In the 24 hours after the birth of your newborn, you may well ache all over from the work you did during the labour. Your arms and your legs may be sore from pulling back on your legs whilst pushing out the baby.

Although aching legs are perfectly normal and nothing to worry about, any tenderness, pain, or warmth in your calves and swollen or reddened veins are warning signs which you should report to your doctor or midwife immediately. These signs could indicate thrombophlehitis, (an inflammation of a vein that can result in formation of a blood clot). Postnatal women are at slightly higher risk of this because the vein walls normally relax during pregnancy. In order to reduce the risk of thrombophlehitis, you should increase the circulation in your legs by doing foot rotations and by getting up and walking soon after the birth. Thrombophlehitis is treated with bed rest, elevation of the affected leg, hot packs, and the use of elastic stockings its also possible that medications could be needed to prevent any infection or clot formation. The affected leg should not be massaged.The joints that relaxed during pregnancy to allow for your baby's growth and birth return to their pre-pregnancy condition after several weeks. Many women, however, feel that their rib cage and pelvis remained slightly expanded for the rest of their lives.Abdominal muscles are relaxed after birth, so your abdomen will be soft and still rounded. All women have some degree of separation of the abdominal muscles, which does lessen with exercise.Any stretch marks you get will seem more obvious after birth than they were before. Although the stretch marks will never completely disappear, they do fade to silvery white lines in the months after childbirth. Darkened areas of the skin, such as the areola and the linea nigra, a dark line from the belly button to pubic bone, may well tighten but may not in fact completely fade.Many women do notice a change in their hair after the birth of their baby (most commonly, profuse hair loss). This occurs because pregnancy hormones stimulate hair growth. When these drop, the extra hair that grew during pregnancy will fall out. This usually begins around three months after birth and usually ends within a couple of months.The most common feeling for new mothers after childbirth is exhaustion. This seems especially true of women who have just had their first babies. Often, fatigue is combined with such excitement in the first days which makes sleep difficult. The usual aches and pains of the early postnatal period can also add to this insomnia. But beyond the first few days after birth, most women find daily naps are essential to their well-being.

You and your new born baby

Get your baby sleeping!