Returning to Exercise after giving birth. What is safe & will it affect your milk?
Having a baby takes a physical and mental toll on a woman, and many women aren’t sure how to respond to certain postpartum problems, including exercise, hormones, and emotions. Many women aren’t even sure how soon after giving birth to start exercising to get their pre-pregnancy bodies back. Hopefully, the information it contains will help them understand what is happening during this wonderful and sometimes stressful time in their lives.
Postpartum Exercise: Just What the Doctor Ordered
Most women can begin postpartum exercise as soon as their doctor says they are able. This can be anywhere from the day after giving birth to six weeks later if they have a C-section. As long as they start slowly and give their bodies time to heal, exercise is a good way to restore one’s energy and refresh their mind and spirit. Kegel exercises help strengthen the pelvic floor and are probably the best exercises to start with. They will help the body prevent incontinence and prolapse.
Nursing mothers should not modify their diet to accommodate their postpartum exercise. It is better for them to have an extra 2kilos on their bodies so that their milk does not dry up prematurely. If the mother is not breastfeeding, she will want to lose weight gradually, no more than about ½ a kilo per week. This ensures that they do not lose their bone density. It keeps your metabolism moving and helps your circulation.
Postpartum exercise will not cause a nursing mother’s milk to decline. All it will do is help the mother lose the weight she gained during pregnancy. However, there is some evidence that exercise after childbirth causes a change in the taste of breast milk due to the production of lactic acid.
To avoid rejection of the baby’s milk, mothers should feed or pump their milk before exercising, or wait at least an hour after exercise before breastfeeding. The hour between exercise and breastfeeding allows breast milk to return to its normal taste and then there is no chance of the back rejecting it.
Postpartum workouts during the first week after birth should be done easily and require only the stretching, tensing, and releasing of muscles. Also, mums who can handle it and want to get outside can add a walk to their routine, which will boost their aerobic activity and get the blood pumping. The combination of fresh air and exercise will stimulate the mother and help her with her exercise routine.