Giving birth to a baby will have a profound effect on your entire life. That’s an obvious fact as you’ll have to raise your baby, love them, and care for them for many years. However, a thing that fewer people speak about is the way a woman’s body changes after giving birth. Some of these changes might remain for the rest of your life, and you have to be prepared for them.

3 Post-Pregnancy Changes and What to Do About Them

1.      Prepare to lose your hair

Postpartum hair loss is a natural process that cannot be avoided. However, the difference between knowing this and seeing your hair falling out in clumps is huge. For many women this sight makes their already high levels of stress skyrocket, which only increases hair loss.

First of all you need to understand what’s going on. Pregnancy causes many hormonal changes in your body. In particular, your levels of estrogen and progesterone skyrocket. One of the nice changes this causes is that your hair becomes thicker, healthier, and much more numerous. The latter happens because those hormones slow down the natural hair loss rate. This means that you simply do not shed your locks like a regular person.

After you give birth, these hormones levels pummel down and your body starts ‘catching up’ on all the shedding it missed. Postpartum hair loss can have you losing about 400 strands a day, so it’s no wonder that you might be shocked as the normal rate is 80 hairs.

No two cases are the same and in some women this hair loss can result in bald spots. A condition this severe means that you have some additional problems that add to the postpartum hair loss. On average, you should get back to a normal shedding rate within about 6-12 months.

2.      Your belly won’t be the same (probably never)

One of the most disappointing post-pregnancy changes for most women is that their bellies do not miraculously shrink after delivering the baby. In fact, your tummy will remain pretty much the same for a while and losing pregnancy weight will be a struggle.

Once you stop breastfeeding, you can get your weight loss program into high gear. You can also boost it with effective supplements that act fast like Phentermine diet pills. However, taking any products as well as cutting your caloric intake below 1,800-2,000 isn’t recommended for nursing mothers. Do this only if your doctor believes this to be necessary.

Otherwise, you’ll have to learn to love your plumper body, because it’s not going anywhere. In fact, losing weight too fast is a major cause for concern and requires a visit to your doctor.

Note that stretching of the uterus and your belly muscles will make it rounder by default. You can regain a flat belly with defined abs, but this will take a huge amount of focused training and a very specific diet.

3.      Your feet will most likely become a size bigger permanently

Swollen feet are a sad reality of pregnancy. Gaining those recommended 25-35 extra pounds also has you buying flats a size bigger. However, what people rarely speak about is that the change in shoe size will most likely be permanent. Its cause is not only the additional weight that might stick.

The issue is caused by all that extra weight, as well as a change in posture and a steady release of relaxin hormone. When combined, these factors result in the flattening of the arch in your feet. This change cannot be undone and might actually be quite problematic as your feet might not ‘grow’ a full size bigger. This means that choosing shoes that fit comfortably will be tricky.

Like with all other post-pregnancy changes, there is no predicting the exact shift as no two cases are the same. The best thing you can do is to deal with the situation as it aris