Running After Baby

Have you had a child (or perhaps two or three) and feel like you are living in a different body?

Are you struggling with getting back to your favourite activities or just chasing after your children because you don’t have the strength or you’re in too much pain? Do you have trouble controlling your bladder when you run, jump, cough or sneeze? Are you frustrated that you can’t get rid of the baby belly even after working on your abs for months?

Pregnancy and childbirth change your body in significant ways. While you are pregnant, the abdominal muscles slowly get stretched and sometimes separate in the middle in order to accommodate for the baby (diastasis). The hormone relaxin is released to allow your ligaments to stretch and the bones in your pelvis to move so there is more space for the baby.

Your posture changes because of the change in your body’s shape. The pressure of the baby up on your diaphragm can alter your breathing and the way the diaphragm contracts.
When you give birth, there is stretching and possibly tearing of the pelvic floor muscles and connective tissue and sometimes damage to the joint at the front or back of the pelvis. If you have a C-Section, the layers of abdominal muscles are cut.

All these things significantly impact your body’s stabilizing systems. Your “inner core” muscles form a canister that, when working optimally, will stabilize your spine and pelvis, giving your limbs a strong foundation on which to move and providing a good support to your pelvic organs.
These muscles don’t automatically regain normal function after delivery, so if you try to go back to your pre-baby activities, it can feel like it is a lot more effort and that you don’t have the strength or control that you used to. If you push on without restoring your optimal alignment, control and strength in your core, you will likely use non-optimal movement patterns that put you at risk for repeated injuries to your back, pelvis, hips, neck as well as possible prolapse of your bladder or uterus.

You can feel good again though! With a thorough assessment of your posture, breathing, and muscle function experienced therapists (and mums ourselves!) at Trimetrics can tailor a treatment program to get you up and running enjoying both your baby and your body again.

We will do a detailed biomechanics assessment of your posture, alignment and motor control including using a real time ultrasound machine to assess your abdominal and pelvic floor function. We will also assess for a diastasis. We offer rehabilitative pilates, an extremely effective way to improve your posture, rebuild your stability, mobility and strength and prepare your body to run (or hike, ski, dance, spin) with ease and pleasure again after baby.

Shawna Murray, BscPT, FCAMT, CGIMS, Cert Med Acupuncture
Phone 604-982-0366
www.trimetricsphysio.com