How do I Lose Weight After an Emergency C-Section?

Breastfeeding your baby can often help you lose post-pregnancy weight quicker.

Getting back in shape after delivering your baby via Cesarean section takes time. Your body fat can increase up to 33 percent during pregnancy and recovering from an invasive abdominal surgery such as a C-section can delay your weight loss efforts. Try to realize not only have you recently given birth, but you are also recovering from major surgery. However, with a bit of patience, diet, exercise and breastfeeding you can transform your body after C-section surgery.

Instructions

1. Allow yourself six weeks or more for your C-section incision to heal before consulting your physician about an exercise and diet program. Avoid lifting any objects heavier than your baby and excessive trips up and down staircases during this time. Wait at least two weeks and make sure you have your doctor's permission before driving.

2. Breastfeed your baby to jump start your postpartum weight loss. A study conducted by The Journal of the American Dietetic Association showed that mothers who breastfeed partially or exclusively for their baby's nutrients experience weight reductions in a shorter amount of times than mothers who rely solely on formula for their baby's nutrition.

3. Eat a balanced diet but refrain from extreme dieting. Nursing mothers pass their nutrients on to their babies so you must remember your baby benefits from the food you consume. Consume high protein foods like meat and eggs, four to five servings of fruit and vegetables and at least two servings of dairy products daily.

4. Start an exercise program that does not involve heavy lifting or excessive squatting or bending to prevent pelvic joint pain and incontinence. Engage in moderate aerobic exercises like walking to build your cardiovascular health and burn fat. Pregnancy and childbirth are extremely taxing on the body, especially for mothers that delivered via C-section. It will take three to five months for your joints and ligaments to fully recover, so stick with moderate exercises until your body recovers.

5. Strengthen your abdominal muscles with a few exercises to get rid of C-section belly. A C-section will not ruin your ability to strengthen your abdominal wall and obtain a flat stomach, says Fitness Director Carolyn Nickol of the University of Cincinnati. Perform exercises like basic, oblique and reverse crunches to rebuild your abdominal muscles.

Tips & Warnings

• Drink at least eight glasses of water per day and drink one glass during each nursing period.

References

• The National Women's Health Information Center: What to Eat While Pregnant
• The National Women's Health Information Center: Breastfeeding
• ADA Journal: Breast-feeding Reduces Maternal Lower-Body Fat
• University of Cincinnati Fitness Center: Help with C-Section Belly
• University of Rochester Medical Center: Recovering From a Cesarean Section

Resources

• Baby and Pregnancy: Foods to Eat After the Birth
• Baby Center: Postpartum Exercise--Is Your Body Ready?
• New York University: Prenatal and Postpartum Exercise
• American College of Sports Medicine: Impact of Physical Activity during Pregnancy and Postpartum on Chronic Disease Risk
• Woman's Day: Better Body After Baby