Postnatal Movement: What’s Actually Safe, and When Can You Start?
The six-week clearance. Most new mothers know about the appointment with their GP or obstetrician around six weeks after birth, when they are told they can return to exercise. For many women, this signals the opportunity to resume their pre-pregnancy activities as swiftly as possible.
But the six-week clearance is not what most people think it is. It’s a check that acute healing has occurred, that major wounds have closed, that there are no infections, and that the broad strokes of physical recovery are on track. It is not an assessment of your pelvic floor, your abdominal separation, your postural changes, or your readiness for the specific demands of exercise. It is not a detailed movement assessment.
What actually happens in your body during pregnancy and birth is significant. Your abdominal muscles stretch and separate to accommodate a growing baby, a process called ‘diastasis recti’ that affects the majority of pregnant women to varying degrees and requires specific attention during recovery. Your pelvic floor is placed under enormous load throughout pregnancy and, in vaginal births, through delivery itself. Your posture shifts substantially; the lower back curves forward, the upper back rounds, and the neck and shoulders compensate. Hormones, including relaxin, keep your joints more mobile and less stable than usual, and these effects can persist for months after birth, particularly if you’re breastfeeding.
Safe postnatal movement addresses all of these changes. It’s not about getting your body back, a phrase I find both unhelpful and inaccurate, since your body hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s about rebuilding the specific foundations that pregnancy and birth have altered.
For most women, this means beginning with breathing and pelvic floor reconnection before anything else. Then, gentle core activation works with, not against, any abdominal separation that is present. Then, progressive loading rebuilds strength carefully and in the right sequence. Impact, heavy lifting, and high-intensity exercise all come later, when the foundational work has been done.
The timeline is genuinely individual. Some women are ready to progress relatively quickly. Others need more time, and that’s not a failure; it’s an accurate reading of what their body needs. The most important thing is to be honest about where you actually are rather than where you think you should be.
I work with postnatal women from around six to eight weeks after birth with medical clearance. I also offer mobile sessions, so you don’t need to arrange childcare or leave the house in those early weeks. We work at your pace, around your baby’s schedule, with the understanding that some days look very different to others.
If you’re unsure whether you’re ready to begin, the most useful thing you can do is see a women’s health physiotherapist for a proper pelvic floor assessment. I can work alongside that advice and within any parameters your physio recommends.
Mobile postnatal sessions are available within 30 kilometres of Broadford. Complete the intake form on the Contact page to enquire.
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