5 postpartum gas pain relief tricks
Wait, another kind of pain I have to deal with after delivering baby? Maybe, but we've got you covered with all the gas pain relief remedies.
💨WHY gas pains? Many reasons, but the big ones are:
- hormonal shifts
- digestive organ placements changing
- moving less than usual (for good reason!)
- recovering from a huge body stressor (vaginal or C-section deliveries)
💨WHAT is gas pain? Trapped air bubbles in your body are like a balloon and float to the highest point of your body to try to escape. If that gas is in places outside of your digestive tract that you can't burp or fart out, we've got to get it to a place where it can come out
💨HOW does gas pain feel? Like a sharp shooting/stabbing pain commonly in one's rib cage or shoulders. Sometimes it feels like you can't take a deep breath.
💨WHAT should I do to relieve gas pain? This is one of our areas of expertise, sit back we've got you!
👉🏾1. HYDRATE with water to keep things moving in your body. If possible, no straw! Straw drinking opens up many more opportunities for gas to get trapped.
👉🏾2. MOVE your body. Turn in bed, change your head elevation, or better yet get up and stand or even walk when your birthing team allows. Moving your body means moving the gas.
👉🏾3. APPLY warmth. Warm your body and GI tract. Heating pad or even a warmed diaper to the painful area can break up the gas bubbles. Sipping warm tea or water also has the same effect. Our favorite gas buster is warm water with lemon!
👉🏾4. TAKE the meds. Over-the-counter anti-gas meds. Our favorite is Mylicon (simethicone) chewable tabs with meals!
👉🏾5. LET IT GO- Fart freely, please! Your nurses will be strangely proud!
💨Know postpartum gas passes pretty quickly after you take the proper steps to relieve it. C-section mamas are more likely to experience gas pain, but no mama is immune.
💨Did you experience postpartum gas? What helped you the most? Save for later or tag another mama who you want to know how to tackle gas pains!
Your postpartum nurses Meg and Carly here to prepare you for postpartum and beyond. We want to make sure you have the education you need to care for your own healing body after birth, not just your baby.
Postpartum prep courses occurring virtually and regularly intended to be taken during pregnancy are now open for registration. Our return to work support group is pay what you can and supports that tough back to work transition. Then join us in our online community for the growth, support and empowerment to continue <3
