How To Get Rid Of C Section Belly Flap

So, you survived pregnancy and childbirth. Any mom will tell you: pregnancy and childbirth is no easy feat, especially if you have a C-section.

While you are left recovering from the grueling task of growing and birthing a tiny human from your body, you are probably pretty surprised by the state of your tummy after baby and you want to know how to get rid of that hanging belly after c section.

Don't fear, Mama! You can get rid of that post-baby belly, even after a C-section.

Read on to discover tips and tricks on how to get rid of sagging lower belly fat at home after delivery. It's time to beat that C-section pooch for good.

What is a C Section?

If you're reading this, you probably have personal experience with a C-section. Whether it was you, a friend or a family member who endured the procedure, you're aware that a caesarean section, more commonly known as a C-section, is the surgical delivery of a baby.

In this procedure, a horizontal cut is made through the mother's abdomen and uterus to safely deliver the baby. Most of the time, C-sections are performed due to medical reasons.

Sometimes C-sections can be scheduled ahead of time whereas in other cases, they are emergency operations. Common reasons for a C-section include:

Stalled labor
Lack of oxygen to the baby
Baby's position and size
Problems with the umbilical cord
Problems with the placenta
Health concerns that require a speedy delivery
A history of previous C-sections
Multiple pregnancy (i.e. twins)
Maternal diabetes or high blood pressure
Maternal HIV or herpes

While as many as 1/3 of all American births occur via C-section, it's still a major surgery. Before you even begin to think about losing the post C-section belly, you have to allow ample time to heal and recover.

Undergoing a C-section means your abdominal muscles have been completely cut into, and you have a surgical wound to mend. This wound must be allowed to heal, and your muscles must start to repair before you begin making any efforts to reduce your tummy area.

It can take a number of weeks for this wound to heal, in some cases over 8 weeks, so be sure to give yourself enough time to heal before you start trying to rid yourself of belly fat. Your doctor will be able to tell you how long it will take and what to be aware of.

How Long Will It Take to Shrink My Belly After a C-Section?

Your belly will be doing some heavy duty shrinking in the first few weeks post-delivery.

The excess fluid should work through your system within a couple weeks, and your uterus will begin to shrink, contributing to a thinning belly with little extra work on your part in the beginning.

Remember: It took 40 long weeks to grow your belly to the size it was to house your baby.

After birth, whether you delivered vaginally or via C-section, it will take your uterus 6 to 8 weeks to shrink down to its pre-pregnancy size.

How to Shrink Your Belly After a C-Section

Here are some ways you can lose weight after a cesarean section:

Breastfeed
Use a Postpartum Support Belt
Minimize Stretch Marks
Get Enough Sleep
Keep a Food (and Exercise) Log
Hydrate Yourself
Try a Smart Cleanse
Choose to Snack Healthier
Optimize Your Milk Production (For Baby and Belly)
Include Your Baby in Exercises
Do Planks
Do Postpartum Exercises
Be More Active When Not Working Out

You're probably eager to get back on the road to recovery and enjoy your pre-pregnancy body again. While this urge is understandable, remember that before you try any of the suggested remedies below that you get approval from your doctor, especially when taking on exercise for weight loss after cesarean section.

Although you may feel great, your doctor will be able to evaluate how your C-section wound is healing and the state of your overall health.

Giving birth via C-section takes a major toll on the body, so make sure you're being safe about your follow up plans.

Now, let's get on to learning how you can safely get rid of that C-section pooch.

Follow these tips and tricks and watch your belly shrink away:

1. Breastfeeding

Mother breastfeeding her baby No need to wait to start breastfeeding. As soon as your precious bundle of joy is born, you can start breastfeeding.

Believe it or not, breastfeeding can actually help flatten your belly. Not only does breastfeeding burn about 500 extra calories per day, but it also releases a hormone called oxytocin that stimulates uterine contractions, speeding up your uterus's return journey to its pelvic home.

How does breastfeeding burn so many calories? Well, the American Pregnancy Association says a breastfeeding mom will secrete between 425 and 700 calories into breast milk per day.

Because the body does not normally produce this highly specialized milk for baby, it has to work super hard to do so.

To burn roughly the same number of calories through exercise, a 140-pound woman would have to run a 10-minute mile pace for 45 to 60 minutes every day. Breastfeed to tighten up and lose weight!

2. Use a Postpartum Support Belt

Generally, within 12 hours of surgery, doctors encourage new moms to get up and move around. Some women find that not having any pressure on the site of the incision is uncomfortable.

Others find their abs feel loose and unsupported. To combat this discomfort, some OBs actually recommend wearing a postpartum support belt or girdle.

