Dual Perspectives: Prenatal, Postpartum and Natural Movement Part 1
Perspective 1 Coach/Trainer
Growing and birthing a human takes work and will have an impact on the body from stretching all the core musculature, limiting diaphragm and lung function, increasing laxity in joints and musculature, altering center of gravity, altering movement patterns and potentially perineal tearing. This work takes skill, strength, and training. Finding ways to incorporate natural movement for pregnant and birthing bodies is extremely valuable and the volume and intensity will look different for everyone. I’m going to walk you through several client scenarios and provide answers along the way. I’ll also include some important exercises that can be used prenatally or postpartum. As a reminder, some of them may not be appropriate depending on your situation. Consult your care team if you have questions.
Prenatal Journey
Wooo Hooo you’re pregnant…. Now what? I have some questions for us to work through together.
Have you been training/exercising prior to getting pregnant?
Are you interested in starting a program with an emphasis on prenatal/postpartum movement?
What concerns do you have regarding exercise during and after your pregnancy?
Do you have access to a pelvic floor physical therapist?
These questions are a great place to start as each person’s journey is uniquely their own. Let’s assume there is one situation that leans more towards optimal. It may look something like this:
Client profile: novice to intermediate strength and conditioning background for 6mos-1year prior to getting pregnant. No complications during pregnancy.
Assuming all of this, I would encourage the client to keep up with their normal routine and emphasize core/floor exercises and full body strength movements. Jumping and climbing skills can be used early on but should be limited later in pregnancy. Education on pressure management will also be essential during this time. Helping find a pelvic floor physical therapist to aid in postpartum care will also be helpful during this time. A good rule of thumb is to keep your training intensity at or below your prenatal status. This could include a MovNat L1 certification.
Other scenarios
What if I haven’t been training consistently before getting pregnant?
Well, let’s assess your current fitness and monitor symptoms along the way. Breathwork, ground movement, get ups, simple lifts, and carries can be added and incorporated assuming healthy pregnancy with no complications.
What if I have (preeclampsia, anemia, placenta previa (after 26wks)) or other contraindication to exercising while pregnant?
Let’s focus on low risk efforts here. Breathwork, core/floor work, walking and some ground movements, if they feel ok.
Postpartum
Congratulations! Baby is here and you want to know when you can start training again, right? It’ll depend on several factors which include but not limited to:
Vaginal delivery vs C-section
Perineal trauma
Prolapse
Diastasis Recti
Incontinence
Bleeding
Fitness levels before and during pregnancy
Again, these are just some of the more common things that will influence when you can begin training again. Most medical practitioners will say 8-12 weeks before starting a formal exercise program. Remember, birthing a human is a feat like no other. Give yourself the time and space to heal.
Regardless of training status, something you can immediately do is gentle breath work. Not the crazy cold plunge stuff, but reflexive core and floor breathing. We want to work towards full 360 inhales and full 360 exhales. Once you start to feel better and breathing feels strong you can start to incorporate movement back in integrating the breathing techniques you just mastered. Also if you've been following along, these strength and breathing drills can also be utilized prenatally as well.
A case for breathing and strength work
Throughout my career one of the most common things I have worked with clients on is pressure management issues (prolapse, hernias etc). I’ve been fortunate to witness so many female clients improve pressure management issues with breathwork and progressive heavy lifting (deadlifts, squats and carries). A hernia is essentially a strain on the body too great for that body to handle combined with sub-optimal breathing and bracing mechanics. Pressure management can also be seen as load management. Let’s look at this more closely using two different people
Person 1
Has decent breathing mechanics and can maximally deadlift 80lbs with no issues for multiple repetitions.
Person 2
Has decent breathing mechanics and can maximally deadlift 160lbs with no issues for multiple repetitions.
If we now ask them to each lift 100lbs for multiple repetitions, the likelihood of injury for person 1 is now significantly increased. Whereas for person 2, 100lbs is in their capacity (but risk is always there). Let’s now add in 9 months of progressive stretching of the abdominal wall and squish organs out of the way, change center of gravity, limit diaphragm and lung volume and increase laxity in the joints etc. If we continue this story and the baby arrives and both persons have the exact same outcomes along with equal recovery times, person 2 will still be at lower risk for pressure management related issues. Because person 2 has built up greater absolute strength, they will have an easier time with load management which is related to pressure management.
We now see physical therapy and strength training prescribed to patients prior to certain surgeries. Athletes train before competitions. I have trained many folks (athletes, moms and more) and I have supported my partner for two births. When I put those athletes side by side with moms, I would say pregnancy, birth and postpartum can be compared to training for fitness based competition. I have found that natural movement with a “from the ground up” approach has been positively impactful on all of my clients that have experienced pregnancy/postpartum issues. Getting up and down off the ground multiple times a day because it is part of your lifestyle will serve you so much better than a 30 minute dosing of exercise. If you can stack both, then watch out world!
