When Can You Swim After Caeserean Section? 

Can you swim after C-section, and if yes, how soon?

Well, this question is very popular with women who have delivered their bouncing bundle of joy through Caeserean Section.

Because of the baby weight, they might want to get back to swimming as soon as they possibly can for their cardio, and to lose the weight.

C Section has its benefits. It also has its disadvantages. Therefore, if this is the first time you have had one, you should learn everything about it. That way, you will know what you can do and cannot do after you have had CS.

In this blog, we have discussed swimming while you are pregnant. We said you can swim up to last week.

We have also discussed swimming in the ocean with yeast infection. We said yes, you can swim.

Here, we encourage people to swim and enjoy the benefits that come with this lovely sport. Today, we are looking at how soon you can take up swimming postpartum.

How long after C section can you swim?

Before you can do any form of exercise after delivering a baby through C section, talk to your doctor. You can ask your Ob-Gyn how soon after the C section you can swim. However, the general advice is to wait for at least 4 weeks, but overall 6 weeks is the best duration before you swim.

Probably, swimming will be the first exercise you can take up safely after giving birth. It is a low impact workout, so it is not going to do much harm to your pelvic section. But still, the minimum time you should wait is four weeks.

Even after the four to six weeks are over, you should still talk to your doctor. They will look at your body and let you know whether you are ready for the kicking and pulling in swimming.

Six weeks should be ample time for the afterbirth vaginal discharge to completely wane away.

If you swim while the discharge is not over, you could catch infections from the water. Also, doctors recommend that you don’t wear a tampon at least until 6 weeks after delivering a baby.

Before you can get to swimming, you can also do other simple aerobic exercises such as walking. This is going to improve your blood circulation a great deal.

It will ensure that nutrients and oxygen get to different parts of the body and in return, this will help in the faster healing of your wound.

Improved blood circulation will also help to prevent the formation of blood clots.

Can you go swimming 3 weeks after a c-section?

Swimming is recommended because it gets the blood to flow to all parts of the body. However, regarding how long after C section you can swim, please note that it depends on your doctor.

Even if the incision is healed, and it is not leaking, do not swim just yet. See your doctor first to give you a clean bill of health.

Many sources say you can swim 3 weeks after going through a Caesarean section. However, waiting one or two weeks longer cannot do much harm. Remember, a Caesarean section wound is very delicate.

All women do not heal in the same way. Some take time, some heal faster. This depends on things like age, diet, genetics and so on. Therefore, you might take a longer time to be ready for swimming than your friend.

Once again, refer to your doctor before you take any other exercise apart from walking. All swimming strokes involve kicking and pulling with arms, and since the core muscles are involved, the Caesarean section incision could burst easily.

Can I go swimming 6 weeks after c-section?

The general timeline to wait before you can go swimming after Caesarean section is 4 weeks. Therefore, by many standards, you are safe to swim in six weeks.

However, even after the doctor okays you in six weeks, it is still recommended that you don’t try crazy feats like jumping into the pool. Take it slowly, enter the water gently and swim gently.

The good thing is that after six weeks, the doctor will review the mom’s and baby’s health. If you can wait until the doctor does your review, that would be the best way.

The most important thing is to wait until the lochia has stopped discharging, and the incision stitches have healed completely.

If you engage in any strenuous activity, it will not heal fast enough. Overall, just don’t swim until you have consulted with your doctor.

Whether you got a CS or a vaginal birth, you are going to experience lochia, which is afterbirth bleeding. Even if what remains is light spotting, please wait until the bleeding stops completely.

As long as there is any form of discharge, you are susceptible to catching infections from the water.

Can I go swimming 2 weeks after Caesarean section?

Under no circumstances should you start swimming 2 or 3 weeks after undergoing a cesarean section.

By two weeks, you still have lochia, so swimming is not only unpleasant, but it is also a risk for infections. At this time, you are still wearing the pads to catch the discharge.

You can swim with pads, of course, especially when the discharge is light. However, just don’t swim for 2 weeks after delivering your baby.

A dip in cold water is not going to stop the bleeding. Also, the cesarean incision has not healed very well in two weeks. The stitches might not hold, and a burst would mean re-stitching.

For some people, the lochia stops fast enough, say, even within those two weeks. However, even after the discharge has stopped completely, doctors advise you to wait a further seven days before you can swim.

Can I go swimming 5 weeks postpartum

Yes, you can go swimming in 5 weeks after delivering your bundle of joy. However, there are still some checks to make.

Has the discharge (lochia) stopped completely? You can tell by the pad you wear. If there is no spotting of any sort, give yourself another week before you can go swimming.

You also need the doctor to check the CS stitches. If there is no risk of the wound bursting under strenuous swimming activity, you can swim. Of course, you cannot know this, so you had better ask your doctor whether it is okay to swim in five weeks.

Alternatively, instead of bothering too much about whether to swim or not to swim at 5 weeks postpartum, just wait for your doctor’s review time, which usually comes after six weeks. This is when the doctor checks the health of the mom and baby.

During this check, you can ask any question bothering your mind, including regarding swimming, or other exercises.

Final thoughts

The best answer to the question of how soon after Caesarean section can you swim, is 6 weeks! There is no special hurry, really, so it is best to wait until you are healed completely.

The MOST IMPORTANT thing is to never swim or do any other exercise apart from walking until your doctor says you can.

Remember, this applies to vaginal birth too. The pelvic bones have to come back together and until they do, the risk of catching an infection is still very high.

Once your doctor says it is okay to swim, hit the pool and burn those calories that you packed up from eating a lot of confinement food.

The swimming before and after will be great. This is a highly recommended exercise for both vaginal births and C-Section moms.

Finally, do not swim in the river, lake or sea. This advice is for swimming in the pool only.