What is the best exercise to do after giving birth?

What is the #1 exercise to help your body heal and get you back to doing what you love after having a baby?

The #1 exercise is……….. REST!!!! You should spend at least 2 weeks RESTING as much as possible. Yes, there are other exercises your should do, but RESTING is far more important. 

If you get back to “regular” life right after having a baby, your body does not have time to heal. When you deliver a baby, you also deliver the placenta. The placenta is attached to the uterine wall and comes off the wall leaving an open wound on the inside of your uterus. This is what causes the postpartum bleeding. This bleeding should last about 2 weeks. Some people take longer or shorter to heal, but in general, 2 weeks is a good estimate on how long it will take for you to heal. If you bleed well past 2 weeks, it could be because you are trying to do too much and you have not allowed your body to heal, causing the wound to stay open. If you stop bleeding, but then start bleeding again, it could be because a “scab” formed over the open wound from the placenta and that wound has reopened from doing too much or pushing too hard. 

There is a saying in the midwifery world and I LOVE it because I am a numbers person. Immediately after having a baby you should spend 5 days in bed, 5 days on the bed, and 5 days around the bed. This means that those first 5 days should really be all about resting, feeding, and bonding with your baby. You should really only be getting up to go to the bathroom. In a perfect world, people would be bringing you food and water and doing all the chores around you, including changing the babies diaper. The next 5 days should still be mostly spent relaxing, bonding with your baby, and feeding your baby, but you can now begin to do a little more. You can start to walk a little around the house, get your own water, change the baby’s diapers. For the most part you still should not be doing any household chores. The last 5 days you can start doing a little more. Maybe by now, you feel strong enough to go for a short walk outside (no more than a couple of blocks), you feel like you have the energy and strength to being to doing one easy chore daily. This time is still all about bonding with your baby and your job is to feed it and love it.

Listen to your body, it will tell you what it needs.