Running After Baby: A Safe Return-to-Exercise Guide for Mothers

You know the feeling. That itch in your feet, the memory of the footpath flying by, the rhythm of your own breathing, the mental reset that only a good run can give you. You’ve just performed an epic feat of strength and brought a new human into the world. Now, you’re keen to get back to that other version of you – the one who could just chuck on her runners and go.

But as you think about lacing up again post-baby, you’re probably drowning in conflicting advice and a heap of questions:

• Am I being too keen? Is it too soon?
• My GP cleared me at my 6-week check. Does that mean I can start training for a 5k?
• Why does my body feel so… different?
• What if I leak? What if I do some damage?

You’re not alone. Getting back to running after having a baby isn’t a race. It’s not about “bouncing back.” It’s a patient, deliberate process of rebuilding, reconnecting with your body, and honouring the incredible transformation it’s been through. The gold standard for guiding this journey is getting advice from a Women’s Health & Continence Physiotherapist. This guide offers crucial insights for a successful Return to Running After Childbirth.

This is your game plan. We’ll walk you through everything from understanding your changed body to a step-by-step program to get you running safely, strongly, and with confidence.

Forget ‘Bouncing Back’: The Real Deal on Your Post-Baby Body

Before we get into the ‘how’, we need to get our heads around the ‘why’. Why the need for caution when planning your Return to Running After Childbirth? Pregnancy and childbirth, whether it’s a vaginal birth or a C-section, put your body through the wringer. Pushing through without letting it heal properly is a recipe for long-term issues like incontinence (leaking), chronic pain, and pelvic organ prolapse.

Let’s meet the key players in your recovery team.

1. The Pelvic Floor: Your Body’s Foundation
   

   
   Picture a strong, supportive hammock of muscles stretching from your pubic bone at the front to your tailbone at the back. That’s your pelvic floor. It has a massive job:

• Holding up your pelvic organs (bladder, uterus, and bowel).
• Keeping you continent (i.e., in control of your bladder and bowels, so you don’t leak).
• Stabilising your pelvis and spine.
• Playing a role in sexual function.

During pregnancy, this “hammock” supports the growing weight of your baby. During birth, it stretches enormously to let your baby pass through. It’s a bloody hero, but it’s also been through a battle. It can be left weak, overstretched, and not as responsive. Getting it back in working order is non-negotiable for a good recovery and crucial for your Return to Running After Childbirth. Learn more about Women’s and Men’s Pelvic Floor Health here.

2. Your Abs & Diastasis Recti (Ab Separation)
   

   
   To make room for your growing bub, your abdominal muscles – especially your “six-pack” muscle (rectus abdominis) – have to stretch a lot. This often leads to a very common condition called ab separation.

This isn’t a tear, but a stretching and thinning of the connective tissue (the linea alba) that runs down the middle of your belly. While it’s a normal part of pregnancy, a diastasis that doesn’t recover well can lead to a weak core, lower back pain, and that persistent “mummy tummy” feeling. Your core is your powerhouse for running; you can’t generate power or stability from a weak one.

3. Those Pesky Hormones: The Lingering Effects of Relaxin
   

   During pregnancy, your body produces a hormone called relaxin. Its job is to loosen your ligaments and joints to prepare your pelvis for birth. Great for delivering a baby, but the effects of relaxin can hang around for months postpartum, especially if you’re breastfeeding. This means the ligaments supporting your pelvis, knees, and ankles are still a bit ‘loosey-goosey’, making you more prone to sprains and instability.

4. The Hard Yakka of Running
   

   Running is a high-impact sport. With every single stride, you land with 1.5 to 3 times your body weight in force. That force travels up through your feet and legs and into your pelvis. Your pelvic floor and core are your body’s shock absorbers. If that system isn’t fully recovered and firing on all cylinders, that impact gets shunted to your joints and pelvic organs, leading to the problems we want to avoid during your Return to Running After Childbirth.

After the Six-Week Check: When Can I Actually Start Running?

The six-week postpartum check-up with your GP is a huge milestone, but it is not a green light for high-impact exercise like a Return to Running After Childbirth. This appointment is mainly to check for immediate issues like infection or heavy bleeding. It typically doesn’t involve a functional assessment of your pelvic floor or core strength.

Expert women’s health physio guidelines, based on solid research, recommend not returning to running before 3 months (12 weeks) postpartum at the absolute earliest. Our team offers comprehensive Physiotherapy for Pregnancy and Post-Natal Care to support you through your journey.

This 12-week window gives your body’s tissues a chance for natural healing. Think of recovering from childbirth like recovering from a major sports injury. You wouldn’t run a race six weeks after an ACL reconstruction, and you shouldn’t jump straight back into running after birth either.

