How to Get Rid of Hanging Belly after C-section

Your body is a wonderland, having only just undergone major stomach surgery after producing another human being. After all the postpartum nastiness, you’ve come through near-death exhaustion; blood, and tears. You have the battle scar, and pooch to prove it, so you want to know how to get rid of hanging belly after C-section.

Low impact exercise, after your incision heals completely, will help tone muscles and builds strength. A postpartum girdle can be in your itinerary, but it’s recommended to also watch your diet. Exercises such as planks or Kegel’s act on your pelvic floor, and there are specialized solutions for diastasis recti.

When every other option doesn’t offer desired results, you can get rid of a fat overhang with an abdominoplasty surgical procedure. That’s done by removing fatty tissue while tightening stomach muscles and skin to flatten your post-C-section bulge. Before you explore that risky and costly way, however, here are tips with proven results on how you can shelf a hanging belly.

What Causes a Hanging Belly after C-section?

You are not alone in regarding your post-C-section hanging belly with distaste. It was dignified to carry a bulge before the baby came, but the present one is out of place, and your summer bikini plans. So, what’s causing the stomach overhang, loose skin, fatty tissue, or hormones?

It’s a bit of each actually, and your weight gain post-pregnancy is normal. Your baby’s uterus caused abdominal muscles to stretch apart to make room for the typically seven pounds of womb contents. Simultaneously, your stomach, small intestines, and sigmoid colon shifted to make room for your child.

Pregnancy hormones are also responsible for the hanging belly after C-section. All that stretching and parting required that connective tissue be additionally elastic. Your body’s way of cushioning this load was by adding fatty deposits while your skin became thinner and flexible.

Healing is nature’s gift to your vessel of a body after taking such punishment. But that takes time, and while you wait, your C-section scar, coupled with a fatty shelf only makes your hanging belly more prominent. Lax abdominal muscles and skin hang over your scar’s tightness, coupled with all that baby weight.

Can My Post-C-Section Hanging Belly Go Away by Itself?

When you were pregnant before delivering via C-section, your body went through changes. One of these is cravings, forceful callings that led to eating junk that you won’t normally consume. Besides that, there were hormonal overdoses that resulted in physical and emotional rollercoasters. With birth, belly fat and weight gain have persevered.

After losing your pregnant weight, the pannus abdomen or hanging belly is more visible. Also called ‘mothers’ apron’ or ‘apron belly’, it’s a natural post-C-section occurrence. While the fatty overhang can sometimes correct itself with time, but mostly there’s a need for proactivity if you’re to see a flatter tummy.

During the pregnancy, and according to your body mass index, you should have gained between eleven and 40 pounds if you delivered a single baby. For twins, that’s 25 to 62 pounds, but you’ll lose this weight after your C-section. After the first week after birth, your gestation hormone levels will drop, resulting in night sweats and frequent bathroom breaks.

After another two weeks and your uterus has shrunk back to its original size, and by the end of month one, you’ve shed at least 20 pounds. However, that will depend on how well you take care of yourself while recovering from your surgery. Your diet and activity can set back weight loss while prolonging the recovery or healing of your C-section incision.

How Do I Get Rid of My Hanging Belly after C-section?

It will take at least six weeks before you’ll be allowed to do anything more frantic than a quick walk or pelvic floor breathing exercises. Once your doctor has ascertained the healing of your C-section scar, alongside your general state of health, you can take on workout routines aimed at your hanging belly.

Not waiting until your body heals can have disastrous consequences, including postpartum bleeding, incision opening, and muscle or joint injuries. You’ll also only be prolonging your C-section recovery time.

As always, abs are made in the kitchen as fat can only be lost equally across your body. Even though some parts are more noticeable than others, you’ll have to adhere to proper nutrition. Tips on how to get rid of hanging belly after C-section include;

Breastfeeding

While a great way to reduce that belly overhang, breastfeeding creates a special bond between you and your baby. The magical experience also triggers contractions that aid to shrink your uterus. You can lose further pounds due to the 500 to 600 calories spent to create the first six months of your baby’s milk supply.

