Post birth exercise- do I need to wait for 6 week check?

[BraveLilBear]

Just that really- am coming up to 5 weeks after giving birth and feel like I want to be more active again. I walk with the pram most days but I want to start toning things up- it might make me feel a bit happier about myself if I can do something.

I had heard you should wait til your six week check for both exercise and sex (not that that's on the cards per se) but I've been sent my 6 week check appointment for nearly 9 weeks post birth - I think it is so they can do first jabs at the same time.

I had forceps and an episiotomy (which got infected 2 weeks pp) but still seems a depressingly long time to wait.
Do I really need to wait for the all-clear?

Well, I didn't feel like hitting the gym at 5 wks but everyone's different. I'm sure there are good medical reasons to leave your body to heal after it's been through a bit of a trauma - just not sure what they are!

Btw, at my 6 week check, the GP did no more than ask me how I was feeling. There was no physical examination. It was all a bit more head-tilt "how are you managing" than "are you still weeing when you sneeze?".

I've not given birth yet (38+ wks preg) but as a runner and cyclist I have read a lot about this - there's a runners world book on safe running in pregnancy (on amazon) which covers post-partum too.

I have also found out about a couple of post-partum exercise classes in my area - one midwife led, the other pt-led.

The mw-led one does some very very gentle pilates-based core exercises first and will take people soon as they stop bleeding.

The pt-based one is more normal exercise and won't take people till after the 6-wk check.

The running book says to start with very, very, gentle bouts of jogging within a walk and check for any soreness or bleeding and only build up if you feel fine.

As far as I can tell there are two big dangers - one is bringing on bleeding again if you 'overdo' the cardio before your uterus has healed, the other is damaging your abdominal muscles if they're separated and you don't help them knit together before working them out. For the abs thing, see the 'tupler technique' (diastasisrehab.com/) which will help you decide if yours are separated and show you what to do to help them before you go for it with more 'normal' abs exercises.

As a runner and a cyclist and member of clubs for both, I know loads of women who have started back at both sports after a few weeks only but they're all pretty experienced and confident that they knew their bodies well and could tell what felt 'right' and what didnt.

i started riding my horse 5 weeks after emcs so didn't wait for 6 week check. i felt fine and it was something my body was used to doing.
wasn't until week 8/9 that i felt i could increase the intensity mainly as my stomach muscles were shot as was my core strength