5 unspoken things that can happen to a woman’s body during and after pregnancy

A woman's body undergoes many physical and mental changes during pregnancy and after birth. While most of these strange changes disappear after birth, a few, like the baby, are permanent. Strange things as little as swollen feet to things as serious as dislocated ribs.

While childbirth is a significant existential life event and can be one of the most amazing, fulfilling, and exciting life experiences, it is critical to fully understand the risks involved and be prepared for them.

After giving birth, many unimaginable things can happen to you and your body. Here are ten unspoken facts about what happens to a woman's body during and after pregnancy:

1) Uterine prolapse

Yes! Your uterus can fall out.

Uterine prolapse occurs when the pelvic floor muscles and ligaments stretch and weaken to the point where they can no longer support the uterus. As a result, the uterus enters or protrudes from the vagina.

While mild prolapse rarely causes symptoms. Moderate to severe uterine prolapse symptoms include seeing or feeling tissue bulge out of the vagina, heaviness or pulling in the pelvis, leaking urine, loose vaginal tissue, and so on.

Tissue prolapses in your anus can also occur. As a result, you won't know when you're about to fart, so you'll have no choice but to let 'em rip. It's very common and embarrassing, but these muscles will eventually firm up again.

2) Dislocated ribs

It's safe to assume that preventing a bone injury isn't one of the things on a woman's mind while she's giving birth. In comparison to childbirth pain, these injuries may not be noticed or felt until after childbirth. Due to the tension and pressure of delivery, the ribs can shift or suffer some injuries.

During pregnancy, the rib cage naturally expands to make more room for the growing baby, and this expansion can occasionally cause sharp back rib pain or dislocation.

Internal pressure is usually the cause of rib problems during pregnancy. This pressure can cause the rib to become stuck in a rotated position by changing its orientation.

Rib injury usually goes away after delivery for most pregnant women if the underlying cause of the pain is addressed early on while others may experience a persistent postpartum rib injury.

3) Flat butt

After giving birth, many mothers report having a flat butt ("mom butt" or "pancake butt"). This change in the appearance of your butt is caused by a loss of butt fat, changes in your posture, and changes in your gluteal muscles.

Your butt fat is especially high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are necessary for infant brain development. And because it is richer than the rest of your body's fat deposits, these brain-building fatty acids stored in your butt are extracted for breast milk production.

Yes, the body literally burns butt fat to produce nutritious breast milk for the baby. None from the stomach though!

4) Hip injuries

During pregnancy and postpartum, a woman's body goes through a lot of stress. The hips are one area of the body that can take a lot of this stress. Injuries to the hip, which can range in severity from mild to severe, include hip impingement, labral tears, pelvic girdle pain, and symphysis pubis dysfunction.

Hip impingement occurs when the socket and ball of the hip joint make abnormal contact with each other, causing the joint to malfunction. While pregnant, this can be caused by the pressure of the mother's extra weight, changes in pelvic alignment, or hormonal changes affecting ligaments.

A labral tear is an injury to the rubbery tissue that cushions the hip's ball-and-socket joint, which is especially common in women during and after childbirth. When the labrum tears, the hip joint becomes unlubricated and unstable, resulting in nagging pain and the development of arthritis.

Pelvic girdle pain is a pain in the front and back of your pelvis that may radiate to your hip or thigh. Normally, this would disappear shortly after giving birth, but this is not always the case. The pain may last for several months after delivery. For some, it can last even longer.

5) Momnesia or pregnancy brain

Pregnancy-induced brain fog, also known as the baby brain, is a true and troubling feature of pregnancy and postpartum. It is caused by the fluctuation of hormones in the body during pregnancy, which affects the neurons of the brain.

It also explains the somewhat childish behaviors seen in pregnant women.

Pregnancy brain can start as early as the first trimester of pregnancy when the body experiences a major surge of hormones. Insomnia, a common ailment in early pregnancy, can also exacerbate this state of mental mushiness.

This momnesia persists postpartum because hormones continue to fluctuate and, of course, sleep deprivation also plays a role.

While these are just a few of the risks associated with pregnancy and childbirth, there are many more that are rarely discussed. Although they may last longer than usual, these symptoms can be treated naturally alongside postpartum body healing or managed with the help of specialists.

However, it is crucial to understand that the body has changed after giving birth to a child and will never fully go back to how it was.