C-sections are never easy procedures; they come with multiple complications and pain and take time to recover. You might be thinking of why diet should be prioritized and what should we eat after C-section for fast recovery, but it’s simple! To keep the mother healthy and for a quick recovery after C-section, a perfect post-surgery diet matters a lot.
The better our diet, the better the body functions, and the active working of body parts provides energy for recovery. Through a healthy diet, the mother benefits from the child getting enough nutrients as the mother lactates the newborn. So taking care of a healthy diet will keep both the mother and baby healthy. In this blog, I have shared some of the best post-surgery foods I’ve shared.
What Is A C-Section Birth?
A C-section birth or cesarean birth refers to the surgical procedure that causes the delivery of a baby through abdominal incisions when normal vaginal delivery seems impossible. The surgical procedure isn’t preplanned; it is decided right after the doctor finds that the mother cannot deliver the baby through the vaginal route and finds multiple complications arising during labour pain. This procedure lowers the risk to the baby and the mother’s life.
Nutrition After A Cesarean Section
The c- section is a painful procedure, and delivery leads to various nutritional deficiencies as the mother loses lots of blood during it.
The mother must have a healthy diet, rest, and medicine intake to get nutrient content and better and quick recovery. Usually, the mothers are kept on soft and juicy items at the start to keep the digestive tract clean and prevent a nausea condition that is very common for mothers going through the C-section. The solid nutrients are given to the patient when she is stable and ensures that the digestive tract is free from high-dose drugs and narcotics along the active gas passage. The most common nutrients that the patient requires include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, milk, and related products.
Fruits provide nutrients, and veggies maintain the normal bowl functionality of the digestive tract to keep the mother healthy.
Why Is Nutrition After Delivery And The C Section Important?
A perfect diet plan and proper nutrition after C-section is considered beneficial in the following ways.
Quick Recovery
Taking proper nutrients keeps the body functioning back to normal, providing multi nutrients to each body’s cells and tissues that keep on performing their tasks resulting in quick recovery of the patient.
Reverse Back Nutrients Deficiency
During a cesarean. The patient goes under severe blood loss that can lead to multiple deficiencies—a healthy diet best suited with proper medicine intake. Taking nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables, proteins, and carbs intake will reverse the nutrient deficiency.
Energy Production
Food for patients must contain energy, and a balanced diet will provide the required energy to the body leading to the patient’s health conditions.
Milk Production
The most important is that the newborn also needs nutrients and food after delivery, which her mother gives through lactation. The mother’s body must be healthy for milk production with proper nutrients and intakes filled by her diet. The better and healthy she eats will result in the baby’s healthy growth.
Replenish Your Body’s Iron Stores
Nutrients like iron intake will replenish the iron stores leading to overcoming blood loss during a cesarean. Iron is the main part of the RBC, the major constituent of blood.
Wound Recovery
As the blood loss is restored, platelets in the blood promote wound recovery. It leads to fast recovery from abdominal stitches. To get a quick recovery, avoid lifting heavy weights and take good rest along proper diet.
Immunity Enhancing
WBC enhances the body’s defense so that no germs cause harm to the patient. These functionalities result from proper diet intake that provides energy and strengthens your immune system.
Head Off Hemorrhoids
A perfect diet plan after postpartum surgery will eliminate the risk of haemorrhoids in the patient.
Diet To Follow Immediately After C-Section
After C-section, the digestive tract goes through stress. The patient also suffers from heavy bleeding, so eating immediately after a cesarean isn’t favored. So what to eat after C-section? Any ideas? After C-section, you cannot ingest any food immediately; it may require 8 hours to start with a diet including juicy nature items. The exception is that you can only eat ice chips and if you demand some sips of water, nothing else.
After 8 hours, the patient can go for a C-section recovery diet with items containing nutrients, proteins, and fibers. Commonly, the patient might complain about constipation, so to overcome that, fiber-rich fruits along with warm liquids. From warm liquids, it doesn’t mean you can start with taking tea. Caffeine is not a favorable item to take after postpartum surgeries.
Foods And Nutrients To Eat After C-Section
We have discussed a list of the light foods to eat after surgery and the nutrients necessary for the mother and baby’s health and quick recovery. These are the foods that promote healing after surgery. Let’s get to the list!
Dairy And Poultry Products
After a cesarean, the lactating mothers require high caloric content to lactate the newborn baby, for dairy and poultry products are necessary. Losing weight requires avoiding foods that are fried.
Ensure a glass of milk, the fiber in eggs, nuts, and high protein content food to eat like fish, etc., to enhance energy production.
Warm Liquids/ Liquid Diet After Surgery
Along with blood, the body also suffers dehydration during surgery. Warm liquids are most favored, including a 3-liter water daily intake. To hydrate the body, liquid foods to eat after surgery are juices (avoiding citrus), buttermilk, coconut milk, smoothie, calcium-fortified liquids, and soup. Liquids also help in clearing the digestive tract along with maintaining bowel movements. The primary diet given to the gone cesarean mothers keeps them hydrated, healthy, and recover fast.
Iron-Containing Food Items (Best Food After Surgery)
The patients undergo severe blood loss during cesarean delivery, leading to iron deficiency. Due to low iron deficiency, the patient may suffer from various diseases and conditions, including anaemia, etc. To help replenish the iron stores and regain the blood levels, adding various iron-containing food items seems of prime importance.
Using turkey, chicken, spinach, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and quinoa can help get back the desired blood level in the body. Add the items to your diet plan and replenish your body’s iron to get healthy.
