wellness

Vaginal birth recovery happens in layers: swelling and tenderness first, then gradually rebuilding the pelvic floor and deep core. The early days call for rest, ice, and gentle care—not rushing into kegels. As healing progresses, breath-based pelvic floor work restores function and strength. Every recovery is different, so move at your body’s pace and follow your provider’s guidance. Tips + Secrets for Healing Your Secret Parts I always wondered why laboring women were totally naked in birth videos—not even wearing a top? Wtf? I was about to find out… My First Birth Adventure: My water broke during rush hour in the middle of Astor Place. I already knew every birth story is different—there are expected and unexpected circumstances that surround them all, and my first experience made that crystal clear. After grabbing a cab from someone else, yelling that my water had just broken and her yelling back, “Oh…well, yes—you take it then,” I proceeded to drive home to Brooklyn, going in the opposite direction of my hospital. I often get a sideways look from people when I get to that part of the story, but I couldn’t think of anywhere else to be except in my shower, alone, safe and…out of my clothes! After grabbing a cab from someone else, yelling that my water had just broken and her yelling back, “Oh…well, yes—you take it then,” I proceeded to drive home to Brooklyn, going in the opposite direction of my hospital. I often get a sideways look from people when I get to that part of the story, but I couldn’t think of anywhere else to be except in my shower, alone, safe and…out of my clothes! I was as prepared as I could be. My husband and I had taken the birth class, painted the nursery, and even hung the mobile above the crib in anticipation of meeting our baby. However, at that moment, none of the preparation mattered. Little known fact: Your water doesn’t just break once and stop. It continues to flow out of you…a lot of it…for a while. Coupled over with increasingly blinding contractions, picking our way through NYC traffic at 6PM, I proceeded to flood the cab driver’s backseat with my amniotic fluid. I left him the biggest tip of my life as I muttered ‘I’m so sorry’ and sprinted up the stairs to our apartment, undressing the entire way. By the time I was in the shower, my contractions were so intense, they were dropping me to my knees. My husband at that moment was in East Hampton—at least 3 hours away. I wasn’t due for 15 more days, so I had told him I’d be fine and to go that morning. Now, he was desperately trying to get back to the city while I was in the shower with contractions 4 minutes apart. Hollywood-worthy, yes. Unique and personal? 100%. The ending was sweet—he made it for the birth of our daughter. My friends stayed at the hospital until my husband arrived, and 12 hours later, I delivered my daughter vaginally. Postpartum Recovery: What No One Tells You The first moment I even considered the resulting state of my vagina was when the nurse was walking me to the bathroom for the first time and helping me with an ice pack when she proclaimed, “Wow, you are swollen!” I didn’t understand what was so swollen, and then I tried to sit down. For two days, I had to sit on a soft pillow because a chair was too intense on my pelvic floor. Nothing prepared me for the healing process that follows a vaginal delivery. It’s something we don’t talk about enough, but postpartum recovery is real. Your body has just been through one of the most transformative experiences, and it needs intentional care and time to heal. Swelling, tenderness, and discomfort are normal, but movement, gentle stretching, and breathwork will help support your recovery and ease the transition into motherhood. Then came the constant “do your kegels” advice, which I had NO IDEA how to do. Squeeze what? Where? Since this fateful entry into motherhood 13 years ago, I have not only pioneered my own pelvic floor and vaginal recovery, but I’ve helped countless women do the same.MYTH DISRUPTORS: During & After Birth What you need to know and how and when to do your kegels (or not!): TRUTH ABOUT TEARING Your vaginal wall is very resilient and you are not ‘giving birth wrong’ if you tear or not - genes, muscle tone and frankly the angle and speed at which your baby exits your body have the biggest impact on your chances and honestly, not a lot of that is adjustable in those last few moments of pushing your baby out. These tools will help your pelvic floor remain functional and able to stretch and rebound best (so as to make birth easier and decrease your chances of tearing): Definitely staying active, fascia rolling, hip and pelvic floor opening exercise, and core strengthening throughout pregnancy will support your ability to engage actively in the birthing process. The result? Improved pelvic floor muscles and ability to sustain birth and recover well. THE WHOLE PELVIC FLOOR There is a difference between the distention and stretching of the vagina itself and the distention and injury sustained by your pelvic floor. Your pelvic floor and rectum receive the full brunt of vaginal childbirth, and it can be difficult in the first couple of weeks post-birth to discern the full landscape of needed recovery between vaginal and posterior stretching and weakness. ICE, WITCH HAZEL & THE SOFT, FOAM ROLLER In your early days post-birth, ice and witch hazel pads are your BFFs to help the swelling go down. Eventually, you’ll want to focus on your upper torso. Your ribs and back are important, making sure there’s room to breathe and move, keeping your shoulders