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Exercise after birth

Posted on Monday, 08 August 2011 05:45PM by Emma Ford
Exercising after pregnancy

How soon after giving birth can I exercise?

It is suggested that you should wait until 4- 6 weeks after giving birth before exercising. However, there are many exercises that you can start doing from day 1 of your recovery after birth. These are known as Pelvic Floor exercises.

Your pelvic floor is a broad sling of muscles, ligaments and sheet-like tissues. It stretches from your pubic bone at the front of your body to the base of your spine at the back. Its function is to support your bladder, bowel and uterus (womb). This is what controls the emptying of your bladder and bowels.

If you have a weak pelvic floor it will be harder for you to contract the muscles at the bottom of your bladder to prevent urine from escaping. This can result in you accidentally leaking a bit of urine when coughing, sneezing or exercising.

During labour and birth, your pelvic floor has to stretch to allow room for your baby’s head to pass out of your uterus and through your vagina. The nerves that also connect to your pelvic floor will have been stretched. Therefore it is important that you exercise your pelvic floor to help regain the strength you had pre pregnancy. The tighter your pelvic floor muscles are, the less likely you are of having accidental and embarrassing leakages.

Your pelvic floor also affects your vaginal muscles. If your pelvic floor is weak it can mean that you find sexual intercourse less satisfying. If you do not strengthen these muscles then you could be increasing the risk of a prolapse in the future. This means that your uterus will have sagged down and pushed against the vaginal walls. With this in mind, help yourself now and get exercising those pelvic floor muscles; it’s never too late to start!

What if I had a caesarean section and not a natural birth?

You need to remember that having a caesarean is major abdominal surgery. Your muscles have been completely cut through so you will have very little abdominal strength and therefore require a lot of rest and recovery. It generally takes 4-6 weeks for your stitches to heal so you should avoid any abdominal reconditioning until your doctor has given you the all clear (usually 4-6 weeks).

You can however, start to carry out gentle pelvic floor exercises from day 1 of your recovery. You need to be aware that this may feel more uncomfortable then if you did these after having a natural birth. Here is an example of a good pelvic floor exercise; lay on your back with your knees bent, squeeze your pelvic floor muscles in as you breathe out rather than when you breathe in, pull your belly button in and up at the same time, try and hold the squeeze for 10 seconds without holding your breath.

Doing these exercises will also help the tissues around your scar to knit together more strongly. It is also recommended that you start walking as soon as possible, as this will increase blood circulation and speed up the healing process. For the first few days start by walking 10-15 minutes per day and then gradually progress this by 5 minutes each time until you can manage 30 minutes without feeling fatigued. Once you have reached 30 minutes, try to do this every day.

What abdominal exercises should I be doing?

When starting an exercise regime for the first time after pregnancy, be very careful of the type of exercises you carry out. A lot of women are unhappy with the way they look, in particular the stomach area. You will find the most common exercise that most women will do to target the stomach area is abdominal crunches. They believe this is this quickest way to get a flat stomach. However this is not the case. You could end up causing more harm than good.

There is a narrow band of connective tissue (linea alba) that runs down the body's midline between the rectus abdominis. During pregnancy, the linea alba widens and becomes thinner in response to hormones and the force of the expanding uterus. This can result in abdominal separation (diastasis recti) where the right and left side of the Rectus Abdominis separate along the linea alba. Therefore performing exercises to strengthen the outer muscles (Rectus Abdominis and the internal and external obliques), such as crunches before strengthening the inner muscles (Transverse Abdominis) can cause this separation to increase, which could result in more severe problems such as hernias forming.

After pregnancy, contraction of the transverse abdominis acts like an internal splint, helping to close abdominal separation from the inside. It is the body’s most important core stabiliser and is responsible for re-flattening the abdominal wall after pregnancy. With this in mind, it is more beneficial to carry out exercises such as the plank.

What other exercises should I be doing?

You also need to be aware that during pregnancy your body is put under so much strain that it causes muscle imbalances. Muscles work in pairs for example when your quadriceps contract, your hamstrings relax and vice versa. Therefore if one muscle is stronger than the other it can cause many problems such as incorrect posture, instability and poor functioning of the body. Here are a few examples of common areas of the body where this occurs:

·         The hip flexors become very tight and the buttocks (glutes) weaken
·         The lower back becomes very tight and the abdominal wall and pelvic floor are weakened
·         The chest becomes very tight and the upper back is weakened
·         The back of the neck becomes very tight and the front of the neck is weakened
·         The quadriceps become very tight and the hamstrings weaken

It is important to strengthen the weakened muscles as much as possible, as this will improve your posture alignment and the correct functioning of the body. You can help prevent the severity of the muscular imbalances by carrying out exercises to strengthen these areas before and during pregnancy as well as after childbirth.

What other benefits are there of exercising after pregnancy?

Although exercise has many physical benefits to the body, it is also benefits you mentally. From pre-natal to post-natal your body goes on a massive journey mentally and emotionally. Your hormones are all over the place and you have your good days and bad days. Your whole life changes once this little person arrives. He/she brings you so much joy but at the same time a lot of hard work too. Exercise can help you release all those ‘feel good’ endorphins and make you feel good about yourself. It also gives you a break from the baby and allows you to have some ‘me’ time. Exercise is also a great way of meeting new people, maybe other mums that have just had babies too. It is a good way of preventing any illnesses such as post-natal depression and it definitely boosts your self-esteem.

So why not try it for yourself? Start exercising today to improve your health and get your body back into shape.

If you are unsure about the types of exercises you should be doing or you require more guidance then it is worth seeking professional advice from either your GP or an exercise professional such as a Personal Trainer.


Emma Ford
Personal Trainer
Email: personal.training@sky.com
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