Postpartum recovery exercises are usually performed within a few weeks after delivery.

Healthy mothers who have given birth naturally without side incision or tear can start doing low-intensity basic recovery exercises 2-3 days after delivery.； For women with vaginal incision or second-degree tear or above, it is recommended to postpone the start until 1-2 weeks after delivery and the wound pain is significantly relieved. ； Women who have had a cesarean section must wait at least 2 weeks after delivery and the abdominal wound has basically healed before they can start. All women who have had a cesarean section are not allowed to do high-intensity movements such as running, jumping, abdominal crunches, and plank support until the prenatal check-up at 6 weeks after delivery confirms that the reproductive system has been completely reset.

Not long ago, I accompanied my cousin who had just given birth to a confinement center. I happened to catch up with the head nurse giving a talk to new mothers about postpartum recovery. She also specifically mentioned that the information on the Internet is too mixed. It either says that you have to lie down for 30 days and cannot move, or that you can practice your vest line one week after giving birth. They go to extremes on both sides, which makes many people confused about the time.

I met a mother who had a second child before. She didn’t have a lateral incision when her first pregnancy was normal. The nurse came to teach her to do abdominal breathing and ankle pumps while lying down on the second day after the birth. On the third day, she added Kegel exercises. They can be done while lying down. The amplitude is very small and will not cause wounds. She said that her waist was less sore after doing it. Another friend had a serious tear when she was pregnant. She had to use a soft cushion when sitting for a week before giving birth. The nurse asked her to only do ankle pumps to avoid involving the perineal wound. After the wound stopped hurting around the 10th day, she slowly added pelvic floor muscle training.

Speaking of this, some people must have thought of the advice of the elders in the family: "After giving birth, you must wait for a full month before going to the ground. If you move too early, the root cause of the disease will be caused." In fact, this is not completely wrong. In the era when the old concept was formed, people generally had poor nutritional conditions. Many mothers were already weak in qi and blood after giving birth. They were prone to dizziness and falling when they went to the ground, so they asked to lie down more. Now, as long as you don't feel obvious dizziness or pain when you get up, moving appropriately can prevent blood clots in the lower limbs, and can also help the uterus contract and expel lochia, which is better than lying in bed all the time. Of course, if you feel weak and weak, it's totally fine to lie down for a few more days. You don't have to force yourself to move.

Mothers who had a cesarean section should be more cautious. My colleague had a cesarean section last year and she had to hold her stomach even when she coughed a week ago. The doctor only asked her to slowly get out of bed and walk two steps every day to avoid intestinal adhesion, and she was not allowed to do any other movements. When she went to remove the sutures on the 14th day, the doctor saw that the scab on her wound had grown well and there was no pain when pressed, so he asked her to start doing very light abdominal breathing. He also specifically told her not to force her belly tightly for fear of pulling on the inner layer of the wound to heal.

Nowadays, many fitness bloggers like to share cases of "losing weight again after confinement" and advocate starting core exercises one week after delivery. This is actually opposed by clinicians. During pregnancy, your pelvic floor muscles have carried the weight for ten months, like a rubber band that has been stretched to the limit. They are still in a relaxed state after giving birth, and most of the rectus abdominis muscles are separated to varying degrees. At this time, if you blindly do abdominal crunches and plank support, it will increase the pressure on the pelvic floor muscles, and you may end up with problems like urinary leakage and organ prolapse. Of course, this does not mean that the cases reported by these bloggers are all false. Some mothers have been exercising all year round before pregnancy, and their core strength is good. They do recover faster after giving birth than ordinary people. However, this situation is not suitable for most people, and there is no need to strictly benchmark them.

In fact, there is no need to get stuck on the time point. There is a very simple criterion for judgment: after you finish a set of exercises, you don’t have lower abdomen sagging, backache, increased bleeding, or wound pain. Then this intensity is suitable for you. If you feel uncomfortable after doing it, stop immediately, rest for two days and then try at a lower volume. Don’t bear it hard.

I have seen too many mothers who are anxious about their figure right after giving birth and follow online tutorials to practice blindly. As a result, problems arise and it takes longer to repair. To be honest, postpartum recovery is a matter that varies from person to person. Your own physical experience is more reliable than any standard timetable. If you are really uncertain, just asking your obstetrician when you go for a prenatal check-up next time will be more useful than watching ten hours of short parenting videos.