Best Pelvic Floor Exercises for Postpartum Moms

Having a baby can be one of the most exciting times in your life and change your world for the better. A mom is the most special name we can be given, and a healthy mom and healthy baby is all that matters. That being said, our body changes drastically throughout pregnancy and during our birthing time. There are many physical challenges that we are faced with throughout this time, some that we can control getting help for and others are more difficult to manage.

The first few weeks after having a baby can be a whirlwind. From the sleep deprivation to the constant feeding of your baby and diaper changes every time you turn around. For most, the last thing on your mind is exercising as you are just surviving.

Eventually you fall into a routine with your new bundle of joy and want to start working on healing your body from the past 9 months. Finding your new norm after having a baby is important and can happen at any time postpartum, it just depends on when you are ready to carve out some time for YOU.

Having a program to help your body find a balance, regain strength and ensure that you can return to your workouts without pain is important. Understanding the best pelvic floor exercises that you can start right after having your baby is even more important. Let’s get down to the basics!

1. Diaphragmatic Breathing

Breathing may seem simple and not even an exercise, but if done correctly it can be a powerful exercise to help move the pelvic floor. Imagine that you are going to jump into a swimming pool, and you are wearing an inner tube around your middle- this is where your diaphragm is in your body.

When you take a breath in, your air should descend into your diaphragm and you should feel expansion of your stomach, your sides and your back. Put one hand on your stomach and the other wrapping from your side to your back (either side works). Breathe in feeling your air fill into both hands- when this happens the air should get down to your pelvic floor causing a natural lengthening.

Then when you exhale all your air should escape from your diaphragm and your hands should come back to your starting point. This causes a natural, very subtle contraction of your pelvic floor.

This type of breathing helps move the pelvic floor muscles through the full length of expanding and contracting. This can be scary right after having a baby because our pelvic floor goes through so much during this time and so many changes occur. If you have any pelvic pain, had any tearing, episiotomies, then you may be hesitant to move your pelvic floor. This gentle movement of focusing on your breathing should not cause pain and will help to heal the tissues.

If you have any pain with this movement, stop and reach out to your pelvic floor physical therapist that can help at any time postpartum. You don’t have to wait until you are the magical 6-8 weeks postpartum to get the help that you deserve. You know your body best and we as pelvic floor PT’s are here to help at any point in time. We have seen moms a few days after having their baby because they need the help and are ready to start their healing process.

Complete 5 breaths and repeat at least 3 times throughout the day. You can practice this is any position, laying on your side while feeding your baby, relaxing with your baby in the recliner (sitting), standing and laying on your back.

Gentle kegels for range of motion can be healthy for the tissues as you are healing postpartum. What this means is that you are gently trying to lift up the muscle of the vagina and rectum (also know as the pelvic floor) as if you are holding back urine and gas. Lift the muscles up, pause and then relax them back down.

This is NOT meant to be practiced 100 times per day as your pelvic floor is still healing. This IS meant to move the tissues up and down just like if you bend and straighten your elbow to have full movement of your bicep muscle. Repeat these 10 times only one time per day.

You can try these while you are sitting, and you should not feel your big gluteal muscles that you are sitting on activating meaning your bottom should not lift off the chair. This is a very small, subtle movement that no one should know you are completing if they are looking at you. Your inner thighs and abdominals should be relaxed as the movement is coming from your pelvic floor. Also make sure you are breathing through the range of motion as breath holding is very common, but not good for the body.

If you feel pain when trying this, STOP and talk with your pelvic floor physical therapist. There are times that our bodies need longer to heal after having our babies and that is specific to what happened during your birthing time. Also, some people’s bodies naturally heal faster than other, some moms have more support when they have their babies (extra sets of hands, family helping) and other moms are thrown back into a lot of physical activity with little help postpartum.

It’s important that you have as much support as possible so that you can carve out some time to work on your recovery. Try these gentle kegels and see how they feel. If they don’t make sense what muscles to activate, reach out to your pelvic floor physical therapist for one-on-one support and guidance.

3. Transversus Abdominal Contractions

The lower transversus abdominal muscles (TA) are such an important muscle group to work on postpartum. Let’s back up first to understand how they are impacted during pregnancy. In the third trimester of pregnancy, the abdominals separate down the middle of our body at the linea alba. This makes it difficult to activate your abdominal muscles but makes lots of extra room for you growing baby and growing belly. This is something that we must focus on postpartum to help the muscles recover as much as possible.

