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September 21, 2020

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More mothers seeking help for post-natal recovery

Bai Juan used to throw herself entirely taking care of her first child after giving birth to the baby girl 11 years ago. But when she had a second child, she decided to spare some time for herself.

Bai, 39, is a teacher at a vocational school in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

After delivering her second daughter this year, she hired a maternity nanny to take care of her and the baby.

She also visited the Yinchuan Women and Children Healthcare Hospital twice a week for help with post-partum rehabilitation, including pelvic floor therapy.

“Your body doesn’t lie. It feels really good after the rehabilitation,” she said.

China relaxed its one-child policy in 2016, allowing each family to have two children. With the increasing awareness of their health and body shapes, more and more new mothers, many of whom are old and find it harder to recover, are turning to professional help.

The YWCHH is the largest healthcare institution for women and children in Ningxia. In 2019, it treated nearly half the 7,000 new mothers in the hospital,.

Wang Jie, who has worked in the hospital for 18 years, has seen changing attitudes on post-partum recovery.

The head nurse of the maternity department, when the hospital initiated post-partum recovery therapies in 2008, they treated only 200 mothers a year.

“Most new mothers back then spent almost all their time nursing their children, neglecting their own health,” Wang recalled.

Wang attributed the rising public awareness to the efforts of hospitals through lectures and post-partum visits, as well as the information shared via popular nursery accounts online and books offline.

Zhang Yanqin, a senior doctor with the YWCHH, said pregnancy and delivery are major factors behind women’s pelvic floor dysfunction — disorders that occur when pelvic floor muscles and ligaments are damaged.

“The pressure generated by the fetus during the process of pregnancy and delivery damages the resilience of pelvic floor muscles, leading to symptoms like urinary incontinence while sneezing or coughing,” Zhang said.




 

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