To burn that same calorific number, a 140-pound mom will need to run 50 to 60 minutes daily at 10 minutes per mile. Despite all the weight loss, your postpartum C-section shelf doesn’t recede much.

Using a Postpartum Girdle

Almost immediately after your C-section procedure, you’ll get up and start moving. That’s how your body is going to be reactivated and the healing process can commence. However, as you walk around, you’ll feel like internal organs are displaced or loose. You can combat this using a postpartum girdle, and you may be provided with one by obstetricians at the hospital.

Girdles or abdominal binders help to compress the incision and uterus, relieving pain, reducing blood loss, and promoting healing. A belly wrap is made of adjustable elastic covering your torso around your hips and ribs. On your doctor’s recommendations, you can wear these for 10 to 12 hours daily for about two or three months.

Sleeping Well

Seeing as you’ve just delivered a newborn, eight hours of sleep will be hard to come by. However, you should endeavor to rest as much as you can, taking naps when your baby takes a nap. Sleep helps you improve your physical and emotional health. Both of these are linked to how much weight you can lose.

You’ll have a much harder time getting rid of your hanging belly after C-section if you’re only sleeping five hours on a 24-hour day. Lack of sleep causes cortisol release, a hormone associated with weight gain and systematic inflammation. Aim for at least seven hours of rest, prioritizing it over making elaborate meals or intensive cleaning.

Dieting Away Your Hanging Belly

Find a dietary routine that is guaranteed to help shed some of that fat. Make sure it’ll keep you fit and strong for activities such as exercise. A lot of health apps today have diets that are easy to adapt, some offering food guides and calorie meters. Others combine your workout data with caloric recommendations so you can meet your weight goals.

Whether you go high or low tech, there’s always a nutrition guidance route that ensures you’re feeding yourself enough to produce milk but saying adios to your belly overhang. Steps towards this must include;

Hydration

Water helps you to lose weight while filling your stomach, so you don’t start snacking unhealthily when you’re hungry. Combines with proper vegetable and fruit intake, hydration, or a water-rich diet is recommended for sufficient milk yield when breastfeeding.

Smart Cleansing

Drinking more water should accompany reducing the amount of junk food you consume. Increase your intake of fresh vegetables and fruit. Aim for a fiber-rich diet to promote regular bowel movements by cleansing your digestive system. That’ll help you become lighter while feeling energized so that you can undertake power walks, runs, or other forms of allowable exercises.

Snacking Healthy

Despite wanting to lose your post-C-section overhanging belly you shouldn’t skip meals, or starve yourself. Cut out sugar and limit caffeine while making all your grains, flour, and pasta whole meal. Stock up on nutritious snacks to substitute sugary or fatty foods, and these include nuts, hummus, and whole milk.

Eat bananas, apples, string cheese, crackers, and butter with air-popped popcorn. You’ll also need snacks that optimize your milk production if breastfeeding, such as chickpeas, oatmeal, barley, brewer’s yeast.

Exercising To Lose Hanging Belly after C-Section

Only attempt some exercise once your doctor gives the green light, making sure it’s not diastasis recti you’re dealing with. That’s because some cardio or abdominal muscle workouts can make the separation worse. Start mildly and then advance gradually on more complex exercises, combined with your compression binder over your C-section pouch.

Include baby in your walks with them in a pram, using their weight for resistance training. To get back into shape and get rid of your hanging belly, do planks, Kegels, and postpartum pelvic floor exercises.

Start with two plank sets each half-hour to contract abdominal muscles and improve minimal movement resistance. Kegels consist of tightening your pelvic floor muscles as though holding in urine, coupled with deep breathing and active posturing. Postpartum exercises like pelvic tilts, bridges, and heel slides will activate your core while pulling in your midriff to help beat that belly bulge.

Conclusion

It took nine months to create your postpartum hanging belly, and it’ll take some time to get rid of it after C-section. Your scar will not completely disappear, but the fatty shelf surrounding it will if you invest some effort on your part. Always keep your doctor involved and never exert yourself, especially if you feel pain or notice bleeding.