and neck open with soft foam rolling and gentle stretches. Should You Use a Postpartum Corset? The idea of wearing a postpartum corset is popular, but it’s not a cure-all for recovery. While light compression can provide comfort in the early days, relying on a corset for too long can prevent the deep core muscles from reactivating naturally. Instead of binding the belly tightly, focus on breathwork, TVA activation, and progressive movement to restore core strength in a functional way. BREATHE FOR TVA ENGAGEMENT Breathing and your Transversus Breath Activation are next. Your TVA is anatomically connected to your pelvic floor, low back, and hip bones—learn more on this topic here. Breathing for TVA engagement is the real relief and stability you’re craving in those early weeks post-birth. Once your TVA begins to glide, it will support your body’s natural healing process, lending you better back support when sitting, feeding, and moving with your baby. They will also begin to spontaneously lift and support your pelvic floor muscles by holding the weight of your upper body so you are not collapsing your weight onto your pelvis. HEAL YOUR SCAR TISSUE If you tore or had larger intervention like an episiotomy, the scar line needs time for healing. Depending on the degree of the tear, you’ll begin to feel your stitches dissolving, or visit your doctor to remove the stitches. At this point, you want to think about scar care. Similar to a c-section, the tissues need breath, relaxation, and functional re-education. Kegels are not the way to go for this. However, breath-based vaginal wall contractions are! Want More? Here’s my go-to for educating your breath and isolating your transverses abs through breath-based exercises. The RM Pelvic Corridor | Not a KegelOnce you can breathe and engage your TVA, move your attention down to your vaginal wall. Breathe all the way in, as you begin to exhale you will contract just your vaginal wall as if you’re trying to squeeze a tampon. Once you begin your next inhale, relax your vaginal wall (without baring down) and repeat your exhale exercise. You’ll feel the vaginal wall begin to respond with contractions and releases better with each attempt. Once you feel a general “yes,” you are going to evolve the contraction. Imagine the contraction traveling even further up the birth canal to the center of your body behind your belly button. It’s like a continuous, internal tunnel of strength at the very center of your body—I call this the RM Pelvic Corridor. Anatomically speaking, we are co-contracting your pelvic floor, vaginal wall, and TVA for a functionally re-educated deep abdominal system that forms the foundation for ALL of your external muscles, from butt to inner thighs and six pack…this is where you start! Incontinence is normal right after vaginal delivery. The above exercises, coupled with some pelvic floor PT, will result in achieving reliable bladder control (yes, even when jumping on a trampoline!). In some cases, the urethra sheath is injured or there can be subtle issues with visceral tissues and organ placement—all of these nuances can be looked at by a skilled pelvic PT and/or a Urogynecologist. But, please know you don’t have to just live with a lifelong incontinence. Through the rehabilitative phase, you need to move daily, even just your breath-based pelvic corridor exercises and a little soft foam rolling. This is because you are working on neuro-strength repatterning. You are training muscles to activate when your brain tells your body to stand up, sit down, lie down, bounce, burp, feed, carry, and walk.The more frequently you work with these muscles, the more they will be strengthened in your daily mom-life and the better it will all feel.Now, You Start To Thrive Your entrance into motherhood was and is the opportunity of your lifetime to understand your body and inhabit yourself from the inside out. This is your time to develop a lifelong fitness habit that will carry you well beyond your early mom-years and into your great-grandma years! Addressing Pelvic Floor Spasm Post-Birth Many moms experience pelvic floor spasm due to the intense work these muscles perform during birth. This tightening can lead to discomfort and even difficulty with movement. The key is gentle release work, breath-based engagement, and mobilization exercises to help the pelvic floor relax and restore its function. Working with a pelvic floor PT and practicing intentional breath-based movement will help relieve tension and support long-term healing. I am more mature, disciplined, and at home in my skin than ever—I still LOVE a sweaty, endorphin-pumping workout, I just cross-train better for it. And, so can you! Check out what’s possible for you here. Keep reading: Cesarean Birth Recovery: How to Prep, Plan & Heal Like a Badass Diastasis Recti: What It Is, Symptoms, and Nothing to Fear RM Heal — the Revolution Motherhood method Start your free trial with Revolution Motherhood →

