I assumed after 6-8 weeks I would be cleared for exercise (currently 3 weeks postpartum), but while in the hospital my midwife said no abdominal exercise for 10 weeks. In my mind, most any exercise involves your abs so I was kind of confused.
Obviously I am going to follow whatever advice she gives me because the words "prolapsed uterus" scare the sh*t out of me, but I was curious what others were told/did.
pear / 1955 posts
I didn't end up having a c-section, but my OB has a policy of allowing exercise 6 weeks after a vaginal birth and 8 weeks after a c-section (assuming both are uncomplicated.)
nectarine / 2750 posts
@raspberries: @ocean81: That is what I always thought, too? Maybe she just meant not to do actual sit ups, I have no idea. I guess I'll find out at my six week...
pomelo / 5791 posts
I was cleared after 8 weeks. Maybe it's just me, however, but I definitely didn't feel ready for a real ab workout at 8 weeks though.
pear / 1837 posts
Yeah, you wanna give those muscles time to recover. It's major surgery. I was cleared to start walking at 6 weeks, but have really waited until 6 months to start weight lifting/running. Pelvic floor prolapse is no joke.
apricot / 431 posts
I should add that it's been 18 months... Still haven't worked out. 
I would just ease back into it and don't do anything crazy as you just had major surgery! Congrats, by the way!
nectarine / 2750 posts
@LulaBee: Yeah, no thank you! I am more than willing to take it nice and slow.
nectarine / 2750 posts
@ocean81: I did find a book on Amazon that sort of walks you through some exercises to gently ease back in to exercise. I had to take so much time off this time that I am nervous to go back to CrossFit. I really want to be smart about it.
watermelon / 14467 posts
@tlcbaby: Even with a vaginal birth, I'm not planning to start any lifting/hard-core training for races until probably 12 weeks after having the baby. My muscles kept feeling like they were going to fall out the front until probably 4-5 months postpartum last time with a vaginal birth.
nectarine / 2750 posts
@avivoca: Last time I felt like I was able to jump right back in, but this time feels so different. And I really miss teaching my Aqua Fit classes, but that is pretty low impact so I hope I can start that back up sooner rather than later.
coconut / 8472 posts
I had my 6 week post c-section appointment today. I asked about exercise and my Dr said I was totally fine to start. She did say to start with planks, not crunches. And she said I might have some soreness or swelling and that would be normal.
grapefruit / 4291 posts
@tlcbaby: I'm not really much help except to say that many fitness professionals have NO idea about training postpartum women or dealing with issues like diastatis recti or prolapse so the exercises they prescribe often do more harm than good.
There's a New Zealand based trainer who runs a website called http://www.pregnancyexercise.co.nz and she has some great information about getting back into fitness and safe stuff to do while your body is still recovering and bouncing back, she also puts a lot of stuff on Instagram. Another good IG I like is The Movement Room, the PT that runs it has a prolapse so her exercises are effective but safe to do!
cantaloupe / 6146 posts
@tlcbaby: 10 weeks 
because i went running at 3 weeks and shouldn't have and ended up delaying my recovery
nectarine / 2750 posts
@pastemoo: Oh no! Not just in reference to a c-section, but it's so hard to take it easy sometimes when you feel good.
pomelo / 5257 posts
At my six-week follow up, I asked my doctor if I should be concerned about diastasis as I start exercising again. She checked my muscles and said I just had a one cm separation, but to maybe wait until 12 weeks pp to do hardcore ab stuff, like crunches. So I'm totally cleared for other exercise, just not core specific. Could that be what she meant? I had a vaginal birth, but that would apply to either!
nectarine / 2750 posts
@MrsSCB: Yeah, that is what I'm thinking but I'll definitely be asking her for clarification to be sure.
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