Postpartum physical therapy: 3 exercises at home

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Pregnancy and childbirth can put a lot of stress on your body and then burden you with annoying complaints. Therefore, it is important to strengthen the muscles of the pelvis and around it again. A physiotherapist can help you with this in the form of postpartum exercises.

Also read: The importance of the pelvic floor: Half of pregnant women experience urine loss

What is physical therapy after childbirth?

Postpartum physiotherapy consists of the exercises you do after giving birth under the supervision of a physiotherapist. The exercises are primarily aimed at the pelvic floor and abdominal muscles. You can start treatment four to five weeks after a normal delivery. With a caesarean section, it is best to wait six to seven weeks before beginning to exercise.

Read also: Why aren’t pelvic floor exercises just important for pregnant women?

Why physical therapy after childbirth?

The goal of treatment is to improve your posture, restore trunk stability, and resume sporting activities. Complaints such as lower back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, sore abdominal muscles, fluid retention or involuntary loss of urine can be addressed with postpartum exercises.

Also read: Involuntary loss of urine: stress enuresis or stress enuresis

exercises at home

Depending on your complaint, the physiotherapist will teach you some specific exercises. You can also perform these exercises at home. Some examples of postpartum exercises:

Lie on your back with your legs bent. Tighten the pelvic floor muscles by closing and pulling them in. In this way you can practice the closing and supporting function of these muscles. Then relax your pelvic floor muscles. Do a set of ten exercises, at least three times a day, lying on your back, lying on your side, sitting or standing.
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Put your hands on your stomach and take a deep breath. With proper abdominal breathing, your belly rises and falls as you breathe. Then try to pull in your stomach a little each time you exhale. This is a good exercise for toning the abdominal muscles.
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your pelvis tilted toward you, keeping your buttocks on the floor. Press your lower back into the floor as hard as you can. Your navel moves toward your spine and a little higher in this exercise. Hold this position for ten seconds and repeat the exercise ten times. This is how you strengthen your abdominal muscles.

Also read: Exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor

Physiotherapy compensation after childbirth

Postpartum physical therapy is reimbursed by most health insurance companies. You are entitled to nine refundable sessions. You choose how these sessions are distributed in the period before and after childbirth. Sessions are scheduled by the general practitioner or gynecologist.

A session with a contracted physiotherapist costs between 25 and 30 euros. The non-traditional physiotherapist chooses his own rates. It is recommended to follow at least two physical sessions per week for 30 minutes to an hour.

Also Read: Half of Mothers Have Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP)

Also read: “Replace ‘pelvic instability’ with ‘pelvic pain and low back pain’”

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Last updated: July 2023

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Postpartum physical therapy: 3 exercises at home