You've done it! Congratulations. You have made the transition from pregnant woman to mother. Truly one of the most challenging transitions for the independent woman. One minute you're deciding what your month, week and day will look like and the next, there is this 5kg baby that's disorientated your day versus night.
Like the photo on the left, the first few weeks are filled with attending to the needs of the newborn in the home. You are consumed with the feeding, changing and rocking to sleep of this child that you're trying to decipher.
When you are travelling in a plane, during the air hostess's explanation of safety during the flight she will tell you in the case of an emergency to first put the oxygen mask on yourself before helping your children or other passengers. The same concept needs to be applied during motherhood. At 6 weeks postpartum, the bleeding has stopped and after your check up with the midwife or gynae you have been cleared to resume all activity.
Many women feel completely overwhelmed by this transition of being told to rest completely to then being able to exercise, be intimate and continue as feel they hadn't just birthed a child. After any type of other surgery such as a knee operation or a abdominal surgery, there is intensive physiotherapy that is required to rehabilitate into full physical health. Unfortunately, the same management is not applied to women after vaginal or caesarean deliveries.
Pelvic floor physiotherapy bridges the gap between delivery and full rehabilitation postpartum. Our mission is to support women as they transform into thriving mothers that build strong families.
At six weeks postpartum, it's recommended to have a postpartum checkup with a pelvic health physiotherapist. They will assess whether you have diastasis recti abdominis (abdominal separation postpartum), a hypertonic pelvic floor which can cause leaking, and whether you have a pelvic organ prolapse.
The pelvic health physiotherapist will also do an assessment as to whether you can return to running and give you a guide as to which exercises you need to focus on postpartum. It's important to know that you can run if you want to. Walking does not need to be your future now that you're a mom.
You are hard core. You are strong. You are a mother.