23 July 2013
We have, of course, all waiting with bated breath for the imminent arrival of Kate Middleton and Prince William’s baby, with hot debate over the type of birth being opted for – will it be hypnobirthing? – the name they will choose to bestow on their newborn and, not surprisingly, the gender of their little one. As if the entire nation were pregnant, none of us seems to have been able to look beyond the finishing line of our collective due date – yesterday!
Yet if there is one thing that is sure it is this: now that the royal baby has arrived, will soon have been welcomed and universally cooed over, all attention will then turn to The Duchess of Cambridge, her appearance – does she or does she not have a mummy tummy? – and her ability – however unreasonable this is – to ping straight back into shape and slip effortlessly into a pair of skinny jeans. Whilst the rest of us can mooch around in a baggy T-shirt to hide the tell-tail hallmark of motherhood, Kate will find herself scrutinized from every angle imaginable and debated to the nth degree. There’s no doubt that the pressure placed on women – and yes, this is largely a female issue – who are in the public eye is immense and must be overwhelming at times.
If almost 40% of UK women are on a diet at any given time, I’d hazard a guess that just about 100% of celebrity women are watching their weight. But whilst Kate will inevitably find herself contemplating these pressures, it is hoped that with all the support and good guidance around her, she will be able to regain her beautiful pre-pregnancy figure in a measured and, above all, humane manner. So what exactly should Her Royal Highness be considering when it comes to postnatal health and fitness?
The number one rule when it comes to postnatal health is – both literally and figuratively! – not to run before you can walk. Imagine fitness levels as a kind of tower which is steadily growing upwards as fitness increases: build on shaky foundations and sooner or later the tower will collapse. Translate this into practical terms and what I am saying is that some basics need to be put in place, and that doesn’t just mean walking before running! So what are these basics? Well, because pregnancy is such a normal and natural part of everyday life, we tend to forget that the process of creating a tiny new humane being places considerable strain on a mother’s body. Whilst none of us particularly wishes to dwell on the royal pelvic floor, the fact of the matter is that the pelvic floor muscles are placed under a great deal of strain, both during pregnancy as the baby grows steadily heavier and bears downwards and also during birth. We might not be able to see the pelvic floor but it nevertheless plays a fantastically important role - that of holding in the internal organs - and so if the pelvic floor gives up the ghost, so as to speak, the consequences are most unpleasant: problems with continence and possibly even a prolapse. In short, therefore, one of the basics of postnatal health is getting the pelvic floor up and running, and fit and strong again.
So what to turn to next? Well, The Duchess of Cambridge would do well not to fall into the all-too-common trap of doing sit-ups in an attempt to zap the mummy tummy and regain a washboard stomach. The majority of women’s abdominals – over 60% - will separate during pregnancy so as to allow room for expansion as the baby grows. If you can visualize this, the separation occurs down an imaginary line between the breast bone and the pubic bone. Or perhaps you would rather visualize this instead: picture the front cover of those men’s fitness magazines with a man posing, his rippling six-pack exposed to the camera. Got it? Well, the mythical six-pack is divided by a line down these men’s midriff, isn’t it? So that’s exactly where abdominal separation in pregnancy occurs. Postnatally, the separated outer layer of abdominals will start to realign itself and gradually come together. However – and this is a big however - if Her Royal Highness were to have a significant abdominal separation of a two finger gap or more – the gap is measured in finger widths – then performing crunches or sit-ups would actually stop the abdominal muscles from knitting back together again: quite the opposite of what is wanted! So it is a resounding “No!” to sit-ups and a positive “Yes!” to tailored postnatal Pilates.
And finally, it’s back to that ever-controversial debate over running when you have just had a baby. I’d like to put this debate to rest please… running is really tough on the pelvic floor, tough on the joints, and tough on the ligaments and so I’d much rather see Kate aqua-jogging her way across a pool than pounding the paths of a park. Polemic over.