After C Section care and After C Section recovery carewas the last thing on my mind after healthy and relatively problem free pregnancy, at the age of 41. Cesarean Surgery and  vaginal birth both require abdominal support. Most 2nd time mom's buy the product before birth as they know firsthand the importance of functioning and pain relief a binder offers. I was unprepared for my c-section and it was more painful getting out of bed than pushing for 5 hours. The Hospital did not provide a Post Natal binder, just pain medicine. When I got home, I quickly began wrapping an ace bandage around my abdomen. It made such a difference to bind when moving or getting out of bed, but it was difficult to remove and put on. Using my 20+ years of massage, bodywork and healing education, I began an intuitive program of self care for my cesarean incision. Then just a few months later, I was caring for my dying mother who had undergone abdominal surgery for misdiagnosed ovarian cancer.  From these life changing experiences, I learned first hand the scarcity of knowledge and tools to help in post cesarean and abdominal surgery care. The ideas for the AbdoMend™ healing products grew out of these experiences. Now it's my wish that every woman and abdominal surgery patient enjoy the benefits of the Abdomend™ binding belts and the Massage Therapy program. Our long attachments and soft fabric make it easy to get out of bed, function and enjoy baby after surgery.If you are pregnant do yourself a favor and buy a binder to help your body recover.

- Christina Hemming

C Section recovery care and after c section birth includes Belly binding as an ancient healing tool for post surgery recovery and post vaginal births. Women, Doctors, Doulas, Midwives all know the powerful effects of binding the abdomen. Compression from c-section support bands, brings fibers together, reduces swelling and tearing and at the same time offers some protection for the incision. Most 2nd time mom's buy Abdomend™ before birth as they know firsthand the importance of getting out of bed, walking and pain relief a binder offers. Health and well being for the mom and child are of the utmost importance. That is why I created the soft cotton c-section binders, and this site. Here, and on our blog, you will find a wealth of information and resources for healthy c-section recovery, c-section healing and support. Soft abdominal binders help support the changing body through pregnancy, vaginal delivery & Cesarean Section recovery. Remember, it took 9 months to grow a baby and the body needs support to bounce back to your original shape.

- Christina Hemming

 C-Section recovery and after C Section birth needs C Section Recovery and abdominal binding support and protection at this special time during your Most 2nd time mom's buy the product before birth as they know firsthand the importance of functioning and pain relief a binder offers. The ancient healing art of using a postpartum abdominal binder is less well known today than in other cultures. Abdomend™ offers two different binding belts. The Support belt is a perfect c-section support band for after c-section delivery. The Hem It In binder is a postpartum belly wrap, for after vaginal birth and later stages of c-section recovery, or an abdominal binder after laparoscopic surgery. They have different purposes at different times, please check which one will best meet your needs.

- Christina Hemming

Emergency C Section, elective C Section, Vaginal birth, and going into labor should be thought out with  each situation written down so that the right choices for your well being are made before you go into labor. Its easy to think you won't have a cesarean, and its best not to have surgery. If your like me, and got pregnant with a tall man, 6'3" and I am 5'8", with small hips, thinking outside box of  "I can push this baby out," may be in your best interest to prepare for any situation.

Well, my birthing and labor experience was not what I was planning on, but are they ever?  After a healthy and relatively problem free pregnancy, at the age of 41, I prepared for the birth of my son.  Using a midwife for detailed pregnancy diet & support, and attending conventional HMO care,I took advantage of both systems to ensure that I had a safe birth. I labored at my midwife's home, so to avoid the medical interventions, like pitocin, which is widely to stimulate labor. I was amazed at the percentages of women given pitocin, as described on this site for birth, over 80-90% administration of the drug to laboring mom's.

The midwife offered education and information that was lacking in the HMO system, and the Hospital provided the ultrasounds, amnio, and emergency Cesarean birth that I ended up needing, I still have post stress shock and guilt over the decisions to do the vacuum more than once. I attended a birthing class, and snickered when she demonstrated what goes on in the operating room during a c-section. I thought that would never happen to me!  Boy, did I recall the whole discussion when I lay there with the blue sheet over my head, and they asked me if I wanted my hands tied down.  I declined the tie down, and kept my hands by my side.

Here's what happened two years ago, which has brought me to the place where I have developed this C Section recovery kit, for other mom's.

It was decided, not only by the doctor, but the midwife, that my baby was due, in fact one week post delivery date, which is common for first time moms. But I couldn't talk with the doctor about the midwife, because in Hawaii, they will let you go from the coverage, if they know you have a midwife.  This seemed rediculous, and detrimental to women but the system is what it is.

