The 101 on Exercise In The Postpartum Period
PBC resident Midwife Christie answers our questions on exercise after giving birth.
This can be a bit of a tricky topic because often new parents are busy and tired. Regular exercise isn’t necessarily near the top of the priority list, but we know that making exercise part of your routine can really help to relax, reinvigorate and calm you. It also helps to keep you fit, can aid recovery and helps to improve mental health, often alleviating some symptoms of postnatal depression or helps you to avoid this completely.
Things to think about:
Your body has changed! It has undergone a huge huge amount of change, from changing rib cage shape to organs being shifted and squashed as well as muscles, ligaments and joints being loosened. It is important to bear this in mind because your capabilities will vary from pre-birth for a few months while your body recovers, gains strength and your fitness increases.
A hormone in your body called Relaxin is very prevalent throughout pregnancy to support your changing body shape and growing baby, but it also stays around for a few months after birth. Relaxin loosens all of your ligaments and joints so you can be more prone to injury in those early weeks and months postpartum.
Abdominal muscles also have to undergo a huge amount of change to accommodate your bump, along with other core muscles and muscles in your lower back, so these might be noticeably weaker than they used to be and take a while to return to full strength after birth.
When can I start Exercising After Birth?
This really depends on the type of birth you have had, but a good rule of thumb is to be led by your body and do what feels right for you. Always start with gentle exercises, such as walking, very gentle swimming, stretches and pelvic floor exercises and build up to running and more intensive cardio and strength-building exercises as and when you feel able to. This goes for sports like tennis, football and contact sports such as rugby and judo too. If you begin to build up to more intensive exercises but feel your body isn’t ready, give yourself some more time and try again in another few weeks.
Following a vaginal birth, it’s usually worth waiting until after your 6–8-week postnatal check with the GP before commencing anything too strenuous, and around 12 weeks following a caesarean (but obviously you can commence gentle exercises before this). Please be guided by your personal circumstances and speak to your midwife or GP if you have any questions. It’s important following any type of delivery that you aim to strengthen your core and prioritise improving core control in order for your body to heal properly.
An important thing to note is that just waiting for the set timeframes won’t necessarily make you stronger, it just allows healing to occur. Rehabilitating the muscles and supporting your body to regain strength following what it has been through is essential to long-term healing and ongoing health and fitness.
Pelvic Floor Exercises
These are ESSENTIAL! I know we bang on about them all the time but the stats currently stand at around 25% of women struggling with pelvic floor dysfunction – including incontinence, prolapse, reduced sexual pleasure and reduced sensation. It is never too late to start pelvic floor exercises, but the sooner the better, and if we could get them included as part of PE in schools to start people young, I’d be delighted. Having a strong pelvic floor will only help you in the long-term. There are plenty of resources available online to learn about pelvic floor health and strengthening exercises, but I’d recommend the NHS Squeezy app (which is available on android and apple products for £2.99 from the app store) – it’s great at teaching you how to do them, and reminding you they need to be done.
Mummy MOT
Following on from pelvic floor health I can’t recommend booking a mummy MOT enough! These usually are available with a licensed physiotherapist and aim to rehabilitate you following birth (either vaginal or CS). They get you appreciating what your body has done and been through and give you hints, tips and techniques to strengthen your core muscles and really get your body strong, fit and well again after birth. The focus is on healing and it’s just so worth it.
That is postpartum exercise in a nutshell. If you have specific health conditions you may need to discuss recommencing exercise with you GP or Midwife following birth.
