Bouncing Back After Baby

Postpartum Exercise

After you have a baby, you are dealing with a lot of different emotions. Happiness is sure to be one of them, but you may also feel some disappointment and sadness with how you look afterward. Your body has gone through a lot of changes over the last 9 months, and although many of us hope to return to our pre-pregnancy bodies immediately, we are shocked to find that it doesn’t quite happen that way. Although many celebrities, turn up in magazines just weeks after having a baby looking fabulous, trim, and sexy, we who cannot afford to hire nannies and nurses to care for our babies while we spend hours working with personal trainers. Thus, it is important for us to not compare ourselves with other women, especially those who have a lot more resources readily available to help them than we do. But is there hope for us regular women, who don’t want to look “pregnant” forever? Yes there is, with exercise, we can return to our slimmer selves, or we can become the trimmer person that we always wanted to be. How? you ask, well, here are some good ways to get started:

The First Few Days After:

Even during the first few days after delivery, before you are out of bed, you will be encouraged to wiggle your toes, flex your calves, move your ankles up and down or in circles, or even push your feet against the end of your hospital bed, as well as turning your body from side to side. You can also try gently bending and flexing your knees, doing some light arm stretches, all while lightly tightening your tummy muscles. These exercises may be difficult and even painful to do, especially during the first 24 hours after delivery, but they are intended to help prevent your body from forming blood clots. Also, when your nurse feels you are ready, he or she will help you begin to sit up, slowly stand, and even walk.

Also, Kegel Exercises (where you firmly tighten the muscles around your vagina and anus. It can be helpful to pretend that you are trying to stop yourself from urinating) are a great way to help you get back in shape, and they can be started right after delivery. Kegels can be done while lying in bed or while sitting in a sitz bath. It’s okay if you don’t feel yourself doing these at first; you will gradually get stronger.

The First 6 Weeks:

It is okay to begin a postpartum exercise program starting as early as the first 24 hours after delivery, but you will want to check with your doctor to make sure that it is okay in your case. These exercises are intended for healthy women who have had uncomplicated pregnancies and vaginal deliveries. There is another section offering advice to women who have had C-sections.

• Always start with a nice, easy warm up exercise.



• It will be easier on your body if you do shorter, more frequent exercise sessions rather than one long workout routine that may be too hard on your body. Plus, these shorter workouts also help tone your muscles more effectively.



• Take it slow, resting between exercises. Make sure that you don’t over exert yourself. After all, your body needs to have energy to care for your newborn, especially if you are nursing.



• Don’t do more than your doctor suggest, even if you feel like you are able. You may not feel the exhaustion and soreness until later.



• Always make sure to stop before you get too tired. This helps prevent burnout.



• Although as mothers, we must take care of our children. Do not let this stop you from caring for yourself. Part of taking care of our children, means making sure that their mother’s needs are met.



• Do not do knee-chest lifts, complete sit-ups, or double-leg lifts during the first 6 weeks after delivery.



• There are some really good books and videos that demonstrate postpartum exercises. You could invest in one of those to help you.



• You could also check with your local college, community center, or YMCA to see if they offer a class for new mothers.

After your postpartum checkup and you get your doctor’s okay, you should be able to start exercising normally. Take it slow, though. Maybe begin by walking or swimming, and then work your way up to jogging, aerobics, bicycling, etc. After you are comfortable with that, then you can do even more.