What to avoid in postpartum exercises
For a woman, pregnancy is one of the most wonderful experiences she can have. You turn into a total goddess; creating and nurturing life in your body where your senses are heightened, your skin glows, experience unexplainable joys; such an empowering journey. Well, at least that’s what we hope for. That is the spirit that we encourage in prenatal yoga classes. As we all know this experience comes with certain downsides one of which is weight gain. I am not talking about the cosmetic side of it as you lose all weight after delivery no matter how long it takes. I am talking about the health side of it.
After delivery you should give some time to your body to fully heal. Pregnancy and delivery is not only magical and empowering but also quite traumatic for the body. Therefore you need to go slowly in your healing. The most common problems after delivery is urinary incontinence due to weak pelvic floor muscles, pelvic misalignment and a condition called diastasis recti. All of these should be addressed after delivery.
Diastasis recti is the separation of the two large parallel bands of muscles that meet in the middle of the abdomen where the brownish line appears (linea alba) during pregnancy. The muscle separation often lessens in the months that follow the delivery. However, some degree of separation might remain up to a year after childbirth and beyond. Diastasis recti can weaken the abdominal muscles, causing lower back pain and making it difficult to lift objects, even your baby or do other routine daily activities. As this connective tissue is what keeps the internal organs in place, in some severe cases the tissue may tear and some parts of the organs may even poke out of the opening.
It is crucial not to do strenuous exercises after delivery and start with gentle exercises for pelvic alignment, pelvic floor strengthening and most importantly for diastasis recti as vigorous exercise can aggravate the situation. That is why we focus on gentle but effective exercises in postpartum yoga classes. It is advisable to see a chiropractor or a physiotherapist and consult your doctor what exercises you should do and not do, and make sure that you are working with a specialist who is knowledgeable about post partum exercises. Your primary focus should be alignment and regaining your physical strength rather than losing weight in the first following months. That’s the safe approach to recovery.
