Pre-baby Body Syndrome - Will Your Body Ever Be the Same?

There's a lot in the media lately about whether there's too much pressure put on new mums to get back to their pre-baby weight. I thought it'd be a good one to chat about on this blog because obviously Power Plate Australia do a lot in the field of post-natal exercise and there are plenty of celebs out there who use Power Plate equipment to get back into shape - fast - after baby arrives.


But is it damaging to new mums to feel the pressure? 


My mum used to tell me that she never had a stomach until after she'd had two kids (and she's completely right - she actually did some modelling before my sister and I came along). There's no doubt that your body does change after childbirth - but is the pressure too much? 


A survey done back in 2009 for Sydney's Baby Show found that 29 per cent of mothers feel intense pressure to get their pre-baby body back. I'm sure it's more like 35 - 40 per cent now, especially with the growing number of celebrity mothers who give birth and are back on the red carpet within a week or two, looking better than they did nine months ago.


In fact, one such celebrity mum is Dannii Minogue, who did use the Power Plate to get back into shape after the birth of baby Ethan. However her workout regime didn't start immediately - she only started using the Power Plate machine 3 months after birth and she has told countless media outlets that she isn't taking post-baby weight loss too seriously. She looks amazing.


Our foo-foo guru here in the office, Amanda, says that its important for new mums to take exercise and fitness as slowly as you like after birth. 


"Unfortunately there are trainers and fitness environments out there that don't respect that the body has undergone massive changes to cope with pregnancy," says Amanda.


"It's so important to move back into exercising gradually, doing workouts which not only get you back into shape but primarily help your body repair itself. There are a number of post-natal exercise principles that you need to consider here:

• Post-natal-specific stretching
• Appropriate core building exercises
• Pelvic floor re-connection and movement-based pelvic floor exercises
• Functional training (moving!)
• Interval cardio sessions for post-natal fat loss

Look at what your trainer is encouraging you to do and make sure all of the above aspects are ticked - discuss them with your trainer and make sure they have the extra skill set to understand your post-natal body."

One of my best friends had a baby boy a few months ago and during her pregnancy was forever worrying about getting her body back to the way it was. Over a recent cup of coffee (and while thinking about this blog), I asked how she was travelling with weight loss after giving birth. I had to share her answer with you as it made me smile. Her answer to post-pregnancy weight loss?


"Looking good? I've got a beautiful, healthy baby boy... who cries all the time, is always hungry and refuses to sleep. Who's got time to worry about looking good?"


Elise x