Okay guys! We’re here today to talk about maybe one of the most common complaints seen during pregnancy and postpartum: swelling.

Swelling during pregnancy is usually pretty common in the lower extremities and feet. All the extra fluid that your body creates to help support a healthy baby can cause blood circulation to slow – and much of it accumulates in the legs and feet. Especially if you are up on your feet a lot!

By the end of the third trimester, you can expect to have a 50% increase in the amount of fluid your body produces. Additionally, the hormones relaxin & estrogen that your body produces to help open your pelvis for childbirth also relaxes the tendons, ligaments and muscles both above and below. Which can leave more room for fluid to accumulate. If your pelvic floor isn’t behaving, it makes it a LOT harder to pump this fluid from your feet & ankles back to your heart.

And once you have given birth to your baby, you may think that your body is one and done with all that extra fluid. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. You may find that in addition to your feet and legs, your face, arms and hands also swell.

This is a very common and normal occurrence after delivery, be it vaginal or via C-section. The swelling is often caused by:

All the extra fluids you built up during pregnancy. Moms who experienced edema (swelling) during pregnancy can carry up to 6 pounds of extra fluid!
Any fluids you may have received during delivery, like an IV.
Any pushing you do during delivery tends to push that swelling to the periphery (e.g., your arms and legs).
Being sedentary for longer periods of time.
Hormonal changes, like progesterone that build up during pregnancy, also cause extra water retention.

Some common treatments to help during the peri- and postpartum stages include:

Wearing compression stockings.
Getting up and moving around more frequently. Both sitting and standing for long periods of time encourage fluid retention. Moving around without overdoing it (looking at you, my C-section ladies!) will help filter that fluid out.
Drink a lot of water! It may sound counterintuitive, but drinking more water will help your kidneys be better able to flush any excess waste from the body. Dehydration can also make your body prone to hanging onto more fluid.
Elevating your legs above heart level allows gravity to help move those fluids back towards your heart, where things can then get filtered out through your sweat glands and kidneys.
Try eating foods that are lower in sodium, since too much salt leads to water retention.

If you have tried all these methods (both during and after pregnancy), a physical therapist that specializes in manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) may be able to help. This is a type of manual therapy that incorporates gentle rhythmic massage to promote the flow of fluid and empty edematous areas. The benefits of MLD include swelling relief, relaxation, immune support and (if pregnant) preparation for labor. However, it is important to consult with a certified healthcare practitioner to see if MLD is right for you. Also, ensuring that the pump for your body (which are your pelvic floor muscles and your diaphragm) are functioning at their best is a great way to help swelling.