Here are two impor­tant facts regard­ing phys­i­cal activ­ity fol­low­ing birth:

1. Women who return to vig­or­ous (vig­or­ous, as in jog­ging or aer­o­bic dance) prior to six weeks postpartum…

• have less weight to lose
• expe­ri­ence a more joy­ful state of mind
• do bet­ter on the Led­er­man Mater­nal Adap­ta­tion scales (how well they adapt to motherhood)

…than women who are seden­tary dur­ing this period (Sampselle, 1999…this is not new information)

2. Post­par­tum obe­sity is a dan­ger­ous short and long term health risk (Leddy, 2008).

Who should exer­cise and when, fol­low­ing birth?

Day 1: If you have a vagi­nal birth, begin your “body scan” the first chance you get. Within the first day, the first chance you get to focus on your­self, take a men­tal trip through your body. See if you can squeeze the kegel mus­cles. Try exhal­ing and suck­ing in your deep abdom­i­nal mus­cles. Note if your shoul­ders need to relax. Take some deep breathes and begin to help your body recover.

If you had a cesarean: Wait a few days to 2 weeks at most to work on this.

After that: As soon as you can, get up and walk around. Start walk­ing in 5 or 10 minute strolls sev­eral times a day (ask some­one to hold or watch baby so you can allow your body to recover a non-pregnant upright). If you had a cesarean, hold a pil­low to your abdomen until you have con­trol of your abdom­i­nal mus­cles and stand tall.

How can you get more infor­ma­tion on this?

Go to our website:

http://dancingthrupregnancy.com/take-a-class/postpartum-exercise/

Find a class. If you had a typ­i­cal birth and your baby has been slowly and safely exposed to new peo­ple, by four to six weeks you and baby should be ready for a struc­tured activ­ity ses­sion that includes baby. It will also pro­vide focus and adult inter­ac­tion dur­ing the week.

How do you know if you did too much?

Your lochia, or the bleeding/discharge from the pla­cen­tal site, will increase if you have been too vig­or­ous. If you are healthy and have no ane­mia issues, your lochia will likely cease by three to four weeks, six at most.

What are safety issues?

Don’t exer­cise if you have a fever, a warm red spot on your leg that may be painful (or not), or sore nip­ples that need atten­tion. Call your care provider. If you or your baby are sick, it is best not to go into a group set­ting. If your baby is not well or just doesn’t seem right, call your pediatrician.

The most impor­tant rea­son to join a mom-baby fit­ness pro­gram may be that it will help keep you sane.