C-sections can be planned or emergency. I knew very little about them when I gave birth the first time and actually avoided the antenatal class on the topic! However it is really best to have some knowledge in case you have one. Some women elect to have a section, and others go through the stages of labour and then deliver their baby via section.\u00a0 Around 25% of all births in the UK were delivered by section (2008).<\/p>\n
What is a c-section?<\/b><\/p>\n
An incision made horizontally, just above your pubic hair line.\u00a0 Contrary to belief, your abdominal muscles AREN\u2019T actually cut with this incision, it\u2019s the outer coating of the muscle, and the cling film type structure in between the 6-pack muscles that is.\u00a0 The incision is made on the outside of your body horizontally, and then your surgeon gently peels your Linea Alba apart (vertically) to gain access.\u00a0 The Linea Alba runs vertically down your stomach, and separates your six pack muscles in half, above and below your belly button.\u00a0 The outside incision is then sutured back together, but the inside cling film\/Linea Alba is not.<\/p>\n
I know I\u2019m having a c-section, so I don\u2019t need to do pelvic floor exercises, right?<\/b><\/p>\n
If you elect to have a section, there\u2019s a misconception that your pelvic floor will be fine.\u00a0 You might think that because your body won\u2019t be going through the stages of labour, your pelvic floor won\u2019t be affected. \u00a0However, pregnancy itself puts tremendous pressure on your pelvic floor, as the weight of your developing baby gets bigger and bigger, and therefore weakens these muscles.\u00a0 So, it\u2019s still very important that you strengthen your pelvic floor during and after pregnancy, even if you elected to have a section.<\/p>\n
When can you return to exercise following a c-section?<\/b><\/p>\n
You will need to have had your Doctor\u2019s Check up before your return to exercise after a c-section, which, depending on your Doctor\u2019s Practice\/Surgery could be 8 weeks, 10 weeks or even 12 weeks, so give them a call to see what their guidelines are. \u00a0It\u2019s major surgery and your body will need time to heal, so my top tip is to listen to your body and don’t rush back into exercise too early.<\/p>\n
What is recovery like after a c-section?<\/b><\/p>\n
After a c-section, your recover time is longer than a natural birth, you may have a loss of sensation, a numbness in your abdominals especially around the scar area, and the scar tissue itself may reduce your ability to do certain movements completely pain-free.\u00a0 Your pelvic floor may take a little while to activate consciously too, but keep sending the signal from your brain to these muscles, and eventually, it will switch back on, I promise.<\/p>\n
What exercise is safe after a c-section?<\/b><\/p>\n
Postnatal-specific Pilates-based or core exercise is probably THE best form of exercise for any new mum to be doing, regardless of the type delivery.\u00a0 Pelvic floor work and then TVA core work is essential to get everything firing again and to start toning that tummy too. It can take time for sensation and nerve impulses to start working again, but it will happen. Patience and perserverance are needed. Babies teach you a lot about both of those I find \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
C-sections can be planned or emergency. I knew very little about them when I gave birth the first time and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[259,335,9],"tags":[743,736,739,738,741,742,175,153,118,296,453,223,740,737,510],"class_list":["post-1429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bump-to-birth","category-lose-the-baby-weight","category-postnatal","tag-best-exercise-after-c-section","tag-c-section","tag-c-section-and-pelvic-floor","tag-c-section-recover","tag-how-soon-can-i-exercise-after-a-c-section","tag-how-to-tone-up-after-c-section","tag-pilates-hampshire","tag-pilates-southampton","tag-pilates-with-priya","tag-postnatal-pilates","tag-prenatal-pilates","tag-priya-tew","tag-return-to-exercise-after-c-section","tag-what-exercise-to-do-after-c-section","tag-when-to-exercise-after-c-section"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3FIsx-n3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1238,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=1238","url_meta":{"origin":1429,"position":0},"title":"Top Tips for C section Recovery.","author":"Priya Tew","date":"27 April, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0\u00a0Around 25% of all births in the UK were delivered by section (2008). Some women have no choice and have to have a section, for others it's an emergency procedure and for some it's a choice. However it happens, recovery is different to a natural birth. What is a c-section?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bump to Birth"","block_context":{"text":"Bump to Birth","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=259"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1249,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=1249","url_meta":{"origin":1429,"position":1},"title":"Beyond Your Bump: Postnatal Pilates DVD","author":"Priya Tew","date":"10 May, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Having a new born baby is hard work. Amongst the nappy changes, feeds, lack of sleep and recovering from the birth itself, there can be little time to think about exercise! The demands of pregnancy and then the energies of labour put \u00a0a great stress on your body and it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bump to Birth"","block_context":{"text":"Bump to Birth","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=259"},"img":{"alt_text":"Postnatal Pilates DVD \"Beyond your bump\"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DVD-Beyond-your-bump-208x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1123,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=1123","url_meta":{"origin":1429,"position":2},"title":"Postnatal Hair Loss, how to look after those locks.","author":"Priya Tew","date":"14 November, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the lovely side effects I had during pregnancy was to have thicker, faster growing hair. My hairdresser was always amazed when she saw me yet again for a trim. This extra hair growth that some ladies see is due to the hormone levels, specifically the oestrogen. Hair has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AnteNatal"","block_context":{"text":"AnteNatal","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pilates with Priya: postnatal hair loss","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/hair-loss-concept-hair-ball-hairbrush-isolated-white-c-closeup-shot-33092835-300x220.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1116,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=1116","url_meta":{"origin":1429,"position":3},"title":"Losing the Baby Weight Week 6: my first training session.","author":"Priya Tew","date":"9 November, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"So I\u2019ve reached the 6 week post baby place. This is usually when you get an appointment with your GP and hopefully are given the green light to exercise. In my GP surgery the 6 week check is carried out at 8 weeks. Fortunately as a specialist in the antenatal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bump to Birth"","block_context":{"text":"Bump to Birth","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=259"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pilates with Priya: Pilates with a Sling","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/IMG_4978-300x224.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2476,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=2476","url_meta":{"origin":1429,"position":4},"title":"Postnatal Care – is it enough?","author":"Priya Tew","date":"5 May, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm not even sure where to start with this post. So I will start with my own experience. I've had 3 babies in the past 7.5 years and my youngest is about to turn 2 yrs. With each baby, my own recovery, my own postnatal journey and the care offered\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bump to Birth"","block_context":{"text":"Bump to Birth","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=259"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Postnatal-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1099,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=1099","url_meta":{"origin":1429,"position":5},"title":"3 Band Exercises to Tone and Tighten","author":"Priya Tew","date":"31 October, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tnMberBXjL8","rel":"","context":"In "AnteNatal"","block_context":{"text":"AnteNatal","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/tnMberBXjL8\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1429"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1432,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1429\/revisions\/1432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}