C-Section Recovery: Incision Care, Lifting, Driving and Warning Signs

The first days in the hospital

• Pain control: take pain medicine on a schedule at first rather than waiting for pain to build. Most plans lean on non-opioid medicines, with opioids only if needed and for a short time.
• Get up early: usually within the first day, with help. Walking lowers the risk of blood clots, eases gas pain and helps your bowels wake up.
• Splint your belly: hug a pillow against the incision when you cough, sneeze, laugh or get up.
• To get out of bed, roll onto your side, drop your legs over the edge and push up with your arms.
• The urinary catheter usually comes out within a day. Eating and drinking restart early.
• Skin-to-skin and breastfeeding can usually start in the operating or recovery room.

Caring for the incision

• Keep it clean and dry. Showering is usually fine after the first day; let soapy water run over it and pat dry. No baths, hot tubs or swimming until your surgeon says so.
• Strips over the incision usually fall off in 1-2 weeks; don't pull them.
• Loose, high-waisted underwear and clothes help. Numbness or itching around the scar is normal and can last months.

The first six weeks

• Follow your surgeon's lifting limit; a common rule is nothing heavier than your baby at first. Ask for help with car seats, laundry baskets and older children.
• Driving: follow your surgeon's advice. Not while taking opioid pain medicine, and only once you can turn, wear the seat belt and brake hard without pain, which for many people is a few weeks.
• Walk a little more each day. Wait for your provider's okay for exercise, sex and tampons, often around 6 weeks.
• Constipation is common: water, fiber and a stool softener if offered.
• Contact your provider within the first 3 weeks, with a full visit by 12 weeks (ACOG).

Feeding without pressing on the incision

• Football (clutch) hold: the baby along your side, tucked under your arm.
• Side-lying: you and the baby facing each other on your sides, with pillows behind your back. Move the baby to their own safe sleep space before you might doze off.
• A pillow across your lap protects the incision in other holds.
• Milk can take a little longer to come in after a C-section; frequent feeding helps. See the breastfeeding guides if latch or supply is a worry.

Bleeding

Bleeding (lochia) follows the same pattern as after a vaginal birth: heaviest the first few days, then lighter and browner over 4-6 weeks. See the postpartum recovery guide.

Your feelings

• An unplanned or emergency C-section can bring disappointment, guilt, fear or a sense of loss, even when everyone is safe. Those feelings are valid.
• Talking it through with your provider (what happened and why) helps many people. Ongoing flashbacks, nightmares or dread can be birth trauma and are treatable; see the postpartum depression and anxiety guide.

Next pregnancy

• Many people can try for a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), depending on the type of incision on the uterus and the reason for the C-section. Many who try succeed.
• Experts advise against getting pregnant again within 6 months of birth, and suggest waiting about 18 months if you can; shorter gaps carry more risk, especially for a VBAC. Talk about birth control before you leave the hospital or at your postpartum visit, and ask for your operative notes.

When to check in

Call your provider now if:

• Fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher.
• The incision is red, warm, swelling, oozing or smelly, or the edges come apart.
• Heavy bleeding: soaking a pad in an hour, or clots bigger than an egg.
• One leg is swollen, red, warm or painful.
• A headache that won't go away, or vision changes.
• Pain that gets worse instead of better, pain or burning when you pee, or belly swelling.
• Thoughts of harming yourself or the baby: call or text 988 or call 911.
• Chest pain, trouble breathing or a seizure: call 911.