Why Didn't Anybody Tell Me to Expect Night Sweats After Giving Birth?!

When I was preparing for the birth of my first child, I had my eye on the prize: the healthy arrival of my son. Sure, I got the uncensored (and frankly terrifying) tales of vaginal birth recovery from my sister, but I didn't really consider much else. After all, I wouldn't be pregnant anymore, so it would be all about the baby, right?! Oh, the things I would tell my first-time-mom self!

Turns out, in addition to recovering from birth (in my case, an emergency c-section) your body has all kinds of fun postpartum responses — just in time to replace all those exciting pregnancy symptoms! Hair loss (ugh!) and vaginal dryness are among the long list of potential postpartum issues, but the one thing I wish someone had warned me about were the night sweats. I must have missed that chapter in my pregnancy book.

I didn't just experience "sweating" at night; I was dripping buckets of sweat and sleeping on a towel so I didn't have to change the sheets every two hours. My hair would be damp when I woke up, which is problematic when you're only averaging one shower every three days. And it went on for weeks.

Apparently sweating more than usual and even more at night after giving birth is totally normal. According to Iffath Hoskins, MD, an associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at NYU Langone Medical Center, night sweats are caused by the sharp drop in hormones — including estrogen — that occurs when the placenta is removed and can last anywhere from six weeks to three months or more. The drop in estrogen is the same reason women in menopause also experience the dreaded sweating problem.

Dr. Hoskins adds that women who are breastfeeding may experience the symptom for a longer period of time since breastfeeding suppresses estrogen levels as well. There is hope for some women — apparently a small number of lucky ladies experience very mild night sweats or none at all. However intense, night sweats can be a total nuisance, especially for a new mom.

When you're trying to figure out how to breastfeed, can barely sit up without help or can't sit down without an inflatable donut, and have hormones flying all over the place, waking up to change your soaking-wet clothes during those precious few hours you actually do sleep is just insulting.

Did you experience night sweats after giving birth?