Postnatal fitness
Postnatal fitness helps you rebuild strength step by step after giving birth: breathing, the deep belly muscles, the pelvic floor and posture first, then more demanding work. Classes are small and calm, and some studios let you bring your baby. When you can start depends on how the birth went and how you are recovering — your doctor decides.
What it is for
Section titled “What it is for”- Finding and strengthening the deep belly muscles and the pelvic floor again after pregnancy and birth.
- Strength for everyday life with a baby: lifting, carrying, feeding, bending over the cot.
- Posture, and a more comfortable back, neck and shoulders.
- A gradual return to the sport you did before.
- Time for yourself, and the company of other new mothers.
Equipment
Section titled “Equipment”- Comfortable clothes and a supportive bra. If you breastfeed, feeding before class usually makes exercise more comfortable.
- Water and a towel.
- The studio provides mats, fitballs and small equipment such as bands and light weights.
- For classes with babies, bring a blanket, a spare nappy and what you need for a feed. Many studios ask for a note from your doctor.
How a class goes
Section titled “How a class goes”- 45–60 minutes in a small group, at a pace you can manage.
- It starts with breathing and gentle work for the deep belly muscles and the pelvic floor — the muscles at the bottom of the pelvis that hold up the bladder, womb and bowel.
- Then strength for the back, hips, legs and arms, and posture work.
- The trainer takes care with diastasis recti: a gap between the two halves of the long belly muscle, which opened during pregnancy. In many women it narrows in the months after birth; in some it stays. Exercises that make the belly bulge, such as crunches, wait until later, and the trainer or a physiotherapist can check the gap.
- Running, jumping and heavy lifting come back gradually, not in the first classes.
- It ends with stretching and relaxation.
Who it suits best
Section titled “Who it suits best”- Mothers whose doctor has said they may exercise. After a vaginal birth or a caesarean, the timing is different, and it is different for every woman.
- Women who want to get back to their usual sport step by step. Many carry on with Pilates.
- Beginners: classes start from the basics.
- Mothers who want company and a reason to leave the house, with or without the baby.
- It is less suited to anybody with pain, bleeding that gets heavier, a wound that has not healed, a feeling of heaviness or bulging in the pelvis, or leaking urine when you cough, laugh or jump — see your doctor first and ask about a pelvic floor physiotherapist. Tell the trainer how and when you gave birth. For exercise during pregnancy, see Prenatal fitness.