There’s no doubt that your body changes dramatically throughout pregnancy and beyond. Your posture changes, all of your internal organs are moved around the place, your ligaments relax, your pelvis shifts and your skin stretches. And that’s just to name a few! It can be very easy to look at your body after you’ve had your baby and not recognise the person looking back at you in the mirror… Especially if you were active before you fell pregnant. And there’s no doubt that there’s more pressure to bounce back after having a baby. But is rushing back into exercise straight after you give birth a wise move?nDepends on how you do it!nFirst of all, your body has been through such a huge journey, and regardless of your birthing experience, you’ll be recovering for weeks. Your ligaments take time to tighten again, and everything internally will slowly find its way back to its original place!nSecondly, having a newborn is an all-consuming experience, and for a small human who sleeps for much of their day initially, there’s not a lot of time for much else! (Change nappy, feed, burp, sleep, repeat). Little newborn Noah!nBut if you’re still keen to get moving, here’s a simple checklist for how you can ease back into exercise. 1. Before you do anything, get checked by a women’s health nurse/physio. Even if you feel great, a great women’s nurse/physio may be able to identify areas of weakness that you weren’t even aware of. 2. Get walking. Not only is it a gentle form of exercise, it’s a great way to get you and your baby out of the house and into some fresh air. I know in the early days with my first born, it was all too easy to stay indoors for days on end – don’t get stuck there! 3. Work that pelvic floor. Because we can’t see our pelvic floor muscles, they are often forgotten about. But by simply doing a few sets of gentle exercises daily, you’ll feel a massive improvement! 4. Find a trainer who is qualified in pre/post natal training. There’s so many exercises that need to be avoided in the early days after having a baby, and you can do some serious damage by going too hard too soon. Of course, we’d love you to come to our Mums n Bubs classes, but there’s many different forms of exercise you can do. Pilates, for example, is a great way to build your strength up again. Just make sure the trainer/coach you decide to work with has done a course specific to training pregnant women – you don’t want to be injured and caring for a new baby! 5. Go easy on yourself. I told myself that it took 9 months to grow a baby, and it will take at least 9 months to get back to some form of normality with my body. And here I am, 15 months after having my second, and my body is still very different to what it used to be. In fact, it probably won’t EVER be the same. But that’s ok, because I have 2 healthy, happy kids to wake up to (ok, who wake me up!) every single day. Be proud of your body for your pregnancy and birthing journey and exercise because you love to move and be active, not as a punishment for not having the body you once had…