When you're pregnant your body produces the pregnancy hormone Relaxin among others. This particular hormone affects your body's ability to recover and is therefore important to be aware of. As many of you know, relaxin softens and relaxes the ligaments in the pelvis in order to prepare the body for childbirth. A perhaps common misunderstanding is that relaxin disappears from your body once the baby is out. In fact, it can stay in your body for quite some time after the delivery. This means that your pelvic floor muscles can be weakened for a longer time than you perhaps imagined.
You might feel fully recovered after the birth of your precious baby and ready to go for a run, or ready to join a tough fitness class with lots of jumps, burpees etc. Just to discover that something is very wrong in the area below your waistline. You might have a feeling of pressure, or discomfort in the pelvic area, you might even get the feeling that something is about to fall out of the vagina. I am talking about different types of pelvic organ prolapses, urine leakage and pain. I think this is more common than you can imagine. Women are afraid to talk about it, so they suffer in silence. My own theory is that this is an increasing problem since women nowadays are so eager to get their old bodies back, to get fit, slim, toned, to exercise hard and often - the tougher exercise you as a new mom can handle the better, some might think.
So when do you know when the relaxin hormone has disappeared from your body? It will gradually disappear during the months following the birth but it will stay for as long as you are breastfeeding. I'm guessing that most moms stay away from more challenging exercise at least a couple of months after the delivery, but if you are breastfeeding it might be a good idea to wait even longer. Stay away from exercise that puts increased pressure on your pelvic floor and in the abdomen. If you want to burn fat go for power walks or use a cross trainer or a bike instead of running and jumping. You can read more about running after pregnancy here.
//Nicole Hellgren
Relaxin will stay in your body for as long as you are breastfeeding.
