UNBEARABLE!

It was worse than labor. Hands down.

As a matter of fact - the thought of breastfeeding #3 made me start crying for about the first three days.

FWIW - I gave birth to all three with ease. I have an extremely high tolerance to pain. But those breastfeeding pains were a monster!

I had to have percocet as well. After a drug free labor - that stunk!

My tummy is flat though - so it worked
 
#25 ·
Yep! I just posted this somewhere else. WIth my first I didn't feel any afterpains that I remember. WIth my second the pain was UNBEARABLE - worse then labor to me (and I had an unmedicated birth!). I had to stop midway through nurrsing and curl up in a fetal postion and just cry it was so bad. I finally got a script for Darvocet (sp?) and that made it SOOOO much better. By the 3-4 day it was completely gone (but then I got a UTI - YUCK!)
 
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