Mom Blog
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4 Things You Can Start Doing Today To Improve Your Posture After Pregnancy
As your pregnancy progresses, the added weight can wreak havoc on your back and your posture. But there some easy things you can do to quickly improve your posture after pregnancy, including the use of postpartum shapewear and C-Section shapewear. Here are some of our top tips:
1. Wear a Postpartum Recovery Garment
Designed to relieve pain, support your body and help it to recover, postpartum recovery garments are a great way to jump start your recovery process. Look for post pregnancy garments that provide compression and structure to stabilize your midsection, hips, and lower back. Another feature to look for is an anatomical crotch panel that protects and supports perineal tears and episiotomy incisions. And don’t forget that not all deliveries should be treated equal. A natural/vaginal delivery requires very different support than a C-section so look for a recovery garment customized for either a natural delivery or a C-section.
2. Sit Up Straight
When your mom said “sit up straight,” she was right! Practicing sitting up straight will improve your post pregnancy posture and make it a habit, relieving back pain, tight shoulders and other complications from bad posture. Take some advice from The Cleveland Clinic’s correct posture and body mechanics during pregnancy on how to sit up straight:- Sit up with your back straight and your shoulders back. Your buttocks should touch the back of your chair.
- Sit with a back support (such as a small, rolled-up towel or a lumbar roll) placed at the hollow of your back.
- Find a good sitting position when you’re not using a back support or lumbar roll. First sitting at the end of your chair and slouch completely. Then draw yourself up and accentuate the curve of your back as far as possible. Hold for a few seconds. Then finally, release the position slightly (about 10 degrees).
3. Nurse with Support
Using a Boppy, or other supportive pillows and the proper nursing positions will help improve your posture post pregnancy. We found The Baby Center to have some great tips on proper breastfeeding positions.
4. Perform Sho
rt & Quick Exercises
The first set of exercises can be done from day one, as long as you did not have any complications or are on any restrictions from your doctor. Each of these exercises will tone your belly, strengthen you spine for stability and lifting and improve your shoulder stance, which may have rounded. For nine months your body has expanded and now it must go through the process of shrinking. You can help your body along by performing simple exercises to help with bladder control, promote circulation, strengthen the abdominal walls and help your body to recover. We found these eight moves straight from Pregnancy and Baby by Lindsey Jackson, expert in Pilates for pregnant women and postpartum moms.
All of these exercises and explanations can be found here on Pregnancy & Baby - Jelly Belly? : Improving abs and posture after birth in eight easy moves
Exercise 1: Pelvic floor
Fast and slow pelvic floor lifts not only regain bladder control of this stretched and bruised area, but also promote circulation (which will help ease swelling) and begin to tone the deep abdominal muscles that work in conjunction with the pelvic floor.Exercise 2: Static tummy contractions
Each time you feed your baby, tighten your belly and hold it for the count of ten. Repeat ten times. These are tummy flatteners.Exercise 3: Pelvic tilts
Tilting your pelvis requires a gentle contraction of Rectus Abdominus, your "curl-up" muscle. This has been stretched for nine months so it needs some help shortening again! Post Six Week Check Up Moves: With an OK from your doctor, here are more toning moves you can do in about 10 minutes each day to help strengthen and recover.Exercise 4: Leg slides
Building up this core strength in your tummy will also prevent hip movement during the exercise.Exercise 5: Shoulder squeezes
Great for keeping your shoulders from rounding.Exercise 6: "Swimming"
This is a classic Pilates-based move that engages the muscles running the length of your spine. It's very safe and simple but VERY effective. Concentrate on executing it with great control and minimal movement of your torso.Exercise 7: Chest/shoulder stretch
Letting the chest and shoulders open out is vital for neck and upper back posture. This is compromised with the feeding and cuddling we do for a new baby.Exercise 8: Shoulder bridges
Based on a classic Pilates move this releases tension in the spine, strengthens it and also gently stretches across the hips for a woman who has recently had a baby. A wonderful move!Shop for Pregnancy and Postpartum Support
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If You Are a First Time Mom-to-Be...Keep Your Expectations Real
Babies take a huge amount of energy.
