Mother Needs Help in Reducing Swelling in Ankles and Legs After Delivery of Baby

Post partum diet! All I ate for like a month was chicken soup filled with lots of vegetables like squash, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots and chicken, of course. Also, I religiously had one cup of Spearment or Chamomile tea EVERYDAY. I lost the baby weight right aways and swelling in the legs AND tummy went down right away! I made a new pot of chicken soup about every three/four days. And yes, lots of water. Stay away from salt and salty foods, they increase edema (swelling). Good luck!

Did she have a c-section? I ask because I've had two and had very severe swelling and was told it was because of the surgery - but I don't know this for sure. Either way, with both of my babies... it was 2 weeks to the day for the water retention to go away.

Congrats on your friends' new baby!
M.

I had this and it was a symptom of VERY HIGH blood pressure - is she having any follow up care to check this? I had to be on some meds to regulate it, then in about 10days the blood pressure dropped and the swelling went away intantly - don't knnow about holistic remedies for blood pressure - but maybe it is something to have checked

Yay, a water birth! I had one of those-it was awesome! How's your friends sodium intake? It is sooo important for her to keep well hydrated especially if she is breastfeeding. She ought to be drinking more than 8 glasses a day and eating low-sodium, high nutrient food. Canned soups and chilis (though convenient) are loaded with sodium. One can could contain a whole day's worth. My ankles swelled a lot during pregnancy and I think it was because of my high sodium diet. Let me tell you this- I tried a low sodium diet for a week and the results were astounding. I didn't measure my waist but I was clearly skinnier just from losing retained water. My family was in awe. I don't know what else could be causing your friend's swelling but remind her to check in with her midwife or doc about it. Best Wishes!

I had a c-section and experienced horrible swelling in my feet/ankles for about 1.5-2 weeks. I could barely even bend my ankle it was so bad. The Dr. said there wasn't much I could do, so I just tried to drink a lot of water, keep my feet elevated as much as possible and the thing that felt the best, was to wrap my feet in a cold ice pack.

This could be serious, she could have toxemia. She should get medical care. Or she could have gestational diabetes. Both treatable, but serious. If it's not she will be reassured and get medical help for the problem. I am not a big fan of Drs., but if she had the baby at home (you don't say if she had a Dr.) she might not have gotten any necessary after birth care. This is not something to be put off, I have heard of an otherwise healthy woman dying of it.

homeopathic remedy Nat mur 6X, Nat mur 12X, Nat mur 6C Nat mur 30C, each potency taken daily in the accending order (stated above).
Good Luck
V

I was told it was normal, Green tea and anti-inflammatory meds helped and a good old fasioned water bottle filled with ice water.

time...about 2 weeks.

She should have her blood pressure checked. Preeclampsia can still happen after birth and swelling is a sign of that. Has she checked in with her doctor or midwife on this?

-M

As other posters have said, time will heal this. For me, it was 8 days after delivery when the water went. In 24 hours, I lost 12 lbs of water weight. It hurt till then, and then it all went away.

go to this web-site called BOTTOMLINESECRETS.COM there are home remedies on this site for just about every thing.

Drink lots of liquids like water, tea, cranberry juice. advoid salty food. Sit as much as possible with her feet elevated. And if it doesn't get better by the end of the monthI would see a dr. They may be something else going on.

I too experienced this. My midwife suggested eating lots of watermelon and keeping well hydrated and off my feet. It did the trick. Luckily it was summer and watermelon was everywhere. good luck and don't worry it is very common.

Hi
I had our 5th child 4weeks ago and I experienced this with just this one. It will take about a week or two for the swelling to go down. Drink lots of fluid, Iknow that sounds strange, but that means that your body needs more fluid. I t took me about 2 weeks for the swelling to go down, I have other children that I am chasing after while my husband works(the others range in age from 8-19 months, not including the infant.) The hospital should call a week from discharge, and I addressed it with the nurse, and she told me that it would be about a week or two. Best wishes and Congrats!!

It will aaaaaaall go away by two weeks. Believe me!

Wendy

I had this problem with my daughter except that I swelled all the way up half of my back! It was horrible. I just stayed in bed, it was the only thing I could do. But it gives you time to recover and bond with your baby.

The same thing happened to me! I used organic cranberry juice, it has to be organic so that it is not loaded with sugar and I also took cranberry tablets from Mother's Market. It has been quite a few years, but I believe I also used Alf Alfa capsules, ask the health food store what they recomend to reduce swelling.

Best of luck to your friend!

I had a C-section for my daughter in Dec 2008. My legs and ankles swell badly too. I wore compression stockings and kept my legs elevated when sleeping. The swelling went away within a week. I observed a traditional diet with lots of herbs, so not sure if the diet helps too. It's worth a shot to try the compression stockings though, good luck.

I had horrible swelling after delivery, in fact, it was WAY worse than when I was pregnant! I literally felt like I had sponges in my feet, I could almost hear squishing. I kept my feet up, and then swelling went away on it's own 6 or 7 days after the birth. I'd say to give it a few more days, but call the doctor or midwife if she's still experiencing swelling by a week or 10 days postpartum.

i had the same problem... it went away about 2 weeks after deilivery.. just keeping my feet elevated worked for me, and drinking lots of water...
hope this helps

Mine went away after 1-1/2 weeks. Swelling was reduced with drinking LOTS of water and walking. Also, massaging the feet and ankles towards the body helps move the fluid.

Potassium gluconate, especially from Thera Tech or A-C Carbamide from Standard Process. Either one might work instantly. If the potassium doesn't help right away, contact me and I will get you more choices.

Tell her congrats on the waterbirth. All 3 of mine were waterbirths....and I LOVED them. My smallest was 8.6 and my biggest was 10.4. No tearing, no major complications - well, what I would consider complications.

Oh! This was your friend who was postdatum, right? How far past her due date did she go?

That hasn't been long at all.
It can take weeks. Or, for me, it took a couple of weeks.
The Entire body, has to readjust now... she should ask her Doctor. But this is normal.

Good Morning Jaunesta,

You may want to look into NAET.com. You may want to consdier that the source of the problems is allergies. Also, a book that will explain allergies in detail is Say Goodbye to Illness by Dr. Devi Nambudripad.

Be Well.

N.

When I gave birth to my daughter - my legs and feet swelled long after the rest of the swelling went down. A good massage of the legs and feet for a few days should help a great deal!

I had twins and after birth, I had the same thing. Like someone else said, it took about 2 weeks to subside and go back to almost normal.