The advice after birth is often about the baby. What happens to your body — the healing, the fatigue, the bladder that doesn't feel the same — gets far less airtime. Recovery deserves its own plan, not an afterthought squeezed into a baby's appointment. 

Endometriosis is a chronic condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside it, causing pain and sometimes fertility difficulties. Common symptoms are severe period pain, pelvic pain, pain during or after sex, heavy bleeding, bowel or bladder symptoms and fatigue. It affects roughly one in seven Australian women by their mid-40s. 

Preconception care is the health preparation you do in the three to six months before trying to conceive. It covers a pre-pregnancy check with your GP, folate and iodine, immunisation and screening status, cycle awareness, and review of existing conditions and medicines.