Postnatal Recovery in 5 Steps
After having my first child, all I was worried about was losing the weight I gained. My initial hope was to be back in the previous shape within three months, which was not realistic as I later realised. But I also later realised that it did not matter that losing weight and all recovery takes longer. It is a journey of motherhood, taking care of the baby and myself. I found this journey enjoyable, including rebuilding strength in my own body and paying more attention to it than ever before.
During my recovery journey in the first year, I was surprised to find that the key elements to the recovery don’t seem to be common knowledge. I was lucky enough to have a brilliant postnatal pilates teacher and also to have access to general and specialist physios to guide me through the journey.
Here is a summary of what I learnt, my recommendation for the recovery streps, and the discount code for the best program I have tried!
What to know:
Mental recovery is as important as physical. In some way, having a baby is a shocking event for both body and mind. Even after 9 months of expecting the baby! There are lots of emotions, and the mind, just like the body, needs time to adapt and get accustomed to the new life.
Despite a round tummy and extra weight, the main changes in the body happen inside. Pelvic floor muscles and core muscles are the biggest sufferers. The body adapts to the shifted gravitation center during pregnancy because of the bump but doesn’t automatically adapt back after birth. It needs to be gradually retrained.
Any intensive exercise, for example, running, without strengthening core muscles and without retraining them to work correctly, will cause more damage internally. Even if it helps to shift some weight externally. See my suggested recovery steps below to learn how to get back in shape.
Postnatal recovery in 5 steps:
Start gently. “Nordic Fit Mama”, in my opinion, is absolutely the best recovery program to start with. When I had my second baby, I have looked at several programs for my recovery and came across “Nordic Fit Mama”.
I was impressed by how thorough the program is. It covers both mental and physical recovery. It addresses the diastasis recti, pelvic floor training, and back pain as potential postanal issues. The nuances, that I knew from the specialist physio, like paying specific attention to the relaxation of the pelvic floor muscles as well as strengthening, convinced me the program was created by an expert. The program is easy to follow, doesn’t require much time, and doesn’t require any previous exercise experience. I almost felt as if I had a personal physio taking care of me while I was doing this program and reading recommendations day after day.
If you’d like to try this program, Riina, the founder, kindly agreed to provide a 20% discount for my readers. Please use this link to buy the program with the discount, or the discount code “DINA2021”. Please note, the discount is valid till the end of February 2021.
Squeezy is the name of the application provided by the NHS (UK) to train the pelvic floor. It’s simple, effective, and very helpful. I used it during pregnancy and am still using it. To be honest, as we grow old it probably makes sense to just use it on an ongoing basis to make sure the pelvic floor functions well.
Postnatal pilates has been the key in both my mental and physical recovery. This one is local to my area with an absolutely fantastic teacher. I recharge, meet other moms, and receive reassurance of my progress with the trainer. I recommend finding a class in your area and joining. I started pilates 8 weeks after birth which matched well the completion of the “Nordic Fit Mama” program in the timeline.
Checks for running is a set of exercises that can be done to check that the core and the pelvic floor muscles are ready for running. Building strength itself with the “Nordic Fit Mama” program and postnatal pilates will help to be able to do the exercises.
Running and moving to general pilates and gym. At this point general gym exercise and running is OK. That is if you like to do it. I use running to shed the last bits of weight accumulated. I also like to exercise to keep myself in good shape. Since we are in lockdown for the remainder of this winter, my plan is to use the “Sweat” program on my phone to continue recovery and exercise at home.
Congratulations on having a baby, good luck, and happy recovery!