Postpartum Care - tips to get back in shape after pregnancy

Being a mum is definitely one of the biggest life changing events one could ever experience in life.  Sleep deprivation, body exhaustion and emotional rollercoaster are terms commonly used to describe when you have a newborn in your life. Pregnancy causes dramatic changes to your body where it is common to put on 15-25 kgs throughout the whole pregnancy. While all these can lead to you being stressed about your physical body, it actually can be managed with simple changes. These are the top 6 tips that will help you to get back to your pre-pregnancy body.

 Establish a proper eating routine

It is important to be mindful of what you eat and when you eat. Incorporate more high protein food, healthy fats, fresh vegetables and fruits into your diet and simultaneously cut down on sugar and highly processed food. Healthy diet is imperative especially for breastfeeding mums, your baby eats what you eat!

Sometimes when you are trying to juggle so many things throughout the day, it is easy to skip your meals. Skipping meals will cause your body to lose weight slower because it will slow down your body metabolism. Thus, never skip any meals and there are many quick and easy recipes available where you can even prepare the meals in advance.

Take marine collagen

Marine collagen is no doubt the key ingredient when it comes to beauty essential. Pregnancy definitely takes a huge toll on your body and it causes significant changes to your body. Dry skin and hair loss are all common in post-partum. At the very heart of this matter, your body needs protein and collagen in particular to repair itself quicker and marine collagen is one of the easiest way to good a good amount of protein with amino acids specifically good for skin. Marine collagen has been clinically proven to combat these issues and for those who deliver their baby via caesarean, marine collagen is proven to boost the process of wound healing and minimise scarring.

Wear a belly band

Pregnancy causes the muscles at the belly to separate in order to make room for a growing uterus and after delivering the baby, the muscles will become loose and are separated, this will take time for them to go back together. A belly band will help to support your loose tummy muscles and assist them to get back together faster. A belly band could also help with spinal alignment and for those who have a C-section, it could help to alleviate pain related to the surgery.

Stay hydrated

Drink a lot of water. Although it’s the same old advice probably overused, water is one of the most crucial compositions in your body. Human body is made up of 65% of water and there will be water loss from just your breath, sweat and breastfeeding. Water helps to flush out waste products in your body and speed up your body recovery after pregnancy. Furthermore, for breastfeeding mums, drinking a lot of water will help to increase the supply of breastmilk.

Exercise

One of the fastest ways to burn calories is definitely exercise. However, never rush into doing anything strenuous to your body as your body is still recovering from such a massive life changing event. Start by doing light exercises such as going for a walk with your baby in the pram or stroller in the morning or in the evening just right before the sun sets. This not only allows the baby to receive Vitamin D which helps her sleeps better at night, you get to also burn some calories and reduce your stress!

Meditate

In order to feel good about your body, you also need to feel good mentally. Meditation can help your body and mind to feel calm and help with managing your stress. You may choose to meditate in the morning or at night. Meditating in the morning allows you to stay focus for the busy day ahead whereas meditating at night allows your body to loosen up and helps you to sleep better. It doesn’t need to be long, start with a shorter time frame and slowly work your way up.

It has never been easy trying to keep up with the busy schedule of a mum and on top of that having to cope with the post-partum body. However, you should not overstress yourself in trying to lose all the weight gained during your pregnancy but instead allow your body to heal and start when you feel you are ready. Afterall, being a mum is probably one of biggest accomplishments in your life and you should be proud of yourself.

Written by Maeraki team

Reference:

Geahchan S, Baharlouei P, Rahman A. Marine Collagen: A Promising Biomaterial for Wound Healing, Skin Anti-Aging, and Bone Regeneration, published 2022 Jan 10