While you might have felt drained during pregnancy, it's after delivery that you may feel the most drained due to caring for a newborn and lack of sleep.
What was once all about taking care of you and the baby is now YOU taking care of the baby. At this point many moms may feel disenchanted with what they thought would be a magical time of bringing baby home.
Reality sets in.
Parenting is hard.
It's gross dealing with poopy diapers and getting peed and spit on. It's unthankful work.
The baby doesn't care about your needs, only itself.
It's lonely. Especially if you don't have family nearby or you may feel isolated from your friends who do not have kids and still have their social lives.
Friday nights out are now Friday nights in.
Dinner is whatever you can grab and shove in your face while eating one handed.
Have you ever had to take laundry out of the washer one handful at a time or do dishes while holding a baby?
You are tired, frustrated, maybe angry, maybe even crying at times...but... when they sleep and you are holding them. The world stands still and you want to freeze that moment forever.
It is one of the most peaceful moments you get to have in this life. It makes the world right again.
If you are a first time mom-to-be... keep your expectations of those first few months real.
They are hard. Your body will seem very different during the healing process. Hormones readjusting to pre-baby mode will make you think crazy things.
Remember though, when your days are long and nights are short and you feel like you are at the end of your rope and everything about being a new mom is harder than you ever dreamed... You are doing things right and YOU are a GREAT mom because you are working so hard for your baby. And that little being that has turned your world upside down for both good and bad, is totally worth it (even if they only let you have a few hours of good rest a night).
Taking Care of Yourself After Pregnancy
Support Your Body After Baby With our C-Section Recovery Kit or our Traditional Delivery Recovery Kit
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5 Tips for Traveling During Pregnancy
Traveling has it challenges, but doing it while pregnant is even more challenging. If you plan to spend any significant time sitting in a car, train or plane, backaches are a huge concern.
Here are some simple tips to help you alleviate those pregnancy backaches while traveling.
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Wear a maternity support belly band – Look for a pregnancy belt that is made of lightweight and breathable materials, yet can still offer enough support. Maternity belly bands help distribute the baby weight and provide immediate relief from their aches and pains. In addition to relieving back aches, a good maternity belly band will alleviate pressure on the abdomen, hips and pelvis, as well as improve circulation and reduce swelling.
- Take short walks – If traveling by air, plane or boat, taking short walks helps keep the blood flowing and prevents muscles from tightening up. If you are hitting the road, stop ever few hours to walk it out. You will likely need to stop to use the bathroom anyway, so you can kill two birds with one stone.
- Stretch – Most travel requires long hours of sitting – one of the worst culprits of backaches. Stretching helps increase blood flow and get oxygen to your back and your baby. Reaching for the sky, doing foot circles, shoulder shrugs, leaning side to side and arching your back can all be done from the comfort of your seat. Check out WebMD for some sample stretches you can do while sitting.
- Pay attention to posture – Slouching is a bad habit that is simple to solve. Sitting-up straight removes unnecessary pressure on the lower back and neck and will do wonders for your backaches.
- Stay hydrated – Keeping hydrated is critical to preventing muscles from cramping up, another leading cause of backaches.
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Wear a maternity support belly band – Look for a pregnancy belt that is made of lightweight and breathable materials, yet can still offer enough support. Maternity belly bands help distribute the baby weight and provide immediate relief from their aches and pains. In addition to relieving back aches, a good maternity belly band will alleviate pressure on the abdomen, hips and pelvis, as well as improve circulation and reduce swelling.
