These 6 Things Can Cause Serious Injuries To New Mothers. Please Be Careful!

Being a new mother comes with an abundance of joy and happy experiences. But let’s face it – motherhood can also be extremely hard on a mother’s body. A slight bend to pick up a toy from the floor can keep you glued to your bed for the next 3 days! What may begin as a minor sprain or an ache can turn into major injuries. Everyday activities of a mom like breastfeeding or picking the baby up can cause sudden jerks and strains to the muscles, joints and tendons. If you are not careful enough, this can result in serious accidents, and may also mean you are unable to look after your baby as well as you’d like.

A mother’s body goes through a series of changes, right from the time of conception. Her body just doesn’t remain the same anymore. Pregnancy and post-delivery changes can cause an overall impact on your bones and muscles as well, even though you may think these changes are just ‘hormonal’. For example, changes in hormones during pregnancy can loosen the tissue around your joints, permitting the pelvis to accommodate the baby before and during delivery. This slackness of the muscles remains for a while even post-delivery and can take a toll on your overall abdominal and pelvic muscle activity too.

Studies suggest that any repetitive pain or strains affect more than just a person’s body. In case of mothers,if these pains are untreated, they can even lead to emotional stress and postpartum depression.

Here are 6 activities that you MUST guard against as a new mother, and preventive measures you should take to avoid injury.

1. Carrying/Picking Your Baby in an Awkward Manner

If you do not pay attention to your posture when you pick your baby up, you are potentially risking a back strain.It takes only a single move (repeated over a course of time, of course) to result into a bad posture and weak core muscles.Also, whenever you exert your back, the disk between the vertebrae along with the muscles and the ligament areas can also suffer strain.

What should you do to avoid this?

• Whenever you need to lift your baby or pick up a toy from the ground, ensure you bend your knees and not your torso. Hold your baby close to your belly button whenever you are ready to stand up. Bending the torso puts the spinal area at risk for an injury.
• The next best thing is to take plenty of rest whenever you experience a slight discomfort in your back. Also, a cold or a hot pack can come to the rescue.

This Is The Correct Way To Pick Up And Hold A Baby

2. Supporting Your Baby with a Bent Wrist

This is something most mothers do without realising the effect it can actually have on them.The wrist is a particularly tender and a sensitive area and actions like rotating and making a fist can actually hurt more than you know!Wrist inflammation isn’t a rare occurrence and can be very painful for many women.

What should you do to avoid this?

• Always hold your baby in a fashion that you keep your hand and wrist in the same line. This will typically help bend your wrist to hold your baby’s head.
• Whenever possible, lift your baby with both arms or simply take help of a baby carrier if you need to take them for a walk/strolls.
• While pushing a stroller, place your palms on top of the handles. This will help minimize the urge to bend your wrists.

3. Carrying Your Baby with a Bent Hip on One Side

Very rarely do we pay attention to our posture when we carry and hold our baby. Most of the times, mothers carry their baby on one hip and tilt their pelvis.However, doing so for a prolonged period can cause severe discomfort.

What should you do to avoid this?

• Hold your baby with both arms as this will enable distribution of body weight equally on both legs.
• Also, switch sides regularly instead of holding the baby on just one side.

4. Hunching While Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is perhaps one of the most frequently carried out activities as a new mom! Many new mothers complain about a strained shoulder and neck muscles at this time.However, they overlook the root cause of it. When you push your neck forward for hours together, it can strain the neck and shoulder muscles resulting into wear and tear.

What should you do to avoid this?

• Whenever you feed your baby, keep looking upwards time to time and also engage in some neck rolling stretches.
• Also, use a footstool and a pillow to raise your baby while nursing and keep your arms free to ensure you aren’t bearing your baby’s weight. This will provide rest to your arms and shoulders.

5. Not Paying Enough Attention to Your Baby’s Toys and Nails

This is important not just for hygiene purposes. Paying special attention towards the length of your baby’s nails and the toys he/she plays with can also ensure YOUR safety!There have been many instances in which a simple playful act of throwing a toy in the air has ended up hurting the mother’s eye.Your baby’s nails too can hurt your – or his – eyes, if not clipped in time.

What should you do to avoid this?

• Ensure your baby’s nails are clipped short all the time. Their scratches can be as painful as paper cuts! Use this guide to cut your baby’s nails without causing him any pain
• Also, make sure you only buy toys that have soft edges and are devoid of any metal or sharp objects.

6. Baby Tantrums Can Result In Accidents Too!

As bizarre as it may sound, your baby’s persistence and mood swings can be quite dangerous for you! And what’s worse is that you wouldn’t know when to expect it either.When you refuse something, kids tend to throw a full blown tantrum that includes throwing things at you or grabbing you, leaving painful marks and bruises.Mothers in many cases end up getting physically hurt.

What should you do to avoid this?

• Distraction is the key. Whenever your baby or toddler throws a tantrum, distract them with something that would catch their attention and fancy instead. Well, this will ensure your safety too!
• You can also try some of these real mom solutions to tame the tantrums. Other moms have found success with these tips that include playing soothing music and splashing about in the water.

Yes, being a new mommy is definitely awesome, but it can also be quite painful (literally speaking!). However, there are always ways of getting around.You cannot replace these experiences and activities, but following these precautions will help you minimise risk of injury.

Remember – you must take care of yourself first if you want to be fit and healthy to look after your baby!