One of the main questions I get asked about c-section recovery is how do I get my stomach back. Alot of women I talk to have either been left with a c-section pouch, diastasis recti (muscle separation in the abdominal area) or a lack of connection to their abdominal area.

The first piece of advise i can give you is start breathing exercises as soon as possible. The best thing about these exercises are they can be performed by everyone from a woman who has newly had a c-section to a woman who has had a csection months even years ago. Connecting with your body and the breath is vital for recovery. A simple breathing exercise for example like the one below will help your body re-engage the stomach muscles and allow you to start feeling like it is responding to you again.

Method:

– in a sitting or laying position relax your body by taking a few deep breaths allowing your shoulders and ribs to drop.

– on your inhale breath allow everything to relax including your pelvic floor muscles (this is crucial that you can relax aswel as contract your muscles).

– as you exhale slowly contract and lift your pelvic floor muscles…dont worry if you can’t feel these straight away as usually things are a bit numb down there to start off but to help you get the right feeling imagine you are trying to stop yourself from breaking wind this will give the same results.

– as you breathe in again fully relax everything as in the step above.

– finally repeat the exhale repeating the pelvic contraction and lift as above. Please don’t force any of these movements they should remain fluid and relaxing as your trying to reconnect with your body not go against it.

dependant on your recovery rate (as every woman is individual to themselves) depends when you can move on to doing your pelvic floor exercises.

Simple pelvic floor exercises can be done at any time after having a baby by any woman no matter what their type of birth was. Simply sitting or laying in bed perform the following exercises, the best part is these can be performed anywhere you don’t have to have a set time on your own to do them. I used to do these while sitting watching TV in the evening.

method:

To start (especially if ur not many weeks postpartum) you have to know how to engage your pelvic floor before moving on to other forms of P.F.E.

The muscles you want to contract are the same as the ones u use to stop yourself urinating.

Start by holding these muscles for 5 seconds at a time then resting, repeat this 3 times(if u can) do this daily and try to aim for holding these muscles 30-60sec while maintaining a normal breath.

After a few weeks you can advance to the glute bridge…Lay on your back (on a bed) feet flat on floor,knees bent with arms to each side.

Breath in deep and slowly exhale pushing ur feet into the ground while raising your butt.

Engage your pelvic floor while pulling ur belly button towards ur spine as much as possible.

Hold for 20-30sec. Rest for 10sec each time and repeat 5 times.

Heel slides in same position as glute bridges.

Inhale deep on slow exhale pull belly button towards spine and slide one leg outwards until it is straight, inhale to bring leg back and repeat on other leg.

Aim for 10 reps each leg.

Try these 3 exercises daily, if u would like a more indepth ab rehabilitation program please DM me.