Why is proper postnatal recovery so important?
When you are pregnant a whole load of physiological change happens. The first is the increase in the hormone relaxin. This relaxes all the ligaments and tendons around the body making us more susceptible to injury if over-stretched. The effect this has on our pelvic girdle is huge too as the pubic symphis gap (the gap in the middle of the pelvis down low) gets bigger which can cause a lot of pain.
Also, as your baby grows, the abdominals separate and there is a greater amount of pressure in the abdominal cavity which in turn puts pressure on the pelvic floor, causing it to weaken before baby gets pushed out so don’t think you are off the hook if you had a c-section.
To accommodate the shift in the centre of gravity our posture changes to create the typical “pregnant mum posture” which you will see us demonstrate in the video.
When baby arrives, our whole world is turned upside down and suddenly, our priorities change. This is human nature, we are so wrapped up in our beautiful baby that we find we have no time for ourselves, we only have one major worry which is about getting rid of that extra baby weight, am I right?
We have seen so often women in the typical mum’s posture as it doesn’t just correct itself without thinking or doing something about it. They start working out with crunches, planks and impact work while still and suffering from incontinence, back pain, mummy tummy etc. because they just didn’t know what to do and are desperate to get back to exercise.
We also often see ladies that felt absolutely fine after pregnancy but are feeling weakness when they have reached their 40’s.
Another interesting fact is 50% of women suffer from a prolapse post-menopause! 50%!
So, as you can see the importance of correcting posture, reducing abdominal pressure and creating a better functioning core should come high up on the list so you can get back to doing what you love without pain or embarrassment.