The jury is out in the medical community. While some OBs swear they help with postpartum discomfort and to compress the uterus, thereby helping it shrink, others think these waist trainers are nothing more than a gimmick.

Whether or not it helps shrink your waistline, doctors have been recommending similar belts for people with back pain due to weakened abdominal muscles (1).

Since your muscles have recently undergone trauma, it's worthwhile to give yourself the extra support. In the process, you may even help your uterus shrink and find its normal spot, speeding up the process of reducing your tummy and getting rid of that c-section overhang.

3. Minimize Stretch Marks

While stretch marks don't directly contribute to a loose tummy after a C-section, they can make you feel like the problem is magnified.

While there is no way to totally get stretch marks to disappear, using anti-stretch mark cream does show benefits on new and existing stretch marks (2). Plus, the act of massaging the lotion onto your belly can help with circulation in the abdominal region.

4. Get Enough Sleep

Mom sleeping besides her newborn With a newborn, you won't be getting 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night, but do try to make sleep a priority.

If your baby takes a nap, you take a nap! Sleep is not only good for getting rid of that baby weight, but also helps improve your emotional health, which is closely linked to your physical health.

Did you know that new moms who sleep less than 5 hours per night have a harder time getting rid of excess weight than those who sleep 7 hours?

This is likely because lack of sleep can cause systemic inflammation and a cortisol release. This hormone, known as the stress hormone, is often associated with weight gain, however, current research is inconclusive (5).

Regardless, do your best to get those zzz's, even if it means you let some other areas slide such as cleaning or making elaborate meals.

When possible, ask your friend, neighbor, or loved one to help you with some of the other chores you need to get done. Keep in mind that you cannot and do not need to do everything by yourself. You have an infant to take care of.

5 Diet Tips for the Tummy

1. Keep a Food (and Exercise) Log

Write down everything you eat and drink including your portion sizes. Keeping a journal makes you more accountable with your dietary goals. You can also clearly see what you are eating and what easy dietary changes you can make to lose weight.

There is a plethora of food logging apps you can check out. Two of the most popular:

My Fitness Pal – a popular calorie counting app that has an exercise logger and food diary in one. It also gives daily calorie intake recommendation and makes it easy to see at a glance how close you are to your limit, as well as how many calories you've burned exercising.
Lose It! – also combines an exercise log and food diary, with extra convenient features like the option to connect it to a pedometer or scan the barcode for packaged foods so you don't have to enter their info manually.

You don't need to go high-tech with it, though. The old school pen and paper can work just as well. Choose a method that is easy for you and one you will stick to.

2. Hydrate Yourself

Newborn mom hydrating herself and drinking water Not only do breastfeeding moms need extra water to make milk, but drinking enough water and eating enough fruits and veggies with a high-water content may help you lose weight.

Water fills up your belly so you are less likely to mindlessly snack when you aren't hungry.

Plus, studies show a correlation between hydration and weight loss (6). If water isn't your favorite beverage, try jazzing it up by adding some citrus or fresh mint.

Cucumber water is another delicious option. You can also nosh on snacks with a high-water content like watermelon, cucumber, celery, and lettuce.

3. Try a Smart Cleanse

This simply means decrease the overall amount of junk food you are eating and fill up on fresh fruits and vegetables.

Use your new mom lifestyle as motivation for changing your eating habits. Eating a diet rich in fiber and nutrients while drinking plenty of water will get your digestive system moving to promote regularity and feeling lighter.

Here are some simple tips you can do today:

Cut out sugar sweetened beverages (i.e. regular soda, sports drinks, loaded coffee and tea drinks)
Limit caffeinated beverages to 2-3 cups per day
Make all your grains and pastas whole grain
Make half of your plate fruit and vegetables
Do not skip meals

4. Choose to Snack Healthier

Newborn mom eating an apple Aside from not skipping meals, new moms should also choose healthy snacks to curb hunger and get adequate nutrition.

When you hit the grocery store, remember to stock up on healthy, nutritious snacks rather than fatty and sugary items.

Snack sensibly by choosing some of these options:

1/4 cup of nuts
1 cup veggies (i.e. baby carrots) with hummus
1 cup whole milk dairy
Apples and bananas
Whole grain crackers and nut butter
Air-popped popcorn
String cheese

With these healthy snacks on hand, you'll have healthy options when the hunger bug bites. Keeping such snacks in your home can help you fight the temptations that make the tummy struggle even harder.

5. Optimize Your Milk Production (For Baby and Belly)

As we mentioned earlier, breastfeeding and milk production burns calories. In order to optimize your milk production abilities, here are some specific foods that may increase milk supply according to La Leche League. Do it for the baby and for yourself!

