3 things slowing down your postpartum recovery: how to get faster results?

In today’s world, postpartum recovery and especially finding the best postpartum exercise program supporting your recovery process can be very challenging.

We are rushed out of the hospital, completely exhausted, lacking sleep, achy from everywhere, worried we might not do things right and trying to figure out what our kids need and provide for them.

On top of that, we might have to get mentally ready to go back to work when all we want to do is to cuddle, take care of ourselves and try to feel like our old selves again.

All of this creates an environment where it can be very challenging to know if you need any postpartum recovery at all, what to do and what pitfalls to avoid. This is exactly what we are going to tackle in this blog post and see how to avoid these 3 things slowing down your postpartum recovery for a quicker and more efficient one!

postpartum recovery
Leslie Abraham

By Leslie Abraham

Let me go back in time for a minute. Or even a few miles away. In other cultures, postpartum does not look like this at all.

Women are helped by other women, they are told to stay in bed, provide for their baby, eat warm, nourishing and comfy foods and beverages. In some places, they receive massage and wrap their belly to help for physical recovery and support.

In Europe, and particularly in France where I am from, we have a strong postpartum culture. Women and babies are monitored by midwives when they get home. Once they feel ready for it, they begin their postpartum exercises recovery program consisting of pelvic floor recovery exercises, special breathing exercises and gentle abs and core recovery exercises. 

Can you guess what the differences would be with our current approach to postpartum recovery? Here are some clues: a longer recovery process, a higher risk for lasting pelvic floor dysfunctions resulting in incontinence, prolapse, severe diastasis recti, chronic lower back pain, hip pain, pelvic pain, intercourse pain and discomforts, etc. 

Postpartum recovery is not just about postpartum exercises. It had to be seen in a holistic way. It’s about sleep, hydration, nutrition, mindful movement, physical and mental recovery, etc. 

After spending more than 10 years in the postpartum world, and around different postpartum cultures, I was able to identify 3 common mistakes postpartum women were making, just because of a lack of information. 

 Here is an overview of what I am going to cover in this blog post:

Table of Contents

postpartum exercise pinterest

Postpartum Recovery Mistake #1: Not starting postpartum exercises for recovery soon enough

Instead, start as soon as you feel ready with the right, proven method

This one can seem tricky. It is common to think that before the 6 weeks check-up, a postpartum woman shouldn’t do any kind of exercise, right? But, let’s take a closer look at what a new mom’s daily life looks like:

  • She holds her baby and walks around
  • She lifts her baby from her crib, changing table, couch, etc.
  • She walks around while pushing a stroller
  • She turns and twists with her baby in her arms
  • She picks up toys from the floor, or picks up baby from her playing mat and then pulls herself back up
  • She sits and stands up from sofas and chairs
  • Etc, the list goes on and on.

Why am I listing all this? Because all these activities, these new mom tasks, are physical activities, in other words, postpartum exercises. And without some adjustments from the get go, and being aware of ways to protect your body and enhance your recovery, you can definitely start doing more harm than good and have a longer recovery period.

So what should postpartum recovery and postpartum exercises look like? It’s not at all about jumping around, doing 100 squats, series of crunches or going for a run. NO. It’s all about :

  • Knowing how to protect your pelvic floor, 
  • Safely engaging your abs and deep core muscles properly to support your back and pelvic floor, 
  • Keeping a neutral back alignment to avoid back, hip and pelvic pain.

This can go a long way. Especially when done since the very beginning of postpartum. 

I’m sure you’re now wondering “ok, but how can I do this?”. In the early days, it’s all about breathing. Yes, it is as simple as that. Breathing is simply the root of everything. And your recovery starts with the best postpartum exercise: a specific diaphragm-deep core-pelvic floor breathing. You can head over to this blog post where I show and explain in detail how to start your early recovery, with the right postpartum exercises. Now, if you gave birth weeks ago, you can still begin with this simple breathing exercise, and then dive into more complex exercises.

Postpartum Recovery Mistake #2: Not eating enough of the right foods to support recovery

Instead, choose with care what you’re eating to provide for baby and feel energized

This one is a big one. Undereating in postpartum is unfortunately way too frequent. Postpartum depletion is a real thing. I told you postpartum recovery was to be seen holistically. It’s not only about the best exercises, it’s about the whole journey. 

Even if you’re not breastfeeding, you are in greater need of nutrients and calories to help replenish your body’s stores and heal from birth. 

If you don’t eat enough or not the right foods, this is where some symptoms of what Dr Oscar Serrallach describes in his book, the Postnatal Depletion Cure, can kick in:

  • Baby brain and brain fog
  • Exhaustion, insomnia
  • Thinning of hair, soft nails, dry skin etc
  • Sensitivity to light and sound
  • Anxiety 
  • Decreased libido
  • Inability to cope, overwhelming feeling
  • Decrease in self-esteem and self-confidence
  • Feeling of isolation

So you can see that what you are feeding your body with can affect you on a physical and emotional level. That’s why making sure you eat enough (enough calories) and of the right foods (right nutrients) is of high importance.

postpartum exercise diet

Now, what does that mean? Here is the secret to a nourishing, supporting healthy diet: variety and balance. It means that all you need to do is eat a bit of everything, in balance, without finding yourself caught on one specific diet. It’s not the moment to start a keto, paleo, vegan, Atkins or whatever else diet you can read about. It’s time to make sure you eat enough diverse foods, enough calories and enough nutrients. You don’t have to worry about anything else.