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How to Shop for a Postpartum Belly Band
By now, you have likely heard of postpartum belly bands. The promise to help you whip your post-partum body back into shape is a proposition that is hard to resist. But with various types of belly bands and garments on the market, many moms are left wondering what the big differences are. So they typically end up buying the most heavily marketed brand, or the cheapest one; neither of which ends up being a good fit for them (literally and figuratively). That is why we decided to come up with the top questions to ask yourself when shopping for a post-pregnancy belly band or support garment. So here we go …
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Does the garment cover all the areas impacted by your pregnancy (not just your waist like a typical belly band)? Look for a support garment that supports the belly, waist, back, hips, buttocks and thighs. This will eliminate the need to buy multiple garments for the affected areas.
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Is the band or garment tailored for your delivery type (e.g. vaginal delivery vs. C-section delivery)? Support for a C-section is very different than support for a vaginal delivery.
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Is the band/garment breathable and lightweight? This is a huge comfort benefit over bulky elastic or foam belly bands. We all sweat and some more than others, especially depending on where you live.
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Does the garment support a body in motion? Remember, the garment should be supportive and tight, but not restrictive. Corset-like garments, bands or belts with no give may cutoff circulation and potentially cause discomfort and/or hinder your recovery. Look for a material that supports and gives, without restriction. A good test: if you can’t comfortably bend over it in, then it’s not the right product. Plus, how the heck can you pick up your new baby if you can’t even bend over?
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Can you wear it under clothing? Most bulky belly bands can be easily spotted under clothes so unless you plan on never going out, you won’t wear it. Look for a garment that is undetectable under all clothing types so you can wear it inside and outside of the home.
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Do you constantly have to adjust the band as it keeps riding up? You are (or will be) busy enough tending to your little one. Look for a garment or band that you can put on and forget about it until it is time to take it off.
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Does the garment provide graded levels of support in the key areas? Belly bands provide the same level of support throughout. However, a post-partum mom needs varying levels of support on the different parts of her body and based on where she is at in the healing process. For example, imagine how painful it would be to have course, restrictive fabric or elastic rubbing up against a fresh C-section or episiotomy tear.
View the Body After Baby Postpartum Belly Bands
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Pregnant and Traveling? 5 Tips to Alleviate Back Pain
Thanksgiving is the most traveled day of the year with nearly 47 million Americans predicted to travel more than 50 miles from home this year. Travelling on the busiest travel day alone has it challenges, but doing it while pregnant is even more challenging. If you plan to spend any significant time sitting in a car, train or plane, backaches are a huge concern. Here are some simple tips to help you alleviate those pregnancy backaches while travelling.
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Wear a maternity support belly band – Look for a pregnancy belt that is made of lightweight and breathable materials, yet can still offer enough support. Maternity belly bands help distribute the baby weight and provide immediate relief from their aches and pains. In addition to relieving back aches, a good maternity belly band will alleviate pressure on the abdomen, hips and pelvis, as well as improve circulation and reduce swelling.
- Take short walks – If travelling by air, plane or boat, taking short walks helps keep the blood flowing and prevents muscles from tightening up. If you are hitting the road, stop ever few hours to walk it out. You will likely need to stop to use the bathroom anyway, so you can kill two birds with one stone.
- Stretch – Most travel requires long hours of sitting – one of the worst culprits of backaches. Stretching helps increase blood flow and get oxygen to your back and your baby. Reaching for the sky, doing foot circles, shoulder shrugs, leaning side to side and arching your back can all be done from the comfort of your seat. Check out WebMD for some sample stretches you can do while sitting.
- Pay attention to posture – Slouching is a bad habit that is simple to solve. Sitting-up straight removes unnecessary pressure on the lower back and neck and will do wonders for your backaches.
- Stay hydrated – Keeping hydrated is critical to preventing muscles from cramping up, another leading cause of backaches.
-
Wear a maternity support belly band – Look for a pregnancy belt that is made of lightweight and breathable materials, yet can still offer enough support. Maternity belly bands help distribute the baby weight and provide immediate relief from their aches and pains. In addition to relieving back aches, a good maternity belly band will alleviate pressure on the abdomen, hips and pelvis, as well as improve circulation and reduce swelling.
rt & Quick Exercises
