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Pregnancy

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Original poster

Anyone heard this tip from my Grandma?? (re: stomach muscles after birth)

24 replies

flightattendant · 13/05/2007 15:51

She said that after each of her babies ( she had four) the midwife would take the baby out for one hour every afternoon, while the new mum lay on her stomach for an hour.
Apparently...this was to make the stomach muscles repair themselves / strengthen them, and apparently it worked??
I am intrigued by this and hoping to try it out, but has anyone else heard it before?
(would have been in the 1950's)

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yaddayah · 13/05/2007 15:53

My Mil told me this as well.. i still have a rather .. ahem rounded tum !

colditz · 13/05/2007 15:54

what a fabulous excuse for a kip!

isaidno · 13/05/2007 15:57

If it was that easy we would all have washboard stomachs!

Flower3554 · 13/05/2007 15:58

As a new mum in the post natal ward we were encouraged to lie on our tummy's for an hour every morning.

It was 30 years ago mind you

The way we were advised to do this was to put a pillow underneath us and raise one leg up to rest it on the pillow.

Lemmiwinks · 13/05/2007 19:24

Well, there's thing wrong with lying on your tummy if you fancy doing so but it makes absolutely no sense that it would have any affect on your muscles. Muscles do not tone up or repair, saldy, by lying on them but I do wish it was that easy! Good old fashioned exercise to strengthen, tone and repair tummy muscles and being careful with calorie intake are the only things that work. By the way there's a fab book I have called "Lose Your Mummy Tummy" that's got great advice and exercise routines for a post natal tummy tone up, I'd highly recommend it.

DimpledThighs · 13/05/2007 19:26

what lemmi said

maisym · 13/05/2007 19:31

great excuse for a rest in bed - will remember this one!

Bouquetsofdynomite · 13/05/2007 19:35

Wow, those were the days eh, when there were so many midwives they could offer free childcare too!
Would assume it simply attracts bloodflow to the abdominal area? I think everyone should be given the abdo exercises recommended for CSection mums.

beanpod · 13/05/2007 19:59

My mum said that her stomach went straight back into shape after having myself and my brother because she slept on her stomach every night. I always thought that that seemed a bit too simple though! And not very good for your neck!

BettySpaghetti · 13/05/2007 20:05

ooh no! I remember that feling you get when your milk comes in, so painful and uncomfortable -no way could I have laid on my front.

Tangfastic · 13/05/2007 20:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ChocolateFace · 13/05/2007 20:15

Never heard that one,but I did work for a woman who insisted on going to her holiday home in Spain after having her babies, as the heat let her insides settle.

Bouquetsofdynomite · 13/05/2007 20:25

My stomach was flat after having my first child because I'd lost 2 stone of excess weight through 10wks of 'active' morning sickness. I got a bouncing baby and a fab new body! Big price to pay though, wouldn't recommend it!

clutteredup · 13/05/2007 20:27

do you think my dh will swallow that one -'i'm just goig to lie here on my stomach for a hour- you did say i should do something about my tummy ' LOL pmsl

lizziemun · 13/05/2007 20:35

I would have thought it was more to do with having a more active life, eg walking to shops everyday for food for the day, scrubbing floors ect. Washing by hand, i mean we either drive to the shops or have it delivered once a week or fortnight or we have enough food to last a month.

Rantum · 13/05/2007 20:38

I loooovvvvved lying on my tummy after pg was over, the novelty of it!!!

Didn't tone my tummy though, sorry.

Rantum · 13/05/2007 20:39

And it did king of hurt my milk engorged boobs after a while - an hour would have been a killer....

Rantum · 13/05/2007 20:40

kind of (what is wrong with me today?)

mrsmalumbas · 13/05/2007 20:47

In Asia it's quite common to have abdominal massage after having a baby, every day for about two weeks, with the tummy being massaged with aromatic oils and then wrapped in bandages kind of like a corset. A great excuse for the new mum to be pampered for an hour or two a day. Mind you, a lot of the mums hire confinement nannies to take care of the babies for the first month, allowing mum to rest as much as possible, she also has to eat special nourishing food, and is not supposed to go out at all or receive visitors in that time. After one month, up she gets with her new washboard stomach, goes to the spa for the day, and then has a big party to introduce the baby to everyone and celebrate the birth. I think it's a fab idea and one we should adopt here.

ChocolateFace · 13/05/2007 21:01

Oooo, that sounds like heaven!

Original poster

flightattendant · 17/05/2007 16:02

I think the cream cake sounds like a much better idea
Perhaps the thing wasn't so much to sleep as to lie there reading or something (embroidery?) which I can imagine would pull/stretch the muscles a bit, as your head would be raised.
Put like that it sounds like hard work. But then anything that 'works' probably is...

Mind you I walked everywhere and mine took ages to go back to non-saggy...never quite the same!

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suedonim · 17/05/2007 16:25

I had my first over 30yrs ago and had to lie on my stomach for an hour's afternoon nap while in hospital. I can't see the logic behind it but I didn't mind the snooze.

Flower3554 · 17/05/2007 16:28

Snap suedonim, but didn't they always come round with those big polishers just as you nodded off, they did at our local maternity unit.

suedonim · 17/05/2007 17:41

Lol, yes you're right! When I had my first ds my bed was near a wash basin, which was next to the door. Every time anyone came in, the door bounced off the basin with a metallic CLAAANNNGGGGG. Lovely and restful esp. at night.

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