Immediately Postpartum

This video is directly from The Postpartum Project in which I break down some of the best things to do during that vulnerable time right after you have birthed your baby.  Here are a handful of the movements I recommend women start doing early on in their rehab:

• side lying breaths
• side lying rotations
• arm slides
• hip flexor release
• cat/cow
• pelvic clocks
• wall glute press

A question I am asked often is, "When should I go see you (or another pelvic PT) postpartum?"  Ideally, we've been working together during your pregnancy and have already covered how you should handle your immediate postpartum weeks.  We can start working together as soon as you are ready, but usually wait to do an internal exam until after you have been medically cleared or about 6 weeks postpartum.  There is so much I recommend my clients do those first days and weeks postpartum, so if you are able, I recommend not waiting to get started.

Let me make something clear: this is not about "getting your body back" or "fitting into your pre-pregnancy jeans".  Early postpartum movement will help you feel better, less unstable, and avoid some of the common postpartum issues like incontinence, pain with sex, hemorrhoids, hernias, and prolapse.

If you want a detailed plan on how to progress from recovery to running postpartum, The Postpartum Project is exactly what I did in my own postpartum rehab.