Childbirth is an extremely traumatic event for a woman’s body to go through. Particularly if the labor and delivery process was long or difficult, it can take quite some time for a woman’s system to get back to normal after childbirth. While it is not especially common for a woman to be nauseous after childbirth, it is not unheard of for a woman to be nauseous after childbirth, and can generally be considered to be normal.
There are a variety of things that can cause nausea after childbirth. If the mother isn’t getting enough fluids during childbirth, she may become a bit dehydrated. Combined with the natural fluid loss that occurs during childbirth, it can take a little while for the new mother to get enough liquids. As you may know, dehydration is one of the most common causes of nausea.
The process of childbirth is also accompanied by rapid and drastic hormone changes. Hormone levels will drop back to normal over a period of a few days. In addition, once your body doesn’t need to keep on maintaining your baby inside of you, it shifts the way that it handles nutrients and such as well. These factors can both cause your stomach to produce a more than normal amount of acid, which can lead you to feel nauseous.
Normally, the nauseous feeling will pass within a couple of days. You may be able to take anti-nausea medications to ease your nausea. Sometimes, an antacid will do the trick. For others, a cup of warm ginger or peppermint tea will soothe their upset stomachs.
It is not particularly normal to have severe or persistent nausea after childbirth. If you experience nausea with vomiting for more than half an hour, or if you can’t seem to shake the nauseous feeling, you should contact your health care provider. It is possible that other things may be causing your nausea, or that some part or another of the childbirth process did something to you that is creating the severe or persistent nausea.