I think the thing that amused me most about being a new mom in the hospital with my brand-new baby was the farting.
No one had told me this. And if I’d read about it in one of the baby books, this information was nowhere to be found inside my brain.
Instead, nurses told me in halting English that I could not eat solid food until I farted.
Every time they came to check on me, they asked if I had farted. I felt like it was the hot topic of gossip around the Chinese hospital. Did the American mom fart yet?
Anyway, it’s a hot topic in American maternity wards too. You must pass gas before they even consider releasing you after your c-section.
Why do they care so much if you fart or not?
Due to the nature of a c-section, it’s mussing up some of your organs. So when you pass gas, it is one of the earliest signs that your bowels are returning to their normal functions. Farting after a c-section means you do not have any blockages, and everything is just moving along as usual now.
According to a 2017 study, the gum may be the absolute best way to let those farts flow freely. They found that chewing gum three times per day for a span of 30 minutes each time can help put your gut function back to normal after your c-section.
Yes, simply chewing gum while you sit in that uncomfortable hospital bed, nursing your newborn, and dreaming of pizza (hey, I was dreaming about pizza) could be the key to flatulence.
Why? Because when you chew gum, it tricks your body into thinking it’s eating. Your saliva flows in your mouth and sends signals to your gut to get moving.
I’ll get to why gum may be the best way to fart after your c-section in just a minute. For now, I want to cover the other ways to make yourself fart afterward.
Practice walking
They will make you walk around your room and the hospital corridor to rebuild your strength and recover after a c-section. Even though gum may be the best way to fart after a c-section, you will still need to walk a bit. Maybe you could chew gum and fart?
Drink something
Some say to have some molasses tea. Others say drink hot water. In China, they make you drink hot water. Then again, they will tell you to drink hot water for pretty much everything that ails you. But in this case, it can be beneficial.
Move into different positions
I know it’s a bit challenging to move around a lot right after you get stitched back up. However, trying to lay on your side or spread your legs may help you rustle up a fart.
In some cases, they may give you a suppository to help you. Yeah, that’ll be fun.
How long does it take to fart after a C-section?
Now, let’s get back to that gum. In that study, they found that women who chewed gum farted sooner than those that didn’t have the gum. Those that chewed gum made their first fart roughly 23 hours after the surgery. Those that did not get to chew gum didn’t fart for nearly 29.5 hours after.
In general, you’ll be looking at about 23 to 30 hours before you pass gas. I wish I could recall how long it took me after each baby. I honestly do not remember how much time had elapsed.
What I can recall is that the gas pains were making me miserable and that all that I wanted was real food. Particularly pizza. But they kept giving me this soup porridge thing and said I couldn’t have anything else until I farted.
I also remember that the nurses were all happy when I did fart after having my eldest. And then they brought me food. It wasn’t very good, and I was so sick of Chinese food at this point that I didn’t even want to eat it. At least that set me in proper motion to start losing the baby weight.
In any event, now that you know the gum trick, stick some in your hospital bag. You can always send your husband to the store to grab a pack. Happy farting!
Leslie Berry lives with her husband and two young daughters in Los Altos, California, where she loves helping other moms get comfortable with motherhood and embracing the insanity with facts peppered with laughs.
