Ways to Help Your Postpartum Belly Bounce Back

Ways to Help Your Postpartum Belly Bounce Back

We’ve all seen the celebrities in magazines who get their pre-pregnancy bodies back as soon as the baby comes out. Real life without a team of chefs, nannies, plastic surgeons, stylists and personal trainers doesn’t really work like that but there are a few things that I think can help your abdomen get a bit closer to how it was before if this is something you want.

• Time is the main thing — you spent many months growing a baby and stretching your skin and your belly and it will take at least a few months for everything to go back.
• Breastfeeding burns calories and helps your uterus contract and shrink back to normal size. That on its own can make a huge difference to your recovery.
• Don’t go on a diet when you are breastfeeding but do choose healthy foods and make sure you make time to eat yourself. Treats are fine sometimes too, of course, but if you skip meals you are much more likely to reach for unhealthy things for a quick fix.
• Try to fit in some exercise if you can. The easiest one is to go for walks with your baby in the pram as this will hopefully keep him or her settled and will allow you to move for a bit. Walks can help lift your mood and is a perfect gentle form of exercise to start with. You can also ask other mums or friends to walk with you and make it a social event.
• Other gentle and toning exercises include yoga or Pilates and there are many post-pregnancy videos available online that are tailored to new mums and completely safe.
• Use a firming cream on your belly and any other areas that you’d like to target. Take time to massage the cream in well as this will help increase blood flow. Using a body scrub in the shower can also help.
• Wearing a wrap around your belly can help tighten the area again and will improve your posture too which will make you use and train your abdominal muscles without even thinking about it. Shapewear is also a great option as it will help with your posture, make you tense your muscles and help with your confidence, too.

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