a physically positive postpartum guide, PART 2! (6 months pregnant)
chapters:
quick definition
what to consider
rest
recovery products
any exercises?
patience
If you have come from one of my previous blogs on how to plan for a positive postpartum: MENTALLY (part 1), then welcome-on over! If you haven’t yet checked that one out, then you might benefit from having a look if planning for a positive postpartum is a priority for you.
This blog post will not be about preparing for labour, since I will make a separate blog post on “tips for an easy labour: how I am preparing my BODY”. BUT, will be about how we can plan, now, to look after our bodies, postpartum, so we can have a more positive experience.
This blog post is for EVERY girl who is pregnant, or planning to be at some point.
Taking care of our SELF, mentally and physically, is important always, and shouldn’t stop being a priority during postpartum.
It may be harder, yes, to juggle or find the time, BUT that comes with the reality of entering a new “normal” with anything in life. We need to just try a little harder, and that doesn’t have to be a bad thing!
We started with Part 1: being all about mentally setting ourselves-up for a positive postpartum, since our mind is a strong force in driving our reality. But, Part 2: will be all about how we can equip ourselves to be our most optimal physically, during postpartum recovery.
Planning for both a positive mental AND physical postpartum helps us in ways we don’t even consciously realise at-present.
quick definition
…of what a positive postpartum means to me:
We hear a lot about the term “positive postpartum “ online, in the recent times, defined by Google AI as (in other words): when a woman receives support and access to information that helps them feel confidence in adjusting to the changes presented whilst entering a new role of motherhood.
TO ME: a positive postpartum is one that may still be challenging and difficult to navigate, of course, as with anything that is new and carries a lot of responsibility, BUT that ALSO feels manageable, we feel the openness to receive the joy that might come from it, and feels like an era that has the potential to make you happier than you ever thought.
Starting as an unwanted pregnancy for me, the concept of “happier than you ever thought” still feels very distant and foreign to me, but I have started feeling some tiny glimmers of joy, that I have spoken about here.
Regardless, even if the happiness doesn’t come naturally to you as an unplanned, and first-time, mother; a positive postpartum to me is at least one that involves a smooth recovery without physical complications, and not this sense of unmanageable or unbearable overload and overwhelm.
Physically-speaking, to me, a positive postpartum looks like one where I can recover smoothly; one without complications, one where I have prepared myself (tips in this blog post!) to best aid postpartum recovery physically, and one where I am patient with myself. One that feels like a natural process.
what to consider?
You MIGHT be wondering, well:
“what can you actually DO to prepare now for a positive postpartum physically?”
“doesn’t that just depend on how your labour experience is?”
Partially, yes, you are right.
Since a more brutal labour experience (not all of them have to be!), can influence how much recovery you physically need, and whether you feel pain postpartum or not.
HOWEVER, chances are, we will ALL feel some level of discomfort or pain, after the EXTREME event that is giving birth. So, even though, there are labour-factors that may influence our physical bodies postpartum, and how we feel physically, there are STILL things we can do now to not have to figure out when the time comes.
These things are all tips to take care of your body postpartum, and show as much grace as possible to your self, your mind, and what your body has just gone through; for 9-MONTHS or so!
To help prepare for a positive postpartum, physically, we need to consider (the following chapters):
our potential mobility reduction / rest
recovery products
any exercises? (not what you think!)
patience
postpartum plans
Of course, it might be that 1-week postpartum, you are READY to take on your usual daily tasks, and not really need much physical recovery from postpartum. However, these will be all tips to help you JUST IN CASE, you might need some extra support or guidance for recovery.
Each pregnancy, each woman, and therefore, each postpartum is unique, and THAT IS OKAY.
Everything we cover here is to give you the tools and support, you might need, to strengthen your support network to ensure as much of a positive postpartum experience as possible.
rest
The first way we can plan to have a positive postpartum physically is by knowing we will need A LOT MORE rest.
1. Take traditional rest: laying down, sitting down most of your first few days or weeks.
Once again, it may be that you don’t find yourself in this category, and you don’t actually NEED the rest, but in most cases, women will need to rest postpartum as a way of our body having the opportunity to focus all its energy and fuel into recovering from any wounds, and rearranging your organs back to a non-pregnant way.
This takes time, and energy, so it is normal to feel more tired, more easily.
You might find that simple activities EXHAUST YOU, and that is okay.
After all, your body has just engaged in one of the most extreme sports that is CHIILDBIRTH!
Rest will look different to each person; for some this may be laying down (I have seen a lot about the 5-5-5 rule-trend on Tiktok), for others this may be moving around but delegating home choirs to family members who come over to support.
