Doctor, when to start exercise after my child birth?

Your child may come to this world either by normal vaginal birth or by cesarean section surgery.

Then your body start to regain your previous shape & normal environment inside your body.

 

Exercises plays an important role to bring back the previous shape of your body.

 

Not only the shape, it also helps to reduce the extra weight & thereby reduce the future risk of developing diseases such as diabetes.

 

In the past, doctors often advised women to wait at least 6 weeks after giving birth to begin exercising.

 

With the advanced technology & surgical techniques, it is not necessary to wait that long.

 

If you had an uncomplicated vaginal delivery, it’s generally safe to begin exercising as soon as you feel ready.

 

After normal vaginal birth, you can start exercise after 2 weeks.

 

Without going for difficult ones (like weight training), you can start with simple warm ups & exercises for abdomen. If you feel alright, there is no problem of starting swimming.

 

Even after cesarean-section, you need not to worry about breaking the stitches during walking, carrying your baby or doing simple household chores as these stitches can resist to such stresses.

 

But generally, after cesarean-section, you can start simple exercises like walking after 3 weeks.

 

Then you can gradually start, lifting your legs & other ones.

 

Atleast you have to exercise for 45 mins or 1 hour per session.

 

If you had a cesarean-section with midline surgical incision, extensive vaginal repair or a complicated birth, talk to your docotr about when to start an exercise program.

 

Dr. Yapa Wijeratne