If you put your hands on your hip bones, then your fingers should feel on the inside of your hip bones (towards your belly button) and it should feel soft because you are off the bone, into muscle. This is where the TA muscles are that you must rehabilitate postpartum. The connective tissue along the TA muscles attaches into the pelvic floor. So, working on these deep abdominal muscles also helps you work on your pelvic floor in a positive way.

Take a deep diaphragmatic breath in, then when you are ready to exhale, make a “hissssing” sound like a snake as you expel your air. If your hands are on the TA muscles, then you should feel the muscles activate under your fingers or you will feel a bulge of the tissues. When you create a forceful exhale, your deep abdominal muscles should turn on (activate) to stabilize around your pelvis.

If you don’t feel anything working, then try to “shhhhh” when you exhale and see if there is a different result. If you are still struggling, keep practicing and this a skill that takes time. That’s where a pelvic floor physical therapist can help guide you and ensure that your finding the right muscles to help in the healing process.

Practice 10 breaths and you can repeat up to 3 times per day.

4. Open Books

This exercise is great to work on mobility along your spine all the way down to your pelvic floor and help you regain full excursion of your diaphragm that has been squished in the end of pregnancy. You can do this laying on your side or in sitting depending upon what feels better.

Pick a side to lay on and put your arms straight out to the side stacked on top of each other. Take your top arm rotating your whole shoulder open so that you end with your hands pointing opposite directions. Your hands are the covers of the book, and you are opening the top cover to feel the length along your spine. You can take a diaphragmatic breath when you are at the end of the motion to improve length and further the stretch.

Practice on both sides and if you are sitting you will open your arms to each side, one at a time. Repeat 10 times on each side. If you are laying down to feed your baby, you can practice this exercise right then and there. This should feel like a good stretch along the body and should not cause pain.

5. Sit to stand (with breathing and abdominal engagement)

Now we are going to put everything together to encourage your muscles to work while you are moving from sitting to standing and back down. Postpartum, you spend so much time picking up your baby, sitting back down, then standing back up. You can go up and down all day long trying to soothe your baby, get them to fall asleep and then relax yourself. What better way than to use your muscles actively every time you stand up and sit down throughout the day.

Ok so I want you to take a diaphragmatic breath in, engage your lower abdominals, a gentle kegel if you can and then exhale as you stand up from sitting. If you are then immediately ready to sit back down, make sure to relax your muscles before moving. My favorite thing to have patients do is shake out their sillies or dance for a few moments to encourage their muscles to relax. It’s fun and effective, it also makes you smile to sneak in a few moments of shaking your body.

Then take a breath in, engage your lower abdominals, gentle kegel and exhale as you sit down. You are activating your muscles before the movement and exhaling as you move to help create move stability around your pelvis.

I love this postpartum pelvic floor exercise because it incorporates all the key movements and is very functional. As I mentioned, you go up and down so many times throughout your day. Being able to take it a hair slower to consciously use your muscles is wonderful for the healing process. Make sure that you are breathing throughout this moment so that you don’t cause extra pressure down on your pelvic floor. The easiest way to ensure that you are breathing is to make an audible exhale hearing the air come out of your mouth (you can “shhh” or “hisss” your air out too).

These exercises are the basics and what you should get started on right after having your baby, when you are ready. You should be able to complete these movements without pain and they will get easier with practice. Walking as well postpartum in the first few months is a great way to work on your body, get moving, get some fresh air and get your baby outside (some babies are calmed with being outside). You can start walking day one and slowly ramp up the distance as your body is ready. Make sure to pay attention to your body and increased pain is a sign that you need to dial back your activity level.

Healing is a journey, and it took 9 months to get you ready to have a baby, we can’t expect that our body will be ready for all workouts immediately after our birthing time. Every journey is easier when done with support and you deserve that from a pelvic floor physical therapist. We can help set-up an exercise program tailored to you, work through any restrictions that are holding your body back from healing and progress you as your body is ready. Ensure that you find a pelvic floor PT that helps you in whatever you need - bringing your baby to PT, family friendly, understands the balance of exercise and hands on therapy to heal your body like it deserves.

Let’s start your journey today to be the best mom that you can be, the healthiest and strongest version of YOU! Email us at getbetter@breakawaypt.com to start with a FREE consultation to ensure that we are the best fit on your road to recovery.