It really is a personal interpretation, but what matters is that you engage in the rest that suits YOU.
2. ALSO, our mobility and physical capability may be reduced.
Resting can come in the form of giving yourself the awareness and reassurance of where you might be at physically. In other words, your ability to move yur body as freely or easily.
You might not be as physically capable initially, postpartum, as your pre-pregnancy self. This one is all about managing your own expectations of your CAPABILITY.
It may be that you cannot move as smoothly, easily, as flexibly, since you may be feeling sore, weak or in some pain.
Knowing this allows us to not respond as negatively, or frustrated-ly at the potential of this happening.
We just have to keep reminding ourselves that our bodies are going through a postpartum process, which includes a gradual transition back to your original physical capability or mobility.
You might find that you might need to ask for help more-often, during this time, and that’s completely valid and normal! Don’t feel ashamed to ask for help.
The people around you should know that you will have EXTRA NEEDS physically, during postpartum. It isn’t only the baby, who will need some looking after, but you too.
3. Don’t make social plans for your postpartum
Interpreting rest can come in diverse ways, but one typical advice you will hear for postpartum, in terms of your physical rest is “to not make any social plans for postpartum”.
There is a REASON for such repetition of this advice, since you can’t really PREDICT how you will feel or what your capability will be, during the postpartum phase (which can be anywhere from six-to-eight weeks after giving birth, or further).
I get that some girlies might be the most excited to step-into their non-pregnant selves, and get into making plans, dressing up cute, sipping some cocktails, and going out!
I’m not saying you can’t still do this, but maybe don’t make a fixed plan for it. Like, don’t make a reservation, a booking, pay deposits for an experience, or so on.
Maybe just keep these ideas in-mind, and then see how you feel as you go through postpartum.
It’s a more flexible way to approach anything you may want to do, postpartum, which makes it more relaxing for you regardless!
The LAST THING WE WANT to do, is to set ourselves up with social plans 4-weeks postpartum, or so, and then be filled with guilt or shame for not being physically capable to go to these events. We don’t want to impose that time-pressure on ourselves.
Allow yourself time, free-of-plans, to honour the needs of your physical body.
Childbirth is an incredible event, in how it’s even physically possible…give yourself credit and embody empwowerment from it, because yes, YOU DID DO THAT.
FOR ME:
I intend to see how I physically respond during postpartum, to then see how I go about rest.
However, I definitely aim to traditionally rest a lot more!
I only have 1 plan, that was booked before I found out I was pregnant, which is the Dua Lipa concert in London 2025. I’m excited, but also unsure as to whether I can still make it since it might be about 6-weeks postpartum, roughly. However, if not, I will just try to sell my ticket because I need to prioritise my needs first, to THEN get back to adventures and experiences!
Establishing our rest, and how this may manifest itself for us, during postpartum, allows us to plan-ahead to have a more positive postpartum, since we will not be as worried or concerned or feeling like we “should be doing more”. DEFINITELY NOT, YOU JUST PUSHED OUT A WHOLE BABY.
Get some rest girl!
recovery products
The second way we can plan to have a positive postpartum physically is by preparing products that will help our bodies recover: quicker and more smoothly.
I have seen certain online advice listing ENDLESS AMOUNTS of products. No. That IS NOT what we are about to do here.
What is simpler is best, and with everything else we already have on our minds (with pregnancy, labour, and life with a newborn) we want to keep our physical recovery nice and easy; WITHOUT skimping on the self-care our body needs.
Postpartum recovery products are mostly for the areas of our bodies that are affected, or have been, by:
Pregnancy (stretch marks on our belly, or leaking nipples when breasts are preparing for possible breastfeeding)
Labour (any tears, mostly vaginal or skin, C-section-related)
Life with a newborn (for example; belly bands to help our abdominal muscles come back to its place)
For context, I have chosen to NOT breastfeed (another blog post created on it) so I won’t include any products related to breastfeeding.
The short-and-simple postpartum recovery products list I am using, to promote a positive physical postpartum experience, is:
Perineal bottles
Postpartum perineal bottles help keep our vaginal areas cleansed when we go toilet; specially if we had stitches or tearing, during labour.
HOW-TO-USE: You fill the bottle with warm water, and just squeeze when you need. It goes directly up to our vaginal area and is very easy to use.
This perineal bottle from Boots UK is only £15 (not an affiliate link).
Disposable postpartum underwear
“Why to use disposable postpartum underwear?” Well, instead of your usual underwear, you will need supportive, long and extra absorbent underwear for the heavy blood-flow post-childbirth; which can last around 6-weeks or more postpartum.
