This sounds so stupid and im well aware. So the baby is in the stomach and after it leaves the skin cant magically shrink right back to size again. So its like if you put a watermellon in a bag. Then took out the watermellon. You still have the huge bag (stomach). So is it like a deflated ballon or is it like some magic.
In: Biology
The organs that support the fetus/baby and the structures around them change in size and shape dramatically over the course of pregnancy. There is a large supply of blood and nutrients that must be delivered to a fetus as its growing, so these organs and structures can’t just go back to normal right away. The uterus must slowly shrink back to a non-pregnant size as all the blood vessels and other tissues need time to contract.
There is a hormone that is released shortly after birth called oxytocin, which is triggered by breastfeeding and other processes which causes the uterus to contract and shrink back to something like its previous size. The amount of trauma that can be caused by childbirth can also cause significant inflammation and swelling that can be due to bleeding and the sometimes violent force of the abdominal contractions during labor.
So while the abdomen does reduce in size to a certain extent relatively quickly as a result of the fetus, placenta, amniotic fluid all being delivered to outside the body, there are still other things that take longer to get back to a new ‘normal’. Afterwards, a firm massaging of the uterus from outside body against the lower abdomen help to reduce its size as well.
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