A c-section is major abdominal surgery, so recovery has a few key differences from vaginal birth—but beyond the initial healing phase, the path back to strength is more similar than you’d expect. Safe c-section recovery centers on scar care, gentle reactivation of your deep core, and progressing only as your body and your provider allow. How to Prep, Plan & Heal Like a Badass After more than a decade of working with women and guiding their postpartum recoveries, there's not much I haven't seen. And the truth is, while there are some key differences between a c-section and vaginal birth, beyond the initial healing phase, there are more similarities than you might expect. However, those key differences are important and can make all the difference when it comes to planning the best outcome and making a full and active recovery. The initial weeks of postpartum recovery after a c-section require patience and intentional movement. Your body is healing from a major surgery, so focusing on gentle movement, breathwork, and core awareness will set the foundation for long-term healing. The 411 on C-Sections I’ll begin with the obvious, but often glossed-over fact: A c-section is major abdominal surgery. Your doctor cuts through your abdominal layers, muscle, fascial tissue, moves your intestines out of the way and then opens your uterus. It’s a lot for a body to recover from and if your experience was in any way unplanned or urgent, the psychological and emotional recovery can be just as intense as the physical. So, whether you are heading into a planned surgery or are looking for answers because you unexpectedly delivered via cesarean, I’m here to support you with my game-changing tips that will help you get the care you need from your medical team, understand what has happened to your body and learn how to design your personal recovery plan. Planned C-Section: Ask all the questions! If you know in advance that you’ll be delivering your baby via cesarean: Speak with you OB about the details regarding your surgery, where they perform the incision and how they close you post-operatively. Do they close you themselves or do they have someone else perform the closure? What materials do they use to close you (internal stitches and external). This will open the conversation and put you in the driver’s seat to make informed decisions and requests regarding the surgery itself. Previously delivered via c-section? If you’re experiencing pain, bumpiness or unevenness around your old scar, your surgeon can revise the scar tissue during your new c-section and restitch you for best abdominal healing and functional recovery. My Major Pro-Tip: Consider speaking with your OB about having a plastic surgeon in the operating room to close your incision. They are the best trained in the bizz to minimize scarring and stitch for optimal, functional recovery. Note: This can be a delicate conversation to have as it's outside of a physician's normal operating procedure—they may think it’s unnecessary. However, a great plastic surgeon can make a huge difference in your abdominal recovery and if you want to explore this option, you have the right to request it. An exceptional resource for the Plastic Surgeon route is Dr. Sophie Bartsich who has pioneered educational resources for women preparing for planned c-sections. D Post Operative: What to expect and what to do in those early days. Just like any other major surgery, expect a period of healing and rehabilitation, followed by targeted muscle re-education and integrative strength exercises. In the first few days post-surgery: While the incision is still healing, you will want to follow your doctor’s guidelines carefully. Keep it clean, rest as much as you can, and when you feel ready and able to begin standing and walking, go slowly. Expect some digestive discomfort, bloating and gas, as well as limitations to your ability to stand, sit, walk, and carry your newborn. In brief, you’ll need some help tending to your and your baby’s needs for a few weeks—be ready to ask for help! Emotional Check In: You will most likely feel grateful and frustrated having other people help tend to your baby’s needs. This conflicting emotional landscape is totally normal and it’s ok to want help, but also want to be the only person taking care of your baby. Buckle up! This tug will be with you for the rest of your life—welcome to motherhood. Accepting it will help you navigate your need for close intimacy with your sweet baby and space for yourself; year over year and decade over decade. Improve Healing In The First Weeks: Go slowly and listen to your body. The first effort you will make in recovering movement and sensation in your abdominal wall is…breathing. All pregnancies change the dynamics of your breath and hijack your diaphragm. Plus, newly post-op, you will instinctively want to curl around your incision, which can lead to compressing your already weakened core muscles and increase pelvic floor pressure. This mindful breathing video will improve circulation, relax the trunk muscles, and begin the recovery of your nuero-musclar connections (how your brain triggers specific muscles to move or not!). From these simple breath practices, you can begin to add some intentional and gentle muscle contractions through the rib cage, waist and Transversus Abs. Get more of my post-op recovery guidance in : The RM 4th Trimester Program (all on the RM APP) Scar Care: Reduce adhesions and improve your ab function Once your incision has healed and your doctor has given you the “green light” for some gentle movement, you can begin scar massage which will improve nerve regeneration, reduce swelling and adhesions, and increase blood flow (= quicker and better tissue healing), all of which leads to better overall function of your abdominal wall My Massage Hack: Take a little bit of your regular moisturizer and lightly massage your scar when you get out of the shower. Begin with gentle, circular fingertip movements, then, over several weeks, you can increase the pressure and begin moving up and down across the scar. There’s no doubt you’ll feel things—numbness, tingling, emotions…go slowly. About 60 seconds of tender, self-attention