I know it can be challenging, especially during the first weeks. But here are some easy strategies to help you out:

  • Best advice is to ask around for prepared home-made meals to your family, girlfriends etc. Store them in your freezer and make sure you have plenty of them
  • Favor real, whole foods and avoid refined foods like frozen meals, pre-cooked store meals, canned meals, fried foods, fast foods etc. Too many times they are high in poor quality fats, salt and added sugars.
  • For proper nutrient distribution, aim to eat raw and cooked veggies and fruits during the day
  • Have a source of protein with every meals and snacks
  • Fat is of high importance during postpartum, especially if you breastfeed. Aim for high quality fats like olive oil, avocado oil, etc.
  • Eat less sugar: track the ingredient list on food packagings for any source of added sugars
  • Scatter healthy snacks around the house. Make them handy for when you nurse/feed baby. Prepare handfuls of nuts with a piece of fruit or  pre-cut veggies with hummus for example
  • Increase your intake of fish or seafood: at least twice a week
  • Aim for 3 meals + 1 snack if not breastfeeding
  • Aim for 3 meals + 2 snacks if breastfeeding
overnight lactation oats majka

Some supplements are interesting to consider. Of course you should keep going with your prenatal vitamins but you can also consider adding some help. Majka, a brand of which I’m an affiliate, has protein powders you can add to your breakfast smoothie making it more adapted to your nutritional needs. 

I highly recommend their overnight lactation oats to help you with your recovery and enhancing your milk supply.

Now, as I said, I am an affiliate of Majka, meaning that if you decide to purchase through this link, I will earn a small commission. I have a promo code I can share with you, to add a nice 10% OFF at checkout. Just type in BONJOURBABY in the promo code bar.

Postpartum Recovery Mistake #3: Going back to the gym too soon

Instead, follow a proven method to physically recover before hitting the gym

This is, unfortunately, the case 95% of the time. I worked for a little while in a gym club, and too often I was seeing postpartum women going back to the gym and doing exactly what they were doing before, or diving into some kind of bikini body programs right after the 6 weeks check-up. Just because they were told to by their health provider without any guidance or recommendations. 

Being postpartum means you will be postpartum your whole life. Some physical changes happened that won’t go away in a heartbeat or not at all. That’s why it is so important to have the right guidance when going back to your gym routine, and engage in exercises that are specifically designed for enhancing and elevating your postpartum recovery. 

Otherwise, you might miss a pelvic floor dysfunction that could be aggravated by jumping motions, running, deadlifts, squats or simply bad postural habits when moving around; or a dysfunctional diastasis recti that could be aggravated by doing crunches, sit ups, planks, etc.

There is a simple method and specific postpartum exercises you want to do before going back to your normal routine:

  1. Protect your pelvic floor by learning how to activate these muscles properly and when to do it
  2. Strengthen your core and abs to correct any diastasis recti with simple and specific exercises
  3. Work on your posture. Your body adapted to your pregnancy over the course of 9 months. It will take some time for your body to get used to the void created by birth and re-adapt to your new mom’s body
  4. Strengthen your whole body by learning how to efficiently activate your deep core muscles on any simple move and support your pelvic floor and back to avoid getting hurt

Once you have checked all the boxes, you are finally ready to go back to your regular gym routine or dive into a bikini body program. Not before. 

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is “how long is my recovery going to take?”. There is no right answer to this unfortunately. Everybody is different, plus it will depend on several factors:

  • How active were you during the months and years before your pregnancy?
  • How active were you during your pregnancy?
  • Did you follow a pregnancy-specific exercise regimen? What kind of technique was it?
  • How many pregnancies did you go through?
  • Was your delivery a VBAC or a c-section?
  • How long was labor? For how long did you push?
  • Did you get an epidural? Was it induced? Were there any instruments used?
  • Did you get any tears? What grade?
  • In what position did you give birth?
  • What was the weight of your baby?
  • Etc

All of these will definitely come into play before answering this question. And every woman’s body reacts differently. Your nutrition, your stress level, your sleep quality, your hydration level, all this will also be important when considering how long your physical recovery will take.

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About Leslie Abraham
She is the founder and owner of Bonjour Baby, and the creator of the prenatal and postpartum Bonjour Baby online courses. Leslie is a prenatal and pediatrics Osteopath DO (France), certified pre and postnatal personal trainer and women health coach. She has devoted more than 10 years of her career to help woman be ready for birth and recover from it in the following months and years.
LEARN MORE
Get your FREE Postpartum Guide
And start your Postpartum Recovery now!
SEND IT TO ME!

There you have it, the 3 mistakes most postpartum women make. With more information, we can definitely elevate and improve postpartum recovery for every women. And we need to.

If you need some help to start your postpartum recovery, I offer a free consultation where we could talk about it and dive more into what you need to do to start feeling better, more energized and more confident.  You can schedule your call by clicking here.

Disclaimer: Bonjour Baby strongly recommends that you consult with your physician before beginning and enrolling in any exercise program, even if you are in good physical condition, not suffering from any complications, and able to participate in the exercise.
Bonjour Baby is not a licensed medical care provider and represents that it has no expertise in diagnosing, examining, or treating medical conditions of any kind or in determining the effect of any specific exercise on a medical condition.

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