Written By: Jeni Gentry, Crescent Moon Advanced Clinical Intern

Pregnancy’s true toll on the body

Huge birth study paints most detailed picture yet.  Data from 300,000 births reveal how essential biological measurements are altered by carrying and delivering a baby– By Celeste Biever

Pregnancy is a time of incredible change and growth for a pregnant person. Despite the massive biological, physical, and hormonal changes the body goes through, our society tends to expect women to bounce back relatively quickly after birth. But is that a realistic expectation?

Recently, the results of a study were published which suggests that the recovery period after birth is much longer than most people think! The study covered almost 2 decades and took 44 million measurements from more than 300,000 births. 

The study analyzed the results from 76 common tests- including measures of cholesterol, immune cells, red blood cells, inflammation and the health of the liver, kidneys and metabolism. They started taking these measurements up to 4.5 months before conception and up to 18.5 months after childbirth. This allowed them to establish average values for each test for every week in that period.

The tests indicated that:

• 47% of the 76 indicators stabilized close to their pre-conception values in the first month. 
• 12% took 4–10 weeks to stabilize
• 41% of the indicators took longer than 10 weeks to stabilize. 
  • Liver function and cholesterol took around six months to stabilize
  • An indicator of bone and liver health, took a year to stabilize
  • Several measurements — including a marker for inflammation and several indicators of blood health — settled but did not return to their pre-conception levels even after 80 weeks, when the study ended.

So if your body doesn’t seem to be bouncing back as fast as you think it should, remember that many of your body’s systems are still working to get back to their pre-pregnancy states. 

Talking with someone who understands the unique challenges of recovering from pregnancy and birth can help with that transition. Therapists who specialize in perinatal mental health (PMH-C) are educated on the full spectrum of challenges of the parenting experience and can help!