Most of the birth prep tips you see online are geared towards a vaginal birth: relaxing the pelvic floor, opening the pelvis, moving in different labor positions.
But what if you are planning to have a cesarean birth? What type of birth preparation could you be doing to enhance your c-section birth experience?
Let’s explore some cesarean birth preparation exercises you could do to better prepare for the big day!
Are you expecting a baby and feeling overwhelmed by all the information out there? Our Childbirth Education Course is here to help!
Our comprehensive course covers everything from prenatal care to postpartum recovery, with a special focus on natural pain relief options.
Enroll in our Childbirth Education Course today and start your journey towards a happier, healthier birth!
Cesarean Birth Preparation: Top 6 Prenatal Exercises To Prepare For A C-Section
How should you prepare for a cesarean birth? Do you still need the same pelvic relaxation and pelvic opening type of movements? Not necessarily for birth, but our prenatal preparation is not JUST birth prep but also preparing for postpartum recovery.
Overall, you can do a similar (or the same) prenatal fitness program as anyone who is planning to give birth since one component of a prenatal fitness program should be overall strengthening to support an easier postpartum recovery.
For birth, there are some differences in giving birth via cesarean section!
For starters, you need to have a spinal placed that requires some spinal flexion or rounding of the lower back. Spinal mobility could make it easier for your spinal to be placed, so mobility exercises that help you find more of a posterior pelvic tilt will support preparation for a cesarean birth.
Cesarean Birth Preparation: Mobility Exercises to Prepare for Birth
During a c-section birth, you will need some sort of pain management! Usually for a scheduled c-section the pain relief option is a spinal. When the spinal is placed, you need to find a rounded position to create more space between the vertebrae. During pregnancy, we can focus on finding spinal flexion to support our birth.
But, common prenatal postural tendencies are an extended position with the back arched. So, if we want to be able to more easily find a rounded position, we need to release the lats and hip flexors!
1) Lat Releases and Stretches
Starting with the lats, we can focus on releasing tension to make it easier to find a rounded back position. The forward-leaning lat stretch is one of my favorite lat stretches!
Tips:
- Start facing a wall and press your hands into the wall
- Push your hips back into a hinge position, so your hips are the same level as your hands.
- Step your feet perpendicular to your hands to feel more a stretch in the side body of the stretched side
- Press harder into the hand on the lengthened side
- Then push the belly away from the floor to intensify the stretch
- Breathe here for 10-20 breaths
- Then switch sides
The pelvic floor plays a large role in our pregnancy comfort, birth, and recovery postpartum! Even if you are planning a cesarean birth, it can be helpful to learn how to move and release tension in our pelvic floor to support our recovery after birth!
Prepare your pelvic floor for birth with our online course!
This online course includes:
- Thoracic and hip mobility to move the spine and hips
- Breathing drills to connect the diaphragm and pelvic floor
- Pelvic floor relaxation exercises to release tension prior to birth
- Labor tips to release the pelvic floor tension so you can move easier through your birth!
Unsure if you’re ready to commit to our full course? Explore our free mini pelvic floor prep for birth course to gain a better understanding of our teaching style and what you will learn from us in our full course!
2) Hip Flexor Release and Side Body Opener
Next, we need to release the front side of the thighs to help us bring our pelvis into a more tucked position. Hip flexor and quad releases can support a posterior pelvic tilt! With the hip flexor release, we can also add in a side body release which can help release more in the lats as well!
Tips:
- Start in a half-kneeling position
- Tuck the butt underneath and push the hips forward to feel a stretch in the front side of the hip
- Reach the same side arm overhead to feel a stretch in the side body
- Breathe here for 10-20 breaths
- Then switch sides
3) Pelvic and Spinal Mobility: Pelvic Tilts
After we have released the lats and hip flexors, we can start to focus on moving the pelvis! Pelvic tilts can be done in so many different positions, but since you would receive a spinal in a seated position, we can focus on pelvic tilts in a seated position during pregnancy!
Cesarean Birth Preparation: Strengthen Neuro Connections to the Anterior Oblique Sling to Prepare for Postpartum
During a cesarean birth, the anterior oblique sling is severed with your incision. The anterior oblique sling is the diagonal line from the chest to the opposite inner thigh that crosses the lower abdomen at the pubic symphysis. The anterior oblique sling supports rotational movement and balances with our posterior oblique sling (lat to opposite glute).
Since the anterior oblique sling is severed during a cesarean birth, we find that incorporating more of an emphasis during postpartum helps our c-section clients feel more connected and functional after birth.
So, during pregnancy, we can emphasize this slings neuro connection so it is easier to access postpartum when we may feel disconnected from our body.
4) Diagonal Banded Pull Downs
Diagonal banded pull downs activate the anterior oblique sling with a rotation up to down. There are several variations to this movement depending on your fitness level, but incorporating rotational work can establish this neuromuscular connection during pregnancy.
Tips:
- Start in a half kneeling position with the outside leg up.
- Exhale to pull the band towards the outside of the knee
- Hold here for a second or two
- Then release with control
- Try 3 rounds of 10 reps per side
If you want more of a breakdown of WHAT to do throughout your prenatal workouts, check out our prenatal fitness programs! We offer it in two formats:
- 40-Week Prenatal Strength in the Teambuildr App (traditional delivery format)
- Full Version: Workouts 45-75 minutes in length, designed for the athlete with gym access or a home gym set up
- Mini Version: Workouts 15-20 minutes in length, designed for the busy person!
- Prenatal On-Demand with full-length workout videos that you follow along as you workout
5) Upward Dumbbell Chop
Next, we have another rotational movement that starts down and rotates upwards using a dumbbell. You can also do this with a band!
Tips:
- Starting in a half kneeling position, with the weight towards the up knee
- Rotate up and away from the forward leg as you extend in the hips
- Inhale to lower back down
- Repeat on the other side
- Try 3 rounds of 10 reps per side
6) Pallof Press with Rotation
And then we can finish with rotational work from side to side with a pallof press and rotation. The pallof press can also be done without a rotation as a isometric hold!
Tips:
- Starting with the band in the center of your chest, exhale to press the band straight out
- Keep the band aligned to the center of the chest
- Then rotate away from the point of attachment
- Hold for a few seconds
- Then inhale to release back with control
- Try 3 rounds of 10 reps each
Prepare for Your C-Section Birth
During pregnancy, our prenatal fitness programs can focus on keeping us strong and comfortable throughout our pregnancy, prepare for our birth, and then support our recovery postpartum.
When we are preparing for a cesarean birth, our birth prep movements may focus more on spinal flexion to make it easier for our pain relief administration during our birth. We can also prep the neuro connection before birth to reconnect after birth by emphasizing the anterior oblique sling in our programming!