08/06/2026
Your 6 week NHS check up isn’t a clearance to return to exercise, here’s why ⬇️
1. Your readiness to exercise has most likely not been checked.
It’s not a postnatal check if - Your pelvic floor hasn’t been assessed, your abdominal control hasn’t been assessed, your c-section scar hasn’t been properly assessed, your whole body hasn’t been checked for aches or pains that you can do something about.
2. You haven’t been asked if your coping, how your feeling in yourself or if you need more support.
Your body hasn’t just gone through one of hardest things it’s capable of, yet you’re expected just to get on with it like you haven’t just given birth. Your hormones are going crazy, there’s lots of new things you now have to do and think about, and that can have a huge impact on mental health. You shouldn’t have to do it alone.
For some, 6/8 weeks isn’t nearly enough time before returning to or starting exercise, but for others, it might be way too long to wait.
For some, getting out and chatting to other mums as soon as you can, could make a huge impact in your postpartum journey. Being able to hear someone else say “my baby does that too” is sometimes all you need to hear to make your day easier.
The point being, your journey is personal, and the postpartum healing process is individual to every single mum. What works for one person, might not work for another.
But new research is pointing us in the direction of removing the timescale to return to exercise, and bringing it down to the individual and how they feel, but also what we even mean by ‘exercise’.
Every mum deserves a proper check up assessment before & after birth, and where right now you can’t get that from an NHS pelvic health physio (unless you have ‘severe’ symptoms and are willing to wait months for it) you can get it from some amazing private pelvic health physios doing amazing work.
Here’s some you should absolutely check out;
knsphysio
If you have questions or concerns about pre or postpartum exercise readiness, drop me a message 🙋🏼♀️