Barely
Oatmeal
Fennel
Coriander
Dill
Anise
Brewer's yeast
Chickpeas

5 Exercise Tips for the Tummy

1. Include Baby

Many new moms struggle to find the time to work out while tending to their new baby. Instead of trying to cram a workout in while your little one sleeps, do a workout you can do with baby.

Go on a walk with your baby, use your baby as resistance for weight training, or check out your local gym. Many gyms offer programs like Stroller Strides designed to get new moms back in tip top shape while including baby in the workout.

You can also check out some at-home workouts you can do with baby here.

2. Do Planks

While your abdominal muscles may be weak postpartum, try some planks! Unlike crunching exercises that repeatedly cause the split abdominal muscles to contract, planks offer constant resistance with minimal movement.

Planks are great for stabilizing the core and led to closure of diastasis recti in one study. Start out with 2 plank sets at 30 seconds each and work up from there.

3. Do Kegels

Kegels are a type of exercise that helps strengthen your pelvic floor. Pregnancy puts a lot of pressure on this muscle due to the added weight you were carrying around.

In this exercise, you tighten your pelvic floor for 5-10 seconds as you breath in and release as you breath out. Never done Kegels? Don't worry.

All you have to do is tighten your muscles like you would if you were trying to hold in your pee.

4. Do Postpartum Exercises

Pelvic Tilts

For this exercise, lie on your back, with your knees bent. Slowly engage your deep core muscles to tilt your pelvis slightly up and back.

To pull in, you'll flatten your back against the floor, tightening your abdominals and slightly raising your rear as you pull your pelvis up. Hold for 10 seconds. Then relax again.

Heel Slides

A heel slide is simple. You lie on your back with your knees bent, feet on the floor. Leave about a hand's length between your butt and the heel of your foot.

While pulling your belly button down towards your spine, slowly slide one heel down, so that your leg lies flat and then pull it back in slowly. Then do the other side. Repeat up to 10 times to start.

Remember to perform these exercises with proper posture and always keep the belly pulled in. Activating the core will build strength and pull your waistline in, beating the baby bulge.

You can make a routine out of these exercises by doing them in the morning when you get up, while your baby's napping or even during TV commercials when you're taking a bit of a break.

5. Get More Active When Not Working Out

While you won't be cleared for heavier exercise until 8 weeks after your C-section, you can start by doing some light walking each day.

Don't push yourself too hard, especially in the beginning. After the initial recovery period, you can begin to do some other exercises. Abs exercises after c section are a great way to target your abdomen, but be sure to take it easy.

Burn through that lingering belly fat by going on at least 3 brisk walks per week. Art Weltman, PhD, director of exercise physiology at the University of Virginia tells Health, "Fast-paced walking, when combined with healthy eating, is hugely effective for weight loss."

Don't forget the baby! You can carry your baby in a sling or push them in a stroller to increase the resistance and burn more calories. Overall, exercise after c section to reduce your tummy is very helpful.

Take It Easy: Listen to Your Body

For any of these home remedies to flatten your tummy, make sure you are working closely with your doctor throughout the whole process.

Not only are you battling the physical hardships postpartum, but you also may be enduring new emotional and mental stress.

Make sure to build a support network of friends, family and your healthcare provider so that you can accomplish your responsibilities and reach your goals.

With time, patience, hard work and being realistic, you can create a personalized plan to get rid of your post s-section belly! Once you've recovered from the initial surgery, try these 15 home remedies to reduce your tummy after a C-section.

Have you already gotten started on your weight loss after cesarean section? We'd love to hear about your progress and about other methods you've found helpful! Tell us all about your post-C-section weight loss journey in the comments below.

Article Sources

Mann, Denise. Belly Wraps: Post-Pregnancy Hit or Hype? Grow by WebMD.
Garcia Hernandez, J.A. et. al. Use of a specific anti-stretch mark cream for preventing or reducing the severity of striae gravidarum. Randomized, double-blind, controlled trial. International Journal of Cosmetic Science, June 2013.
Lesako, Gina. Nutrition for a Breastfeeding Mom. Food & Nutrition, 27 October 2014.
Irwin, Michael R., Richard Olmstead, and Judith E. Carroll. Sleep Disturbance, Sleep Duration, and Inflammation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies and Experimental Sleep Deprivation. Biological Psychiatry, 1 July 2016.
Incollingo Rodriguez, Angela C. et. al. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation and cortisol activity in obesity: A systematic review. Psychoneuroendocrinology, December 2015.
Thornton, Simon N. Increased Hydration Can Be Associated with Weight Loss. Frontiers in Nutrition, 10 June 2016.