You can just use your underwear and layer on a maxi pad (the next product), but you will need to change your pad every hour-or-so, which might damage your underwear.
This 8-pack from FridaMom is only £15 (not an affiliate link).
Maxi Pads
“What are maxi pads used for?” Maxi pads are like period pads, but thicker and better-prepared to capture all the postpartum discharge our bodies may release, such as blood clots, bladder leaks, and general postpartum bleeding.
You will need a GOOD STOCK of these, to keep changing frequently during the first few days, and weeks, of postpartum.
This 18-pack from FridaMom is only £10 (not an affiliate link).
Nipple Pads
You might be wondering why I included this maternity product, if I am not breastfeeding, but this might be needed EVEN IF you don’t breastfeed.
“Why do breasts leak postpartum?” Your body might not know yet, in the postpartum days, that you are not breastfeeding, so it produces milk anyway and might leak from your nipples. After some time, your body will understand you are not pumping, you do not need the milk supply, and will stop.
But until then, using nipple pads under bras or clothes, can avoid any leakages or wet discomfort we might feel.
These breast pads from Boots are a 40-pack for just-under £2 (not an affiliate link).
Postpartum belly band
A postpartum belly band is a flexible band that slightly compresses your abdomen and back.
“What are belly bands used for postpartum?” These belly bands help keep your organs in-place, whilst your body recovers. It provides support to your abdominal muscles, back relief, and support to your pelvic floor after giving birth. BUT, IS NOT MEANT TO BE too tight, hurting you, or uncomfortable.
These bands are not to be used like waist-trainers, no matter how eager we are to get our waists and bellies more synched again. Girl, that will come with time, don’t you worry. We just need some patience.
This postpartum bell band from Boots is only just-under £31 (not an affiliate link).
These are all the postpartum recovery products I will be using for my body, and is just a guide for any girlies out there who do not want to think too much, or have the most extensive list, BUT THAT DO want to target all-levels of self-care possible.
Of course, we may need an extra product, or two, depending on our labour experience, but I would say the list above covers most bases, to plan for as much of a positive physical recovery from postpartum, as possible!
any exercises?
The third way you can plan to have a positive postpartum, physically, is by doing pelvic floor exercises during postpartum (not necessarily referring to during pregnancy or pre-labour).
NOW HEAR ME OUT… I am not about to rant on this one because I simply don’t do it myself whilst pregnant or to prepare for labour, so I don’t want to rave about something I might NOT EVEN DO.
You might be wondering “why are you mentioning it then?”.
WELL, even though I don’t do any pelvic floor exercises, I didn’t want to withdraw this knowledge from any girlies who would benefit from (we probably all would!) or would be interested in taking-on this step to being more physically prepared for a positive postpartum!
There’s no specific reason why I don’t do it, except, it’s just one of those things I think I would do; depending on how labour goes.
Therefore, I MIGHT do these exercises but it really depends on how I feel. Either way, I find it useful to know about pelvic floor exercises so I can do these exercises postpartum, if I feel it might help me have a more positive postpartum experience; physically.
The MAIN benefit of making sure we look after our pelvic floor postpartum is to avoid incontinence, make sure you have low chances of back pain, and to also make sure you can have a good sex-life with as much sexual function as possible (orgasms, experiencing arousal).
Some BASICS of what pelvic floor exercises are:
“what are pelvic floor exercises?”
Pelvic floor exercises simply mean doing exercises for to strengthen your pelvic muscles; which are the ones that help you push out the baby but ALSO
“what pelvic floor muscles do?”
These muscles are crucial in stretching open to make room for the baby, during labour
Our pelvic floor also helps push out the baby, through the contractions we feel
“how does my pelvic floor need recovery?”
After stretching and pushing during labour, postpartum pelvic floor needs a lot of exercise to help TIGHTEN these muscles again
“how to tighten pelvic floor postpartum?”
Avoid lifting in the first few days postpartum
Start some light stretching, when you feel ready
Then some light abdominal exercises
Work this up in slight intensity as your body communicates with you
“how long does it take for your pelvic floor to recover?”
It can take about 4-weeks or longer for our pelvic floor to recover after childbirth, so be patient with yourself!
We just had a quick CRASH-COURSE on all-things pelvic floor, and how to recover our pelvic floor postpartum.
For follow-along pelvic floor exercises postpartum, there are many good options on Youtube like the below two options. (With the Youtube channel on the below-right being dedicated solely to pregnancy and postpartum recovery, which is AMAZING!).
