Let’s face it: your uterus goes through a lot from pregnancy to childbirth. During your expectancy period, the uterus accommodates your baby until the delivery period. After all the work, there is a need to do a fundal massage immediately after labor.
In this guide, you will learn everything about fundal massage, its purpose, safety tips, and how to use it to help your postpartum recovery.
What is a fundal massage after birth?
Fundal massage is a common practice that pregnant women do shortly after childbirth. To detect the fundus—the upper portion of your uterus—your physician will inspect your tummy and look for it around, or just below, your belly button postpartum.
Your physician will perform a fundal massage by pressing down and inward on your abdomen and vigorously massaging the area. Your pubic bone supports the uterus with one hand while the other massages the uterus. In rare situations, your healthcare professional may need to use a hand in the vagina to squeeze the uterine arteries during a fundal massage.
What’s the purpose of fundal massage after birth?
Generally, uterine massages are important to prevent your uterus from contracting and postpartum bleeding. During this process, your physician will remove the blood leaks from the placenta’s attachment site to the uterine wall. This blood is normally pushed out of the uterus by uterine contractions, which exert pressure on the uterus’s blood arteries to cease the bleeding. As a result, regardless of whether you give birth vaginally or by C-section, it is essential to do fundal massages.
Your physician will perform the fundal massages multiple times during the first few hours after childbirth and may continue for a few days beyond.
To monitor your vital signs, your nurse will frequently check your stomach and uterus. Your tummy should feel like a baseball when you leave the hospital. The uterus tends to stiffen when blood or clots are evacuated from the uterus during a fundal massage.
How to prepare for fundal massage
Creating a peaceful atmosphere in your home will help you relax before a postpartum fundal massage. Lighting candles, dispersing smells, and lowering the overhead lights may be necessary if the massage is taking place in your home.
When you’re getting a massage, it’s ideal to have someone else take care of your baby so that you don’t have to worry about whether they’re awake or asleep.
Many postpartum massages use essential oils in addition to physical contact. Lotions or massage oils can be infused with these oils and dispersed into the air. Before utilizing essential oils, consult your doctor to ensure they are safe.
Regardless of the type of massage you select, always inquire about the provider’s expertise with prenatal and postpartum massage. Your masseuse should be ready to aid you in finding comfortable and effective positions.
When is the best time to do a fundal massage?
Postpartum fundal massage can begin whenever you are ready. Postpartum massage treatments are available at certain hospitals for new mothers immediately after childbirth.
Consult your doctor before obtaining your first fundal massage if you had a C-section or a complex birth. It’s possible that some types of massage aren’t the best fit for your recuperation.
There isn’t a set schedule for how often you should get massages after giving birth. During the first several months after giving birth, many young mothers enjoy weekly or biweekly massages, while others only have one or two.
When it comes to the number of fundal massages you get and how often, factors like time, money, and health can all come into play.
How to do a fundal massage
This massage is frequently performed every 10-15 minutes during the first hour after delivery and every 30 minutes for the second hour. After the first two hours, this massage is normally given every four to eight hours until discharge, which is discontinued. In most cases, new parents will receive this massage regardless of whether they delivered vaginally or via cesarean section.
For most people, a conventional massage lasts little more than a minute or two. The therapist will examine you during and after each massage to determine whether your bleeding has worsened or if any clots have been discharged.
Severe instances require a one-handed vaginal massage in order to prevent the uterus from inverting and to exert pressure on the uterine “wound” where the placenta disengaged from the uterine wall.