This is the first part of my postpartum return to fitness series: find the other parts here.
How did I navigate my own postpartum recovery and return to fitness? Both of my births were vaginal births, but my second was a home birth with no medical interventions. I did have a first-degree tear, that required maybe one stitch, but very different healing than from my first birth. So, please keep in mind that my healing process may be different than yours based on the prehab work I did during my pregnancy and what happened during my birth.
Weeks 0-2: Rest + Breathing
During the first two weeks postpartum, I mainly focused on resting off of my feet in a reclined or supine position. I was found primarily in bed with my baby, as my family took care of the daily tasks around our home, bringing me food, and then also tending to our toddler. During this time, I was focused mostly on bonding with my newborn, healing from birth, and eating nourishing foods. I did try to go for one walk around a week and passed a huge clot afterward, so returned back to bed to continue resting.
I know my postpartum support system is not always available for everyone though. How much support we can receive postpartum depends on our partner’s work demands, how close family is to us, and then add on a pandemic that makes traveling more difficult.
During these weeks, I also began to introduce diaphragmatic breathing drills to my routine, to help begin the process of reconnecting with my core. While lying in bed, I would focus on inhaling down and out; feeling my back push into the bed and my pelvic floor gently expand. And then I would exhale up and in; feeling my pelvic floor lift up and in, and my back and abs engaged. I would focus on this breathing pattern for a few minutes throughout the day.
In addition, I found that some gentle mobility work was helpful to introduce movement back into my routine, while supporting my postpartum healing process. I found supine-based mobility exercises, such as floor angels and chest openers to be helpful, and thoracic mobility.