How to Drink Cold Water After a C-Section

Your body needs water throughout the day, as it makes up more than half your body weight and is crucial for the proper functioning of every bodily system. After a Caesarean section, or C-section, water is crucial to assist with healing, enhance the production of milk during breastfeeding and prevent constipation. If you are trying to lose baby weight, water might be an ideal appetite suppressant when you consume two 8 ounce glasses before meals, according to Virginia Tech News. There is no evidence that the temperature of your water matters following your C-section, but cold water might just be more refreshing and palatable for you.

Drinking cold water after a C-section keeps you healthy. (Image: puhhha/iStock/Getty Images)

Step 1

Determine how much water you need daily. According to MayoClinic.com, the recommendation is that women get nine cups of water daily. If you are breastfeeding, you need about 13 cups of water each day. These are just recommendations though, and you should drink enough water so that you aren't thirsty and so your urine is pale yellow or colorless.

Step 2

Fill a cup, water bottle or pitcher with water and place it in the refrigerator before you go to bed so it is cold when you wake up.

Step 3

Combine cold water with a healthy diet and plenty of exercise to help you recover from your C-section. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables -- 4.5 cups daily -- low-fat proteins and whole-grain breads, pastas and cereals. The American Heart Association recommends that you do 30 minutes of exercise five days a week. Make sure any exercise you do is OK with your doctor following a C-section.

Step 4

Refill your cup or water bottle from the refrigerator as necessary or use ice so it stays cold. Sip your cold water throughout the day, before and during meals and before, during and after exercise.

Warning

If you feel you are not healing adequately or have an infection, see your doctor immediately. Drinking water won't help in this case. Signs of an infection include redness, swelling and warmth at your incision site, oozing -- any type of fluid -- from your incision site, sudden onset of pain or worsening pain and fever.