to feel, hear and be present in your recovery. STOP IF: You feel pain. That’s your guardrail to how deep you can go. You’ll be able to take a little more pressure for longer as you progress in your healing. If pain is ever persistent, sharp or just feels “off,” call your doctor and get it checked out. Pelvic PT: Yup, for a c-section…Depending on your healing and doctor’s clearance, around weeks 6-10 post-op, make an appointment with a Pelvic Floor specialized PT who practices manual, visceral manipulation. You can ask your doctor for a prescription and even if the PT is out of network, you may be able to receive some reimbursement from your insurance provider. Why + What to Expect: First, your pelvic floor PT should talk you through everything, from listening to your birth and health history, to telling you how they will touch and treat you. Internal work is very common and often very effective for aiding and accelerating c-section recovery. This is because your trunk muscles and pelvic floor muscles are all connected. When you undergo low abdominal surgery, the scar tissue can adhere to itself, other tissues, and even to organs—which often leads to tightness and feeling restricted across the groin and throughout your pelvic floor. A skilled Pelvic PT will release triggered or spasming pelvic floor muscles and re-mobilize internal and external fascial tissue. This will allow you to begin engaging your Transversus Abs (or TVA) and what I call ‘the pelvic corridor’ for a fully functional, strong pelvic floor and abdominal system. Generally, a few sessions with a great pelvic PT is enough. But, if you sustained other injuries while delivering (ie. tearing, organ prolapse, incontinence) you may need a longer course of treatment coupled with targeted exercises. Again, this should be an ongoing conversation with your PT so that you are aligned every step of the way. From Healing to Strength Training : How to start and how to stick with it Once you have been cleared by your physician and are feeling ready to begin exercising, it’s important to remember that your fitness needs and schedule are different in these initial months (and years!) postpartum. You'll want tools (like the RM Soft Foam Roller) to release tight muscles, flush out swelling + stiffness while reducing the physical impact of daily mom'ing on your body. Ab Exercises After Cesarean Not all core exercises are created equal after a c-section! The right approach to ab exercises after cesarean involves: Starting with breath-based core activation to prevent pressure buildup on the incision. Prioritizing deep core work over traditional ab exercises like sit-ups, which can strain healing tissue. Progressing movement intentionally to restore abdominal strength without overloading weak tissues. Focusing on breath and controlled movement first will help rebuild stability safely, making it easier to return to strength training without setbacks. One common concern post-c-section is umbilical hernia postpartum. A hernia can develop when weakened abdominal tissues allow a small bulge near the belly button to form. Some umbilical hernias postpartum resolve on their own with proper core rehab. If you notice persistent bulging, pressure, or discomfort, check with your doctor to determine if rehab or additional support is needed. Strengthening the deep core through breathwork and gradual ab exercises after cesarean can help prevent hernias from worsening. Mom Truth: Motherhood is hard on your body. Daily mom’ing left me tight and achy for years. This is why moving every day - even for 10 Min. - makes a huge difference in your recovery. Every time you take a deep breath, open up your shoulders or roll out your feet on the ball, you are reducing the build of stress and allowing your muscles to move better, heal faster and get stronger in the applied athleticism of your daily mom-life. Then, on days when you have a little more time, you do a longer sequence of deep core, glutes, upper body or back work. Your workouts should be progressive - meaning push you a little beyond what you can fully do comfortably. But, they should also teach you how to identify your edges so that you can push right up to your strength capacity (which changes daily) safely and with confidence. Emotional Check-In: It’s scary to have your body be so compromised, just when you need it to be strong and care for your baby. The fear and fatigue you feel is completely normal, but it doesn’t have to restrict you. Go slowly, listen to your body and your daily physical practice becomes the fear-disruption you need. Instead of all the “can’ts” you begin to focus on the “cans” as you feel and witness your incremental healing and increased strength every day. Birth is a powerful gateway to motherhood—the pull between anticipation, preparing for the unexpected, and letting go with resilience and a friendly pivot…it never stops. There is so much value in preparing your body, mind, and spirit for giving birth. But, when the moment arrives, both trust and surrender are needed—trusting yourself and your body, surrendering to a force that is much bigger than the confines of your physical body, and expecting that the unexpected will definitely occur. And, so, for whatever journey you have had or are about to embark upon, I’m so happy you’re here and am thrilled to guide and support you. Keep reading: Vaginal Birth Recovery: Tips and Secrets for Healing Building Muscle After Childbirth: Rebuilding Strength From Your Core Out RM Heal — the Revolution Motherhood method Start your free trial with Revolution Motherhood →