If you’re from the UK (London-based girlie here), then you would know about the NHS as our National Healthcare system. I will leave a link (attached here) for pelvic floor exercises information for any postpartum girlies who want to have a look or start doing!
At the end of the day, it is completely YOUR BODY, YOUR CHOICE. No matter what advice gets thrown at you and your body, during postpartum, be set in what you want and what aligns with you.
This is just another tip to help you recover physically from postpartum, but is not something you MUST do.
Your body knows how to heal on its own; this just speeds up the recovery a bit more, and might help with physical symptoms you might have during postpartum, as discussed earlier!
patience
The fourth, and final, way you can plan to have a positive postpartum experience, PHYSICALLY is by reminding yourself to be patient.
Not to be patient, or to practice patience, but to REMIND YOURSELF of patience.
Patience will be one of our best friends, during postpartum, in every way possible, and our physical recovery is no exception here.
I am not telling you to simply “be patient” because we will inevitably get frustrated, and annoyed at certain things, whether its our incapability to do easy physical tasks, or at the slower speeds at which our bodies might be recovering. The KEY is to, in those moments, remind yourselves to be patient.
It took your body 9-months to prepare for childbirth, and labour. It won’t take your body 1-month to get back to how you were pre-pregnancy.
It can be hard, because we want to feel good, we want to look good, and we want to feel good with how we look!
We might also dip into self-comparisons with what we see on social media, what we hear from people we know, but don’t go down that route. I always say, and I say it again, every pregnancy is unique, every woman is unique, and so is every postpartum recovery journey…
Here are some guided-steps to make it easier for you to stay close to your patience throughout physical postpartum:
stay away from social media postpartum, unless you follow body-positive influencers or content that show the REALITY of how different postpartum bodies can be, and only if you feel UPLIFTED from it
avoid comparing yourself to others. You might do this, as we all tend to, but pull yourself away from it when you are. Practice self-awareness of your thoughts and self-talk, and defy that mental process with a “I am beautiful today, and always” even if it feels forced. It works.
do not have expectations of what your physical postpartum recovery “should” look like. Self-imposing these limitations, whilst knowing how unpredictable each recovery and experience can be, only sets you up for disappointment and a bunch of negative feelings we don’t want to feel. Just tell yourself “I don’t know how long it will take me to physically recover in postpartum, I don’t know what it will look like for me, but what I DO KNOW is that I will be patient with myself, and show myself the upmost grace I deserve”.
dress your body and don’t assume your body should dress IT: take ownership of your style. Your postpartum body will be, feel and look different. (I still have no idea how it will actually feel, and that makes me slightly scared but I will honour and support myself as I should!). We shouldn’t assume our postpartum bodies will fit into certain clothes, but we should adapt and get clothes that fits our beautiful bodies. I’m not saying to give-up your style; maybe just get a bigger size or stretcher fabrics, whilst your body is still healing and adjusting post-pregnancy.
These tips are all with the main and SHARED OBJECTIVE to honour your body as the magical and sacred temple it is, treat yourself and your postpartum body with the respect it deserves and requires, and be self-compassionate with what your body has been able to do.
This will HELP YOU to be patient with yourself.
♡
At the end of the day, the very-first step with anything is TO WANT, and if you want to have a positive physical postpartum experience, it makes it easier to see how we can make it happen.
There will always be other factors we may not be able to plan, but where there is a will, there is a way.
If you don’t take anything from this blog post, at least consider the “patience” chapter as one that will navigate you through any lows you may feel or go-through with your postpartum bodies.
What our bodies are able to do is beautiful, even if it was something you didn’t want (like me). We can give our bodies credit for that at the very least.
We will come out of postpartum stronger, physically, and mentally.
And with that said, I hope you find some peace in seeing that you can have SOME control in how we go through postpartum physically.
Before we end this post, you know it’s time for our daily mantra of our essence here (taking control of our own narrative, no matter what)…
Own your Womanhood. Own your Time.
♡
I’ll be logging updates throughout this whole journey as a mother-to-be, working to be an entrepreneur, but to also still preserve the girlhood within, to try and be her best self, and live her happiest life, so keep-up with me through the blog!
I release a new blog post every Friday at 1pm! (UK-time)
Let me know if you’re in a similar headspace (pregnant or not), being in our 20s is confusing, and taking control of our story is the only way we can take ownership of our happiness and live out our dream life.
I document my unwanted pregnancy journey at 25, taking control of my narrative, figuring out being a girl in my 20s, chasing my dream life, and conquering my boss babe dream of becoming a self-employed, entrepreneur / Blogger!
