POSTNATAL INFORMATION
Hello beautiful Mummies,
A very warm welcome to this group. We want you to feel reassured and relaxed here. Our purpose is to educate and empower you about women's health and exercises to help you recover after birth.
In this workshop, we cover:
Reactivating deep-layer abdominal muscles.
Finding our balance
Learning about alignment and posture
Reduce back & shoulder pain with a safe workout
Gradual progression & challenges
Meet mums
Q&A and 2x classes
Please feel free to ask any questions during the live class, and let’s start with scheduling your classes. Please go to the ‘Book live class’ menu.
NOTE
Make sure to fill out our POSTNATAL FORM before starting so we can check if you are ready and we are aware of your if there are any risks/issues.
woman Health INfo after birth
Having a baby changes your body. Here we would like to explain and give you some advice to you feel comfortable with your body.
It’s okay to experience some problems you can do a lot to help yourself. For example, if you have a leaky bladder (incontinence) or a heavy feeling between your vagina and anus, you may need to strengthen the muscles around your bladder by doing pelvic floor exercises.
Also, if you have back pain, you may need to learn how to look after your back and do some exercises to strengthen it.
If a physical problem is bothering you, ask a GP or health visitor for help at any time. They can advise you, and the GP can refer you to a woman health specialist if necessary.
What you can do?
Avoid all activities that place stress on your stomach, and that stretch or overly expand the abdominal wall.
Movements to avoid:
all strenuous exercises that cause your abdominal wall to bulge out
sit-ups/abdominal crunches holding your baby on one hip lifting and carrying heavy objects
rising from a lying position by pulling up and twisting at the same time
intense coughing while your muscles are unsupported.
When getting out of bed, always roll onto your side, drop your legs off together and push up into a sitting position with your arms. Do the reverse to get back into bed.
Backcare advice Avoid heavy lifting! When lifting your baby, draw in and hold your tummy muscles, bend your knees and bring your baby into your chest when you lift.
Pelvic Floor
You can do these exercises lying down, sitting or standing. With practice, they can be done anywhere and at any time:
Gently draw in your bottom as if you're holding a wind.
Gently draw around your vagina and bladder (urethra) as if you're stopping the flow of urine or squeezing during intercourse.
Long gentle draw – hold for as long as you can, but no longer than 10 seconds, then relax.
Short gentle draw – quickly squeeze (not aggressively) the muscles and then let them go immediately. Do this until your muscles get tired.
Aim to build up to 10 repeats of each exercise, at least 3 times a day.
It's important to keep breathing normally while you do these exercises. Make sure you don't pull in your stomach when you squeeze.
Sitting on the toilet can be a good reminder to do your exercises. Just make sure your bladder is empty.
Transversus abdominus muscle (TVA)
Transversus abdominis muscle (TVA) relates to the deep abdominal muscle, which acts like a corset. It stabilises your spine and pelvis and helps to reduce strain on your back and pelvic floor.
1. Lying on your back with both knees bent, let your tummy relax.
2. Breathe in and as you breathe out, gently draw in the lower part of your abdomen (tummy) towards your spine. Gently draw your pelvic floor at the same time. Do not move your back or pelvis as you do this.
3. Build up gradually, aiming to hold the muscles for 5 – 10 seconds, while breathing normally.
Repeat exercise 5 – 10 times with a few seconds of rest in between each one.
About the Diaphragm - RIBCAGE alignment
If you have done a class with us previously, you know how much we are talking about alignment and posture. This alignment and getting back to it is a process that takes time. Be patient and gentle with yourself; change will happen.
The abdominal muscles are responsible for tilting the rib cage downwards and inwards into a more neutral position. After birth is okay if you have flared ribs, your abdominal muscles are weakened, and it can lose the integration between the diaphragm and the abdominal muscles.
Hyperlordosis can also be a cause of it.
Some of your back muscles are overactive or become tighter to compensate for the weak abdominal muscles. It can cause an excessive arch in the lower back, resulting in a rib flare. As a result, it can cause back pain.
How can you help?
Our program will be focused on improving core strength, breathing exercises, stretching, and massaging tight muscles.
Abdominal Separation - Diastasis recti
It's common for the 2 muscles that run down the middle of your stomach to separate during pregnancy. This is called diastasis recti, or divarication.
The amount of separation can vary. It happens because your growing womb (uterus) pushes the muscles apart, making them longer and weaker.
The separation between your stomach muscles is notably smaller by the time your baby is 8-10 weeks old.
After you have had your baby, you can check the size of the separation with this simple technique or check our Intro video.
Lie on your back with your legs bent and your feet flat on the floor.
Raise your shoulders off the floor slightly and look down at your tummy.
Using the tips of your fingers, feel between the edges of the muscles, above and below your belly button. See how many fingers you can fit into the gap between your muscles.
Do this regularly to check that the gap is gradually getting smaller.
If the gap is still obvious 8 weeks after the birth, contact the GP as you may be at risk of back problems. The GP can refer you to a physiotherapist, who will give you some specific exercises to do.
Regular pelvic floor and deep stomach muscle exercises can help to reduce the size of the separation between your stomach muscles. It's also important to stand up tall and be aware of your posture.
Our socials: