Returning to exercise after birth
The first months after birth are a recovery, whatever kind of birth you had. Pelvic floor exercises and gentle walking can start within days if you feel ready, harder exercise builds up from the 6-week check, and running and jumping wait until at least 12 weeks. Leaking, heaviness and a gap in the tummy muscles are common and treatable.
Also called postnatal exercise, postpartum recovery, exercise after having a baby, tummy gap.
Does this sound like you?
- Leaking when you cough, sneeze, laugh or lift
- A heavy or dragging feeling in the pelvis
- A soft gap or doming along the middle of your tummy
- Back or pelvic ache from feeding and carrying
This is not a diagnosis. Several things cause pain in the same place, which is why the list below matters.
Check these first: when it is not returning to exercise after birth
If any of these apply, get checked before you start the exercises. The ones marked in red can't wait.
- Heavy bleeding, soaking a pad in an hour, or large clots. Get help now
- Sudden breathlessness or chest pain. Call 999
- Pain, swelling or redness in one calf. Get it seen the same day
- Fever, or a wound or scar that is red, hot or leaking
- Leaking or heaviness still there after 6 weeks. Ask for a pelvic health physiotherapist
- Low mood or anxiety most days for more than two weeks. Talk to your GP or health visitor
The exercises, in the order you would build them up
How long it takes
Most people can build up steadily from the 6-week check, and return to running from about 12 weeks if there's no leaking, heaviness or pain. After a caesarean, give the scar more time. A pelvic health physiotherapist can check your pelvic floor and tummy gap.
What the NHS says
The NHS's own pages on this, to check what you have read here against.
Waiting for an appointment?
Kinehub turns this into a daily plan, adjusts it as you improve or struggle, and keeps the record you hand over when you are finally seen.
Keep reading
More for the hips
- Guide · 3 minSleeping when it hurtsPositions that take the load off a sore back, neck, shoulder or hip, and the night-time pain that needs checking.
- Guide · 4 minThe clamshell, done properlyThe most commonly prescribed glute exercise, and the three mistakes that stop it working.
- Guide · 6 minUnderstanding painWhy hurt does not always mean harm, and why that matters when you are deciding whether to move today.
A daily plan for returning to exercise after birth
Kinehub turns these exercises into a short daily session with a demo for each one, and tracks your pain before and after so you can see whether it is working. Free to start.
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