After the birth

Your physical and emotional health after childbirth

After you find out you’re expecting a baby, your whole focus is turned on your developing baby, your growing bump, and the pregnancy symptoms – such as morning sickness, aches and pains, stretch marks and strange food cravings – you may be experiencing. Then, as your due date approaches, your mind turns to the birth: how will it go? What will it feel like to hold your newborn baby for the first time?

But one thing you’ll likely not even consider is how you’ll feel – emotionally and physically – after the birth. That tends to get lost in the flurry of preparation: of buying for baby, planning the nursery, wondering if friends and family will throw you a baby shower. And in any case, your baby’s birth, which you’ve looked forward to for nine months, will make your life perfect, won’t it?

Well, the reality is that your baby’s birth could leave you feeling depressed and helpless. That’s the finding of a just-published survey carried out by Childbirth Connection, a leading national not-for-profit organization that works to improve the quality of maternity care. New Mothers Speak Out is an in-depth look at new moms’ experiences during the first 18 months after giving birth and its findings play up the difficulties of coming round to coming second to a tiny, helpless baby.

Physical and emotional effects

Many of the 903 moms who took part in the survey report struggling with ongoing physical and emotional health problems while caring for their baby, especially in the first few months after birth. At six or more months after their baby was born, 43% said they still felt stressed, 40% said they were having problems with weight control, 34% were still suffering from disturbed nights and sleep deprivation, 26% felt a lack of sexual desire and 24% were suffering from backache. Among those moms who had a cesarean birth, 31% reported numbness and 18% reported continued pain at the incision site after at least six months.

One-third of moms reported that during the first two months after birth, their physical health or emotional health interfered with their ability to care for their baby; while 44% of all the moms said that physical and/or emotional health impairment had interfered with the care of their babies. A year after giving birth, moms reported a net weight gain of six pounds from their pre-pregnancy weight.

Breastfeeding

Although 61% of moms in the study had intended to exclusively breastfeed as they neared the end of their pregnancies, just 51% were doing so a week after the birth. Those moms had experienced high rates of hospital practices that can disrupt breastfeeding, such as water or formula supplementation and formula samples or offers. Fewer than half (46%) of the mothers who were breastfeeding at one week and not breastfeeding when the survey took place reported that they had breastfed as long as they wanted. One-third or fewer of black non-Hispanic women, younger women and women with lower incomes breastfed as long as they wished.

Co-sleeping with baby

Overall, 18% of moms reported that their baby always co-slept in bed with them and another 10% reported their infant often did in the first six months after the birth. Among black non-Hispanic moms, 36% said their baby slept with them always compared to 30% of Hispanic moms and 12% among white non-Hispanic mothers.

Parenting as a team?

Having a spouse or partner did not necessarily ensure that women had support when it came to bringing up baby. Almost three-quarters of the moms said they did most of the baby care – and even working full-time wasn’t an out clause, with 49% of working moms saying they provided most of the child care. Just 3% of husbands or partners provided most of the child care, although almost half shared it equally. Sadly, around 20% of women with a husband or partner said they provided affectionate, emotional, enjoyment or practical support none or little of the time.

Maternity benefits

Of those moms who’d been employed during pregnancy, 40% said that their employer provided paid maternity leave benefits, with 50% of those working full-time and 14% working part-time receiving these benefits. Among moms who received paid maternity benefits, 50% indicated they received 100% of pay.

Around 29% of the moms were currently employed full-time, with another 14% were employed part-time. Those moms who were currently employed were more likely to have one child rather than two or more and be unmarried with a partner rather than married. Among formerly employed mothers more than a third had returned to work by the time their baby was six weeks old, and 84% were back at work by 12 weeks after the birth. About half of moms who’d returned to work by the time of the survey said they hadn’t been able to stay home with their newborn baby for as long as they wanted – and lack of money was the main

When moms were asked what they felt would be the ideal amount of time off with their baby, the average response was seven months, with 60% of moms saying six months or more would be their ideal period of maternity leave. But just 1% of moms who’d been employed outside the home during pregnancy had fully paid leave of four or more months.

Going back to work

Moms returning to work reported many challenges, with 79% reporting that being apart from their baby was a major issue for them, followed by childcare arrangements (50%), breastfeeding issues (37%), the amount of support they received from their partner or spouse (36%) and lack of support in the workplace (29%).

About New Mothers Speak Out
New Mothers Speak Out is based on new data from the national Listening to Mothers II Postpartum survey and includes relevant results from the national Listening to Mothers II survey, which was conducted six months earlier, in partnership with Lamaze International, and focused on women’s childbearing experiences. The report, along with the survey questionnaires, details about the survey methodology and related documents, are available at Childbirth Connection.

 
The information in this feature is intended for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your health, the health of your child or the health of someone you know, please consult with a doctor or other healthcare professional.

 

Reviewed August 2008