Why the 6 week GP check is not enough

As a personal trainer, I would always ask my postnatal clients to have their six week GP appointment and sign off before coming to work with me.

But after having both of my sons, going to my six week GP check, and speaking to many of my mum friends, I soon realised that mothers were rarely checked. I realised most women were going back to training without making sure their abdominals had rejoined and if any pelvic floor weakness/ trauma were present.

My No 1 recommendation to every woman after giving birth is to book an appointment for a six week mummy MOT with a women’s health physio. It doesn’t matter if you’ve had a C-section, a vaginal birth with no complications or an instrumental delivery, you should still have this check up. You will be checked for any diastasis recti, plus have an internal examination to test your pelvic floor strength, any prolapse and the healing of any stitches. Following the examination, you will be given exercises and advice specific to your needs.

I can’t recommend this enough and will happily recommend a woman’s health physio if you would like.

I know so many women who have given up running, training or have to wear incontinence pads because of pelvic floor issues . For many of these women, if they would have had the support and training to be rebuild their pelvic floor, they could have continued training. And it’s not too late! Your pelvic floor is a muscle, so even if you gave birth 6 months ago, 3 or 10 years ago, you can still improve your pelvic floor health. Obviously, in some situations where prolapse has happened, just doing pelvic floor exercises will not solve your problem. But that’s why women’s health physiotherapists are here to help and advise.

You can get back to training stronger and fitter than you were before becoming a mum, but you its very important to ensure your deep core and pelvic floor are strong enough first.

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