Abs After Baby

EVERY MOM needs hands on her tummy to heal!

There are so many reasons new moms need hands on their tummies.   

There is so much pressure on new moms to restore tummies to a pre-pregnancy state ASAP after birth.  Anybody whose stomach is larger than they would like it to be may chronically find themselves sucking their belly button to spine all the time.  While this is a commonly given cue by fitness instructors, functionally this actually does little to flatten the stomach in any real way. Unfortunately for many women it can actually  lead to MORE lower abdominal out-pooching.  Think of squeezing a balloon near the top— the bottom of the balloon gets HUGE due to all the pressure being directed downward!  

We can’t forget that in pregnancy, the abdominal wall is stretched to the absolute max.  Paradoxically, we find that while the deep abdominal wall muscles are profoundly stretched, there can actually be so much tightness in the sides and front of the abdominal wall that can keep those abdominal muscles from knitting back together in the front of the body– leading to even MORE abdominal pooching.  

To top it off, so many of our postpartum patients feel like their rib cage has gotten pushed super WIDE from carrying the baby.  If the rib cage is wider not only from side-to-side but also from front to back, its going to feel like your midsection is BIG.  Rib cage and mid-spine mobility is essential for getting your core muscles firing and feeling like the abdominal wall works.

How we can help:

  • Soft-tissue work to superficial abdominal wall muscles in the front and sides of the body

    • Upper abdominals and diaphragm released to restore normal breathing mechanics and reduce neck tension

    • 6-pack muscle (Rectus abdominus) treatment to close DR and reduce low abdominal pain

    • Oblique, quadratus lumborum (responsible for SO much back pain), and releasing lats to enhance the ability to expand breath into the SIDE body to decrease strain on the FRONT

    • Targeted work on any surgical scars /cesarean (C-section) birth scars to improve appearance, decrease any scar tissue “shelf”

  • Visceral (organ) mobilization to get everything moving and happy, decreasing pelvic pressure and further enhancing the ability for 6-pack muscles to come back together after being separated. 

  • Spinal and rib cage mobilization to get the midsection moving and reduce strain on impaired abdominal wall muscles and restore normal BREATHING

  • Core muscle strengthening and re-education to get the deep core muscles working

 
Krystle Howald