with Dr. Whitney Haase

Every woman who’s been pregnant knows that carrying a little one for nine months can be difficult.

It can be really, really tough at times. The physical challenge is one thing, but it can also be pretty hard emotionally for a lot of ladies to gain a fair amount of weight, see their bodies change, and have to transition away from more intense exercise. Couple those challenges with a hormonal roller coaster and a huge push from the world to get your “pre-baby body” back as fast as possible, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a stressed out postpartum woman.

A lot of women ask how soon they can return to exercise postpartum, what kind of exercises they should do, and when they should expect to “get their bodies back.”

The standard answer for returning to exercise is waiting until you’re six weeks postpartum. But then what? Are you in the clear to hop back in the gym and pick up where you left off before pregnancy? Not quite.

During pregnancy, your core muscles go through a lot of stretching, and after birth most women are left with some level of core and pelvic instability — if not additional healing for a c-section incision or vaginal and perineal tears.

Your body isn’t broken — you were made to grow and birth babies — but you do need to be aware of positions and exercises that may compromise your still recovering core and pelvic floor.

It’s SO important to be patient with your body and not jump into exercise too quickly.

Slow is fast

You ARE NOT destined to have “mommy tummy,” incontinence, low back pain, or pelvic pain for years or even months on end. I’ve worked with many women on controlling and even eliminating issues like these, but the key is slow progress. In the first few weeks postpartum, I typically recommend nothing except for bonding with your baby and working on your belly breathing. When it comes to postpartum recovery and rehabilitation, faster is not better.

This recommendation may seem like far too little to some people. It’s possible, but I would also like to point out the current epidemic of women’s core and pelvic floor problems. Some research shows that about 1 in 4 women have involuntary leaking, and many people think that proportion is far greater. Similarly, about 1 in 5 women have pain with sexual activity, which increases after birth.

Even though doing nothing but focusing on your breath for a few weeks may feel like it’s too slow, it doesn’t look like the current approach of pushing women back to activity as soon as possible after birth is doing a whole lot of good.

Your first postpartum visit

I typically recommended my patients to schedule their first postpartum visit around two to three weeks after birth. At this visit, we re-teach belly breathing (because even if you were a total pro with your breath before pregnancy, your core still gets rocked by pregnancy and birth and breathing for stability often takes a while to get used to again), and depending on how your birth went, we will begin to work on gentle stability exercises.

At your first postpartum visit, we also review what signs to look for that mean you’re doing too much too soon.

Over the next 4-6 weeks, we will progress exercises into functional movements and reintroduce bracing to handle greater loads. Even if your goal isn’t to start lifting or running, you still need to take care of a baby (and yourself!), carry a heavy car seat, move groceries, etc., and we want to make sure that you’re doing these activities in a way that will strengthen your core rather than compromise it.

So what about returning to exercise at 6 weeks?

If you worked out throughout your pregnancy, have a great handle on your breathing mechanics, are no longer bleeding, have no signs of incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse, and are able to perform a handful of core stability exercises effectively and without pain, you are likely good to resume some sort of exercise routine*.

Some of the first types of exercise I recommend are going for walks with your little one in a baby wrap or stroller, body weight movements, and light weight lifting. Again, slow is fast.

If you stayed on a couch for most of your pregnancy and did very little physical activity (no judgement here — pregnancy is tough), then you have no business getting back in the gym or running at 6 weeks postpartum. Especially if you experience any leaking, pain, or bleeding.

*Being cleared for exercise by your OB/GYN or midwife is not the same as being evaluated by a women’s exercise specialist like a pelvic floor physical therapist. If you have questions about whether or not you can safely exercise, please reach out to your women’s health provider.

Preparing for birth and the postpartum period can and should occur before birth, and it can even start before pregnancy! Belly breathing, regular exercise (modifying as pregnancy progresses, of course), and working on relaxation can all help improve your pregnancy, delivery, and recovery.

Schedule with Dr. Whitney today to start preparing your body for birth or getting your postpartum recovery on track! You can book your evaluation by clicking our scheduling link below or by calling our office.