3 Reasons why a Mummy MOT is an essential if you’ve had a baby
I remember when I was pregnant with my first I prepared so well for his arrival! We researched the pushchair, the cot, the clothes he’d need, we got his nursery ready and my friends threw me a baby shower. Thankfully because of my job, I was able to prepare myself for what I’d need to support and optimise my own physical recovery postnataly but this really wasn’t something that was given any air time in the antenatal preparation classes I attended. As new mums the focus is so much on the baby and our own recovery is often left on the sidelines.
Physiotherapy After Pregnancy
Growing and birthing a baby is one of the most amazing, miraculous and life changing experiences but it’s also a monumental task for your body and a significant physiological process even if you go on to have the most serene and uncomplicated of deliveries. Every pregnancy, birth and postnatal recovery is different. There really is no one size fits all! Having a caesarean does not guarantee a harder recovery, and a vaginal birth does not mean a faster or easier recovery. The six week postnatal check with your doctor is often seen as the point at which you can get the green light to go back to normal function but a few questions around your mental health, contraception and breastfeeding and a “you’re cleared” is really not good enough feedback on the status of your healing body following a pregnancy and delivery. Pregnancy and childbirth can result in a prolapse, leaking urine, back and pelvic pain and a rectus diastasis (mummy tummy). This is why you need to be thoroughly assessed after giving birth in order to establish where you are at and what your body’s specific training needs are in order to devise the right game plan for your optimal recovery. Let’s dive a little deeper into what that means.
1. Breathing
During pregnancy your diaphragm is pushed up as much as 5cm as a result of the ever growing bump. Pregnancy pretty much means that your diaphragm is no longer functioning optimally and your body develops compensations in order to keep you functioning. Postnatally your body holds on to these patterns. Common compensations include breathing from your upper chest or drawing your belly in. Deep breathing provides a natural stability system for the spine and when you draw in your tummy and breathe from your upper chest only, you prevent that from happening. As you take a deep breath in with a focus on expanding your ribcage 360 degrees your diaphragm will push down into your pelvic floor and deep tummy muscles. This encourages your pelvic floor and deep tummy muscles to turn on and work – it is the key to recruiting your core effectively! Proper diaphragm function goes a long way towards strengthening your pelvic floor so learning how to get your breathing back online again is an essential in any postnatal rehab programme.
2. Tummy Muscles
During pregnancy your tummy muscles and the connective tissue in that area are subject to a lot of stretching. The biggest change occurs at the linea alba which is the connective tissue that joins the bellies of the six pack muscle (rectus abdominus) together. A diastasis recti is when the bellies of the six pack muscle sit wider apart because the connective tissue has thinned and stretched. It’s this connective tissue that helps to transfer the load through your trunk and when the gap is too big or squishy, it no longer allows for loads to be transferred effectively. This can lead to back pain and other issues, and is the last thing you need when you’re having to do the very physical task of keeping small humans alive! Just as we are all unique in our appearance, your body’s response to pregnancy and birth is unique and will require a unique set of exercises and advice to help you to start rebuilding your muscle strength and stimulate thickening and regeneration of your linea alba. This requires expert guidance and the Mummy MOT is just that.
3. Pelvic Floor
During pregnancy the weight of the growing baby pushes down on the pelvic floor muscles which causes them to weaken, even without having to push a baby out! The bones of your pelvis move apart during pregnancy and this can affect the function of the pelvic floor muscles too. Research shows that perineal tears affect 85% of women who birth vaginally – this is an injury to the pelvic floor muscles. If you tore your ligaments at your ankle or knee you wouldn’t wing it back to exercise and normal function. You’d expect and would receive structured and progressive rehabilitation. Your pelvic floor muscles are no different! Pelvic floor physiotherapy provides you with a proper vaginal examination of your pelvic floor muscles. This ensures you are exercising your pelvic floor muscles correctly, that you are relaxing the muscles fully between contractions, that the muscles contract at the appropriate time, that you know how to prepare your pelvic floor muscles for dynamic movement like running or HIIT training, and it determines whether you have a prolapse and what to do about it. These are just some of the essentials covered in a Mummy MOT with a women’s health physiotherapist to keep you leak and prolapse free or to help you get to that point.
The Mummy MOT
A Mummy MOT is a comprehensive postnatal assessment of all the above - your breathing, tummy and pelvic floor muscles as well as your posture and any scarring you may have whether that is perineal or caesarean. It provides you with a bespoke plan and exercise programme to help kickstart your postnatal recovery, to help you rebuild your body and achieve your health and fitness goals.
What you’ve always done is not necessarily what’s best for optimal strength, function and recovery after having a baby. A thorough postnatal assessment is often the essential, and all too often, missing piece of that postnatal puzzle when it comes to getting you back on track postpartum. What you do or don’t do during these chapters really does matter when it comes to your current and long term health.
Postnatal Physiotherapy
Have you recently or not so recently had a baby?
Do you feel less confident about your pelvic floor muscles since giving birth?
Do you want to be able to connect better to your core?
Do you want reliable answers to the serious questions you have about your pelvic health?
The Mummy MOT is a must in helping you get your body back on track after having a baby, whether that was six weeks ago or 6 years ago.You only get one body, you need to look after it! For more information on postnastal recovery, the Mummy MOT or to make an appointment you can email me at info@lafemmephysio.co.uk or call me on 07866 608716. I’d love to hear from you!
Claire Rutherford is a chartered women’s health physiotherapist with over 16 years of clinical experience specialising in women’s health physiotherapy. She offers mobile pregnancy and postnatal physiotherapy in (but not exclusive to) Kingston upon Thames, Teddingon, Surbiton, Richmond, Barnes, Esher, Raynes Park, Twickenham and Ham as well as in clinic in Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey.