Grazing / stitches

[Mummybear94]

I'm a first time mummy and my daughter is now 4 week and 4 days and I had stitches and grazes I started back at gym last Friday I'm just wondering if that's OK and how long it will take to get my ab muscles back in place

Really?!?! You had a baby a month ago. Give yourself a break. And, anyway, the medical advice, which I'm sure your mw would have given you after birth, is to wait 6 weeks before doing strenuous exercise. You also want to make sure your ab muscles haven't separated (diastasis rectis) before doing any abdominal exercises.

I've read to wait 6 weeks too for exercise.

You'll need the ok from your GP to start abdominal/ core exercises- usually given at your 6 week check. Need to ensure no abdominal separation and that your uterus has properly retracted or you risk prolapse. Whilst I understand wanting to get your body back, doing too much too quickly will cause more harm than good. For the mean time stick to cardio at 70% normal rate and leave off weights and core exercise and ease back if your body tells you too- this includes increased vaginal bleeding as its a sign of over doing it. Doing too much early on will set your recovery back further.

And if you are breastfeeding remember that your relaxin hormone levels remain high, increasing your risk of ligament damage/ over stretching.

^^what pp said. You can do yourself a lot of damage exercising the wrong way too soon after pregnancy & birth. Definitely no crunches/sit-ups until you've been told your abdominal muscles have closed sufficiently. Please speak to a health professional.

Cripes! You've got plenty of time to get your abs back in shape - you had a baby 4 weeks ago!! Allow your body to rest and recover properly. If you overdo it you could do some serious damage.

Seconding all the above advice. Be particularly careful with abdominal muscles, as some exercises e.g. situps/crunches can actually worsen the muscle separation rather than helping! Don't just go back to your old routine, in a few more weeks wait and see if you can find a physio/trainer who knows about recovery from pregnancy/childbirth and can guide you with suitable exercises.