Why Breastfeeding Moms Have an Increased Risk of Injury during their Postpartum Fitness Journey

I still remember my first run after my first daughter was born...

I had been medically cleared, something that I thought was the only factor that determined if I was ready to start running again.

I had run until about 34 weeks during pregnancy (my first was born about 36 weeks gestation).

And I had been a runner previously, for more than 15 years, even working in an independent running store for over 5 years and helping coach marathon training programs. (Plus I have a Master's in Exercise Physiology).

So this was all I needed right(??), to get back to the one thing I was hoping would help me reconnect with my pre-pregnant self, and help me feel more confident in my new postpartum body??

What I didn't know (if you already guessed it) was that this wasn't all that I needed.

The major thing that I didn't understand was that there was a BIG difference between medical clearance and musculoskeletal clearance (aka your pelvic floor and deep core muscles).

This is one of the reasons that led me on my journey to starting the Run Like Mama Nutrition community.

I now share with new mamas all of the info I wished I learned in my prenatal and postpartum care visits, especially around how to safely return to exercise postpartum, and how to naturally use nutrition to best support your recovery.

Because the thing is, Breastfeeding mamas have an increased risk of injuring themselves when they return (or start) their postpartum fitness journey (and it's not just cause you don't know what you're doing or how to properly use those crazy gym machines ;)).

Here are the real reasons:

✳️Joint laxity: Breastfeeding stimulates the release of relaxin, which is the same hormone that is release in pregnancy to help with childbirth! It continues to be released after childbirth, which makes joints more at risk of injury.

✳️Postural changes: Even with that boppy to help support your baby while breastfeeding, you might notice that your posture is out of whack while nursing.

➡️This can create differences in musculature and biomechanics, which is why working on strengthening muscles equally, and starting with things like hip stability exercises, can help even these differences out.

✳️Fatigue and sleep deprivation: not only are we missing sleep because of the demands of our new babies, our fitness schedule may be causing us to miss rest.

➡️Fatigue can compromise muscle coordination and reaction time, increasing the risk of an accident during exercise.

✳️Physical recovery: like I mentioned before, that 6 week Postpartum care visit doesn't necessarily mean you are ready to start moderate or high intensity exercise‼️

➡️Starting exercise too early, especially intense or high-impact movements, can hinder recovery and raise risk of injury.

‼️‼️Nutrient deficiencies: Did you know that our body removes about 2% of our bone calcium for every 100 days of breastfeeding!

➡️This is a normal process, and typically will correct once baby is weaned, but you are at an increased risk of bone fractures while breastfeeding, if your nutrition is not on point (especially mamas going dairy free while breastfeeding)!

➡️And we all know that many moms are chronically depleted from pregnancy/labor/breastfeeding, which contributes to lack of energy, mood, hair loss/thinning, sleep issues, and a possible dip in the quality of their breastmilk (yes, these can be signs your body is missing key vitamins and minerals)!

Now every new mama is wondering: so what can I do to safely start exercising??

1. Don't start until your body is really ready! (wait so what does that mean? Start with pelvic floor and deep core muscle recovery using diaphragmatic breathing and gentle movements, then when you're ready, after that 6 week appointment, move on to assessing for strength, stability, and load/resistance movements - watch this reel for more).
   

2. Make sure your nutrition is on point - focusing on replenishing iron, zinc, vitamin c, and protein for recovery, and filling in the gaps that baby needs to meet it's needs (like omega 3 fatty acids, selenium, iodine, calcium, and magnesium).
   

3. Improve your sleep quality - I know this seems impossible, but there are ways that you can fine tune your habits around sleep, including with nutrition, to help making deep sleep more easy to get to!
   

4. Incorporate functional movements: think lifting and carrying baby with proper posture and pelvic core consideration, working on fluid movements before progressing to actual action based exercise (like leg swing to help with stability and flexibility before actually starting to run).
   

5. Choose support! This is where the 30 Days to Fit Postpartum program comes in: a mix of 1:1 support with your favorite postpartum and breastfeeding dietitian (me ;)) and group support from other mamas going through a similar journey, all while receiving self-paced, bite sized trainings to understand exactly what to eat, how to eat to maximize milk supply, and learning the basic movements to get you to where you want to be.