👶8 Things all Mums and Mums-to-be should know👶

A few of my friends have recently had babies and this happens to have coincided with me studying a postnatal fitness qualification. The conversation has inevitably turned to fitness and what they can and can't do and generally I've found them to be a little unsure of themselves and some in need of reigning in and slowing down! Yes women have babies every day so we think we should just get on with it but it does not mean you should feel fine after being sent home a mere few hours after giving birth with little information on what to do next from a health and healing point of view. Here are some things I'd like to share to help you or any mums you may know:

1. Your body has been through a maaaajor event…yes birth is a miracle but it's also a trauma for your body. Those nine months carrying the baby change your posture, alignment, stretch ligaments, muscles become lax, abdominals spread apart to make space for a growing baby and an enormous amount of pressure is on your pelvic floor. Then comes the labour and delivery with potential complications and often stretching to and beyond the length of an Ironman competition! 💪🏋️‍♀️

2. All this means you need recovery time! In the first few weeks the sole focus of energy should be feeding and caring for your baby. Ask for help, accept offers of food, let your partner come home and cook for you…so what if they've been at work? You've been working hard too and probably on a lot less sleep and tea breaks. None of this means you're not coping - you're just doing what is most important…self-care and baby-care.

3. Stay off your feet as much as possible in the first few weeks and vary your position often. Your growing baby puts a lot more weight through the pelvic floor muscles - these are a sling shaped set of muscles that basically hold your organs in! Through pregnancy they stretch due the extra weight and must fully relax to let your baby out. All this means they need some of the pressure alleviated as often as possible in order to regain tension. If you're spending too much time on your feet with gravity contributing to that pressure you may experience heaviness, bulging and dragging sensation in your pelvic floor - listen to your body and slow down if it's telling you to.

4. Another important point here is to consider your body alignment - try to ensure you are not tucking your bum under or pushing your hips forward too much when carrying or bobbing your baby as this can create excess tension in the glutes and pelvic floor and even contribute to lower back pain. Try to keep the bum slightly back and ribs over the hips - this neutral spine position is the most stable and best position to re-build strength in.

5. Your tummy will feel very squishy! This is normal - relaxin helps the muscles become lax and let the baby grow and finally be delivered. The abdominals spread apart and the connective issue becomes very thin and weakened - this is known as diastasis recti and it happens in 100% of women to varying degrees. Because of this it's important not to put too much pressure through the front of the abdominals in the first few weeks - months. Roll onto your side to lie down and get up again - like in pregnancy. Find out more about and diastasis recti and how to check yours here: http://jessiemundell.com/diastasis-recti-assessment-1/

6. When it comes to exercise it should be very gentle, look a bit like rehab from an injury and be very focussed on breathing. Exhale on exertion - when standing up, lifting baby or doing anything strenuous. This naturally engages your core muscles and lifts the pelvic floor. In the first few weeks walks should be kept very short (5-15 mins at 3 weeks) slowly building up your time when it feels right (up to 45-60 mins at 12 weeks). Because of the stretched/lax connective tissue of the abdominals front loaded positions and ab isolation exercises such as planks and sit-ups/crunches should be avoided. These can put too much pressure through weak connective tissue and create a domed look over time…not the one you're going for!

Here are some exercises that do not involve either of these but are great for postpartum healing: http://jessiemundell.com/no-crunch-core/

7. Finally, on the physical side, something I have found most people don’t know is that you can see a women's health physio to check how your pelvic floor and core are healing. When we talk about the core this includes the deepest abdominals known as the transverse abdominis, pelvic floor muscles, diaphragm, glutes and multifidus muscles of the spine. These muscles should work together to stabilise the trunk but it is not uncommon for them to require some retraining post-birth in order to give you the support you need for daily activities and exercise in the future. I actually would encourage all postpartum women to get checked as some problems with no symptoms now could show themselves further down the line. However, this is particularly important if you experience incontinence of any kind, a sudden need for the loo, pain during sex or a dragging, bulging or heaviness in the pelvic floor. These are not things that mothers just have to live with - they can be managed and in some cases completely resolved. It is also important to know that it is never too late to work on these things. Find a women's health physio here: http://www.csp.org.uk/your-health/find-physio/physio2u

8. In addition to all these physical changes and struggles you will be dealing with a huge amount of emotional and psychological stress too. You will be experiencing the effects of sleep deprivation and potentially feelings of loneliness at times. You may miss your old life, be struggling with the changes to your body and could even be affected by postnatal depression or post-traumatic stress if you had a particularly difficult labour. It's Ok and actually totally normal to feel this way - find someone to confide in and seek help if you need to.

I hope you found this useful - even if you are not a mother you will know someone who is or who will be in the future. There is a definite lack of awareness over postnatal care which the fitness industry is in a great position to change. Please share and tell yourself or your mum friends often that they're doing an amazing job - support each other and remind yourself that even though women do it every day it doesn’t mean it's not bloody hard work!