Getting Into Shape After Child Birth
In the early days following childbirth there is a mixture of emotions from tiredness, excitement and joy, plus anxieties of your new role. Many of the changes that occurred during pregnancy take time to revert back to normal following childbirth, so remembering not to put too much pressure on yourself allowing time to get used to your new role of caring for your newborn is important.
It’s not recommended the you return to exercise or sport before your 6 week postnatal check up following a vaginal delivery and 10-12 weeks after a Caesarean section. However, regular walking can be taking in the early stages providing you feel up to it and daily pelvic floor exercises will help re-tone pelvic floor to reduce the risk of stress incontinence.
Many women want to focus on toning up ‘their stomach’ following childbirth but extra care needs to be taken before commencing abdominal exercises, such as crunches. This is due to making sure the abdominal rectus sheaths have ‘sewn’ back together by doing the Diastasis Recti Check. Each of our mums have their tummy muscles checked on their first class with us, with follow ups every 4 weeks.
There are many benefits to postnatal exercise some of which are:
- Retone pelvic floor and reduce the risk of stress incontinence
- Retone abdominal muscles to increase strength and support the spine and regain figure
- Boosts your mood by increasing the levels of feel-good chemicals endorphins which help alleviate the symptoms of postnatal depression
- Increase self confidence
- Correct/ regain good posture, balance and coordination
- Better quality sleep and feeling of relaxation and calm
If you have any questions regarding Diastasis Recti or anything else pre/post baby fitness, please ask us here or email us at [email protected]. Find out more about our classes here.