Postpartum Posture: How Does It Affect Us and Why Is It Important?
May 22, 2023
One of the most common statements I hear postpartum is how disconnected moms feel to their bodies. Part of this disconnect is due to the postural and muscular changes that occurred in order to grow a baby. During pregnancy, our posture changes in order to allow for improved balance as our baby, uterus, and belly grow. Common changes we see during pregnancy are chin forward, hunched shoulders, flaring the ribs forward (I call this rib boob), overarching the low back, locking the knees, and/or feet turned out. This is the posture our body slowly becomes familiar with over the nine-month period. Postpartum, we tend to stay in this familiar posture due to decreased core strength, fatigue, habit, baby holding mechanics, and nursing mechanics. If you are experiencing a disconnect with your body or other symptoms such as neck pain, jaw pain, back pain, hip pain, pelvic pain, pelvic heaviness or leakage… posture might be a good place to start to help alleviate these symptoms.
Below are some tips on how to reconnect with your body and improve your posture.
- Posture training with a mirror: Standing sideways in front of a mirror try these tips! Play around with what cues work best for you. Our goal is to have your ears, shoulders, hips, and ankles all in a line. I often hear that it almost feels like you're falling forward when set in the correct posture. This is due to the fact that our bodies are used to a very different posture and it can take time to feel comfortable and learn a new habit. Refer to this video for some posture cues!
- Reconnecting with your core: After nine months of low load stretching, the core can feel weak. It’s important to reconnect and start to strengthen your core in order to feel as though you even have the endurance to maintain good posture. Check out this video to get some cues on how to connect with your inner core.
- Practicing movement/exercise with postural awareness: Now that you have awareness of what your posture should look like and have started to strengthen your core … let's challenge it! We have to train harder so life is easier. Try this exercise to load the core and challenge your postural awareness so that when you pick up your baby you have a better understanding of what your body is doing.
Our goal at Athletes’ Potential is to guide you and give you the tools you need to feel confident and in control of your body. We help you understand how to heal your body and give you the tools you need to be successful. If you are in the Columbus area and want to feel strong in your body again, come give us a visit!
Thanks for reading!
Let us help you figure out to live your best active life today!
Remember, Movement is Medicine!
