Post-Baby Body Love: How Postpartum Belly Bands Support Recovery

Being a mother is the most precious experience. However, in the postpartum stage, the body is going through a lot of changes and it needs time to recover. All lovely mums out there need some extra care during this phase of their lives. Whether you had a natural delivery or a c-section, your tummy still feels fragile and you might need some sort of support for a more comfortable recovery.

This is where elastic compression garments come into play. They are designed to support your abdomen after a child’s birth. Get yourself some extra love and opt for a postpartum belly band to ease your recovery and make your transition into motherhood a bit smoother.

How Do Belly Bands Help Postpartum?

Abdominal Support

So, you may have already heard about postpartum belly wraps or bands, but still wondering if belly bands help postpartum. The initial design behind these compression warps and garments is to support a woman’s abdomen and lower back after giving birth. It helps you maintain an upright posture which can significantly promote a proper recovery of the abdomen area.

However, keep in mind that your body has been through a lot during pregnancy and after childbirth. You can’t expect miracles and think that this is some kind of magical trick that will help you feel and look amazing in such a short time. Still, a postpartum belly band will provide gentle compression to the abdominal area, helping to hold everything in place.

Your skin has been stretched during pregnancy and your muscles have become weaker. Wearing compression garments promotes faster recovery of the abdominal muscles, helps the uterus to shrink down to size and reduces any pain or discomfort.

Improved Posture

Pregnancy causes changes in your posture. This happens due to the sifting centre of gravity, which adds a strain on the back mussels. Postpartum underwear provides support to your pelvis and lower back, which helps to improve posture and alleviate back pain and discomfort. It assists you with maintaining a proper spinal alignment which helps significantly in mitigating the postpartum effects.

Core Muscle Recovery

During childbirth, the abdominal muscles weaken or can become separated. This condition is known as diastasis recti. Therefore, it’s recommended to have something to help you realign those muscles. And postpartum belly wraps or bands are doing ecstasy that – realigning weakened and separated muscles, promoting faster healing and strengthening of the core.

The gentle compression provides stability and reduces the strain on the abdominal, muscles during your day-to-day activities. With continued use, you’re getting assistance with restoring core strength and function.

Reduced Swelling

Whether you’re wearing postpartum compression shorts, bands or wraps, they all have the same function – help you with postpartum effects. One of those effects is swelling in the abdominal area. Compression garments promote better circulation and fluid drainage. Doing so helps significantly in minimizing postpartum swelling, which is particularly common after c-section. They basically aid your body’s natural healing process.

Proper Support During Excercise

You may have been active all of your life and for the most time of your pregnancy and you want to eventually start exercising again. Postpartum belly wraps can help you get back on track.

Wearing a belly band while exercising improves your posture, and supports your abdominal muscles and lower back which prevents injury. It also helps with maximizing the effectiveness of your workouts. However, it’s important to start at a slower pace and gradually increase the intensity as you are starting to regain your strength.

Increased Comfort

Compression postpartum underwear is typically made from polyamide, elastane, cotton, and polyester. This combo of these fabrics is very gentle on the skin, feels comfortable, it is stretchy enough to allow freedom of movement, but still provides just enough compression to hold everything in place.

As such, these garments provide a smooth silhouette post-pregnancy and feel light on the abdominal area. They also provide a sense of security and stability, especially during the early days of childbirth.

When and How: The Right Time to Start and Stop Them

Whether you’re going for a belly wrap or band, it is recommended to start using them two to four days after natural delivery. If you’ve had a c-section, it is usually advised to wait three to four weeks, so your body has enough time to heal properly.

Although belly wraps and bands are most effective when you start wearing them during the first six weeks of the postpartum stage, they can benefit you even two months after childbirth. This is because the abdominal area is still recovering during this time, so you can still experience the advantages of belly bands.

Regarding how long you should wear them throughout the day, experts recommend wearing them while you’re most active. This can be up to three or four hours daily. Also, it would be best to remove the band before going to bed, so you can get a comfortable sleep.

Most women typically start using belly bands and wraps after the fourth month of birth. The reason behind this is that compression bands are designed to aid your recovery during the most fragile stage of the postpartum. After the fourth-month mark, it’s not very evident if belly bands have a significant role in your recovery.