afterpains - best way to ease them

[solidgoldshaggingbunnies]

Tips please for my pal who is sore after giving birth yesterday...

Sore as in afterpains? Has she got a tens machine? If it can take the edge off a contraction....

Don't think she has a tens machine; she had a waterbirth with only gas & air - she's quite into more natural remedies and is taking arnica apparently (I am not personally convinced that arnica is any use at all...)

co codomal every 6-8 hrs

i get some in before every birth

A pity about the tens - it works the same way water does in a water birth, confusing the pain signals to the brain. I had terrible afterpains after my second birth, they lasted 3 days and then were gone. In a way they were worse than my speedy labour. I just used paracetamol though - it did take the edge off. And gritted my teeth while feeding. Sorry I don't have any better suggestions - I only found out about the tens afterwards, otherwise I'd have given it a go.

Are the paracetamol/cocodamol ok when you're BF, though?
I didn't have afterpains with DS or at least was so tripped out from all the gas and air that did not notice. My worst thing after the birth was the chalfonts (but that's not something I'm going to share with her...)

yes absolutely fine

i swear by it

agree on pain killers - i took the max dose of paracetamol every 4 hrs. also treated after pains like contractions so stopped what i was doing and breathed thru them which helped. didn't even think of putting tens machine back on but wish i had as i loved it while in labour!! HTH