Vitamins And Minerals
Vitamins-rich foods to eat after surgery to promote healing is necessary. These are also helpful in carrying out various specific functions. They cause the repairing of body tissues and provide collagen to the body to form new skin, tissues, ligaments, etc.
Vitamin deficiency may lead to serious conditions; each nutrient results in its condition, like vitamin K deficiency, which will not let your wounds heal quickly, or vitamin D deficiency may result in weak bones. Eat food for wound healing after surgery, and add vitamin-rich foods, including fruits and veggies, to the diet plan to avoid such conditions. Eat these foods for healing wounds faster. Foods to avoid during wound healing include citrus fruits.
For vitamins, spinach and broccoli are the healing foods after surgery and fill your iron and calcium demands. For boosting immunity, citrus fruits, oranges, strawberries, and fruits are most favorable as they contain vitamin c and antioxidants.
The mother’s diet is the newborn diet. The more healthy diet she takes, the healthier the baby will be, and of course, she will be much better and healthier.
Whole Grain Items
Whole grain is fiber, iron, and folic acid-rich foods considered important for the mother going through a cesarean. The nutrients provide energy to maintain the body’s normal functionality.
The fiber-rich food may reduce constipation as well as maintain bowel functioning. Constipation may prolong the abdominal heating, and pain worsens the mother’s condition. Ragi and oats are added to the diet plan to overcome the problem. Eating raw veggies and fruit salads may also add high fiber to your body.
Fat
Intake of useful fats may provide high energy to your body and replenish the essential fatty acid content. They are essential after postpartum but are also necessary items to be added to the maternity diet plan. Add cod liver oil to your diet plan to get beneficial fatty acids.
Veggies And Fruit
After a cesarean, the best diet plan to follow includes the majority of the section being filled with nitrous fruits and veggies. They are rich in vitamins, minerals, calcium, iron, and many more to keep your body healthier and help mothers make enough milk for lactating their newborn
Foods To Avoid After Surgery
The foods to avoid after stitches are just as important as the foods to eat after a C-section for a quick recovery. Please avoid the following food items after the c-section as they may cause more complications, worsening the patient condition.
Avoid white lentils, chickpeas, red kidney beans, black-eyed beans, cabbage, green pea’s cauliflower, broccoli, lady’s finger, and onions if you have gas issues. Once the issue is resolved, you can intake them as a source of nutrition.
Avoid carbonated drinks, citrus juices, and caffeinated drinks.
Intake of alcohol after c- section is also prohibited as it may impair milk production. No fried foods for a week after cesarean. Food items like dal, urad, gram flour, rajma, and besan are not recommended for at least two months as they cause gastrointestinal issues.
Similarly, vegetables including cabbage, onions, and potato are also not taken for 01 and 1/2 months.
Nutrition Tips After A C-Section
After a c-section, eating nutritiously is essential to help your body recover. Making your snacks and meals more enjoyable is easy with these tips:
Stay Hydrated
Juices such as fruit juices, herbal teas, and vegetable juices can also be consumed.
Eat Small, Frequent Meals And Snacks
Rather than eating three large meals in one sitting, eat several small ones throughout the day.
Avoid Processed And Sugary Foods
These foods can make you feel tired and sluggish.
Get Plenty Of Protein
Protein helps your body heal and repair tissue. Eggs, chicken, fish, tofu, and legumes are all excellent protein sources.
Include Healthy Fats In Your Diet
Healthy fats nourish hair and skin. A cesarean section does not only result in weight loss, but can also result in weight gain. Good sources of healthy fats include in your diet e.g avocados, nuts, and seeds.
Eat Plenty Of Fiber
Fiber helps to improve digestion and prevent constipation. The fiber in fruits and vegetables is a good source of nutrition.
Diet Plan And Chart For C-Section Delivery Patients
| Days | Breakfast | Mid Meal | Lunch | Evening Meal | Dinner |
| Monday | Eggs And Wheat Bread | Vegetable With yogurt | Bread Fish Curry With Salad | Pulse With Mixed Veggies (Onion, Tomato, Lemon, Coriander) | Multi-Grain Bread With Tomato |
| Tuesday | Skimmed Milk | Fruit Salad | Parboiled Rice, Tuna, Kidney Beans Curry, And Ladyfinger | Light Tea And Nuts | Bitter Gourd And Wheat Bread |
| Wednesday | Bread And Boiled Egg | Orange | French Beans, Bread, And Salad | Sprouted Pulse With Mixed Veggies | Drumstick Leaves Curry And Wheat Items. |
| Thursday | Mushroom Bread And Crushed Tomatoes | Orange Juice | Mixed Sprouts | Spinach, Veggies, Rice | Mix Veggies And Bread |
| Friday | Oat. Boiled Egg | Black Pulse | Vegetables And Parboiled Rice | Soya Milk | Veggies And Bread |
| Saturday | Bread And Eggs | Oat And Banana Porridge | Veggie, Parboiled Rice, Sardine, and Bread | Fruits Salad And Yogurt | Green Beans And Bread |
| Sunday | Milk And Bread | Dried Apricots | 1.5 Cup Tofu Vegetable Rice With low-Fat Curd | Groundnuts, Raisins, And Almonds | Vegetable And Roti |
Frequently Asked Questions
Conclusion
We hope you might have understood how post surgery foods can affect the recovery process of postpartum complications. A healthy diet will result in good health for the mother and baby. You must get complete bed rest, a proper diet, physician-prescribed medications, and instructions to recover quickly. Remember those foods to avoid after surgery that may enhance the complications. In case of any issue, you can consult your gynaecologist.
Follow the physician’s instructions and guidelines and the diet plan chart for your quick recovery and good health.
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