So the midwife and I induced my labor by drinking castor oil at 6am, and by 4pm, the water broke. In 5 hours I was completely dialated, and ready to push. It was the most intense experience in concentration I have ever undergone. I pushed, moved around, and tried every position known to womankind, and after 5 hours, it was determined, that I needed to go to the hospital. The whole way over when the contractions came, I was told not to push- that was so hard.

When we arrived at the hospital we got so much flack from the nurses who exclaimed that I never should have been allowed to stay at home. Conflict was present until the doctor came in and communicated with the midwife.  All I remember now is the vacuum and me not wanting one, and power struggles between midwifes, nurses and doctors, and me caught in the middle.  They performed a vacuum when the baby was stuck in my pelvis, and damaged his head......they refused to do a  c section without the vacuum.....  Avoid confusion and write down birth plans with different scenarios and procedures, so you can avoid consenting to what you may not want, like the vacuum.....

I was wheeled in, and happily leaned over when they came to me for the shot in the spine. Didn’t feel anything except when they were trying to pull my son's head out of my pelvis and I was rocking on the table. Our son was pale, swollen, and ended up with terrible bruising around the eyes for his first weeks of life. He was rushed off to the neonatal unit with his dad, and the midwife came in to be with me. The Nurse told her she wasn't allowed to look at the c section completion.  Later in post op,I got a lecture on how an O+ should not be with an AB-,  because he was jaundice. Turns out most c section babies are jaundiced.

I rested and later woke up in the hospital room, where the nurse told me to get out of bed.  "What? um, how am I going to do that? I have been cut open!"  She murmured, "use your arms to push yourself up."

"My stomach will rip open", I cried.  "Use one hand to hold yourself, and the other to pull yourself up. I will give you some vicodin when you’re done"  she casually said, as she approached my roomate.

As I turned to my side, I felt my abdomen tear, panic raced through my body, but I was so exhausted. I held on hand over my incision and used other arm to push myself up- it was a painful joke, and no laughing matter.  I didn't want a bunch of drugs, but the pain was terrible.  Later, I went  into the wheelchair and got my baby as soon as I could, and kept him with me the whole time until I left the hospital. I allowed him to nurse as much as he wanted. My intuition guided me to touch my abdomen right away in the hospital, just as a general connection and feeling the changes, the lumps and stuff.

When I got home, I had my partner wrap me in an ace bandage, and was amazed at how much better I felt. But I had to be careful getting in and out of bed, and I would unwrap the belt while I was lying down. That ace bandage helped me so much, but it wasn't easy to put on.

I was doing alright until I got a kidney infection. Had I known that the aches and pains I felt in my back were not just post labor pain and holding baby. The pain would run into my neck and head and it hurt so much.  I got a terrible fever for 3 days and had chills during the night. So I had to get an intravenous dose of antibiotics after I passed out in the bathroom, and my sick mother who was there at the time, found me on the floor. I had a breast pump, so they could feed baby while I went to the hospital.

A couple of months passed, and I healed. Strength and joy were present and I continued to work on my scar and my stomach. My abdomen felt like another entity! Lumps, and bulges were what I felt. So I did what felt good. After 20 years of massage and other education, I was doing whatever I knew to help myself out.  I felt numb, sore and sensitive areas, but I continued to touch my abdomen and scar daily. I  continued to massage my lumpy scar while caring for baby and my mom. My stomach felt very different for several months, then it went down. I took note of how gently I had to work the tissue, and how it was turning into a longer process than I thought to have a soft, and flat scar.

Then I had to go to Florida to  tend to my dying mother who had misdiagnosed advanced ovarian cancer. My 20 years of massage therapy practice, myofascial work, cranial sacral and energy work, was not only applied to myself but to my mother and baby. I did a lot of gentle work on his head and spine to help him release the trauma of the vacuum and being stuck in my pelvis, I massaged my mom, and I would work on myself in bed.

Two years later, I have a healthy boy, wrote this little book and developed the kit to help other women. The  initial pain was unbelievable, and the lack of information was incomprehensible.  Health and well being for the mom and child are of the utmost importance. That is why I created this C Section Recovery kit.

So please, enjoy the information offered to you here, and take it day by day, breathing and being gentle with yourself in your recovery. This information is meant to be complementary to your Doctor's advice, so please use it within your own health and specific needs. It is not meant to substitute for your Doctor's advice.

Aloha Christina