Tag: Diastasis Recti and pilates

Third Time Lucky? How do you need to look after you?

Priya Tew

Oh my days.

I can’t quite believe we are doing this again, but we are. Pregnant for the THIRD time.

It’s all feeling quite real now as there is a definite bump and lots of baby movements.

Pilates wirh Priya: Bump 3 at 20 weeks

I’m filled with a lot of excitement as I LOVE being a mummy, having the chance to nurture, feed and look after a baby again is totally amazing. With my boy I kept having sad moments of “What if this is the last time I get to do this”. Well it wasn’t  😉

However also the apprehension of how will it be having 3 small people to chase? I know I won’t have enough hands to hold theirs all at once. How long will it take to get out of the house? How many bags of snacks, clothes, nappies, toys and random items will I have to carry with me? How on earth will my poor body fare?

After baby 1 I definitely bounced back pretty quickly.

Baby 2 I had diastasis Recti, just a small one but it took 6 months to heal. I went back to normal life too quickly and didn’t spend long enough thinking about myself, my posture and fixing me.

Baby 3 I know my former abdominal separation has softened up already and I am now teaching more classes than I was before but will also have to be extra careful with myself.

Good Nutrition, hydration, sensible exercise and some rest are my plans for the next few months.

So here is my thought for you….

Pilates with Priya: Take time to look after you

What do you need to do to look after you this week, this month, this year? If you don’t look after you then no-one else will.

Top 3 complications Post-Birth.

Priya Tew

Being pregnant, giving birth and then looking after a baby – it’s all particularly hard work on the body and comes at a time when you are more focused on the baby and less focused on you. However you need to look after your own body, you only get one and if it isn’t functioning as well as it should is makes life a lot harder.

Three of the key complications that can occur during pregnancy and postnatally:

1. Diastasis Recti.

This is a seperation of the tummy musclesDiastasis Recti that run vertically down the tummy (the Rectus Abdominus or 6 pack muscles). It can happen naturally but there are also things you can do to prevent it from becoming too large an issue whilst pregnant. After your 6 week check is then the time to get this checked out and to address it.

Top Tips: No sit ups in pregnancy and post-birth. Don’t go back to high impact exercise too quickly as it can make this worse and use safe postnatal Pilates exercises to fix it.

2. Pubis Symphysis Derangement:

Otherwise known as pelvic girdle pain or SPD. This occurs when there is movement in the symphysis pubis, and a misalignment of the pelvis. It leads to pain in the pelvis and groin region. This is usually worse on standing, walking, climbing stairs, getting in and out of a car and activities that involve having the weight on one leg. Pilates can help by strengthening the core (above the pelvis) and the thigh and bum muscles (below the pelvis). These strengthening exercises effectively help the body support the pelvis and take the pressure off. This can happen in pregnancy, during labour or after birth.

Pilates with Priya: The Pelvis

Top Tips: Your local obstetric physiotherapist may be able to help with misalignment. Then use Pilates specific exercises to help strengthen and maintain the correct posture and position.

3. Hunched Posture:

Being pregnant means heavier breasts, a bump and often rounded shoulder to compensate for the heavier load. Having a baby means you end up leaning forward a lot to play, pick up, feed and change your little one. Carrying a baby around leads to tense shoulders and feeding can be awful for the posture too. Having a rounded upper back leads to tight shoulders and neck, tight hamstrings, weak gluteals (bum) and tummy muscles. It also doesn’t look great.

Top Tips: Keep checking your posture in the mirror, think about it when you feed and carry baby. Make posture part of your everyday awareness.

For specific exercises and more top tips try “Beyond Your Bump”