HEADS UP: STOP and See a Physio If…
If you experience ANY of the following symptoms – even just with walking or daily activities – you are not ready for a Return to Running After Childbirth. Stop immediately and book in with a Women’s Health or Pelvic Floor Physio. You can book an appointment online today.

• Leaking wee or poo: Any leakage at all when you cough, sneeze, jump, or run.
• Pelvic Heaviness or Dragging: A feeling like something is “falling out” or a bulge in your vagina. This can be a sign of pelvic organ prolapse.
• Pain: Any pain in your pelvis, lower back, or hips during or after activity.
• “Coning” or “Doming” of your Tummy: A cone-like shape popping up along the midline of your stomach when you exert yourself. This is a sign of an unmanaged Diastasis Recti.

Your Pre-Run Readiness Reckoner: Is Your Body Up to It?

So, you’re past the 12-week mark and feeling good in your day-to-day life. Awesome! But how do you know if your body is really ready for the specific demands of running?

Before you even think about a run/walk program, you need to be able to pass a series of basic strength and low-impact tests. This self-screen will give you a clear idea of your foundational strength for your Return to Running After Childbirth. The goal is to do every exercise without any pain, leaking, heaviness, or ab coning.

Phase 1: Basic Strength & Stability Screen
Can you do the following?

• Walk for 30 minutes comfortably.
• Stand on one leg for 10 seconds (try each side).
• 10 x bodyweight squats (good form, chest up, heels down).
• 10 x single-leg squats on each leg (hold a bench for balance if needed, keep your pelvis level).
• 10 x single-leg calf raises on each leg.
• 10 x single-leg bridges on each leg (lie on your back, knees bent, lift one foot, then lift your hips).

Phase 2: Low-Impact Control Screen
This tests your body’s ability to handle force.

• Jog on the spot for 1 minute.
• 10 x forward hops on one leg (land softly and with control).
• 10 x single-leg jumps in place (on each leg).
• 10 x single-leg ‘running man’ poses on each side (stand on one leg and bring the opposite knee up towards your chest in a running motion, with control).

How’d you go? If you struggled with any of these, it’s a sign your body needs more foundation work before it’s ready for the repetitive impact of running. This isn’t a failure; it’s great information. It means it’s time to focus on Phase 0.

Phase 0: Building Your Foundation (Don’t Skip This!)

If you didn’t pass the readiness reckoner, or you just want to make sure you’re as solid as a rock for your Return to Running After Childbirth, this phase is non-negotiable. This is your “pre-hab” to prevent future “re-hab”.

1. Master Your Breath: The Core & Pelvic Floor Connection
   

   Your breathing muscle (diaphragm) and your pelvic floor are designed to work together like a team.

• As you INHALE: Your diaphragm lowers, and your pelvic floor should gently relax and drop down.
• As you EXHALE: Your diaphragm lifts, and your pelvic floor should gently lift and contract.

Practice “360-degree breathing”: Lie on your back and place your hands on your lower ribs. As you breathe in, feel your ribs expand sideways and your belly and pelvic floor soften. As you breathe out, feel your ribs gently draw in and your pelvic floor gently lift. This is the bedrock of all core work.

2. Essential Post-Baby Strength Work
   

   Aim to include these exercises in your routine 3-4 times a week.

• Glute Bridges: The absolute cornerstone of stable running.
• Clamshells: To target those deep hip rotators that stabilise your pelvis.
• Dead Bugs: A brilliant way to fire up your deep core without putting pressure on a diastasis.
• Bird-Dog: Challenges core stability and coordination.
• Squats & Lunges: To build functional leg strength. Nail the form first.

3. Low-Impact Cardio: Your New Best friend
   

   Build your cardiovascular fitness without the jarring impact, preparing for your Return to Running After Childbirth.

• Walking: The gold standard. Start with shorter walks and gradually increase your time and pace. Add hills to build strength.
• Stationary Bike or Cross-Trainer: Great, no-impact ways to get your heart rate up.
• Swimming: The water’s buoyancy is brilliant for supporting your joints.

Once you can pass the readiness reckoner with flying colours, you’re ready to start a gradual, structured program for your Return to Running After Childbirth.

Your Step-by-Step Return to Running After Childbirth Plan

Patience is your superpower here. The goal isn’t to get back to your pre-baby PBs straight away. The goal is to build a sustainable running habit on a strong, resilient body.

The Golden Rule: Use a run/walk interval approach. This allows your body to adapt to the impact in small, manageable doses. The “Couch to 5k” (C25K) app is a fantastic, structured resource for this.

• Warm-Up: Start every session with a 5-minute brisk walk and some dynamic stretches (like leg swings).
• Cool-Down: End every session with a 5-minute walk and gentle static stretches for your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves.

This is a sample program. Only move to the next week if you can complete the current week without any pain, leaking, or heaviness. If you have any issues, take a few days off, go back to your foundation exercises, and try the previous week again.

Sample 8-Week Return to Running Plan

Week	Sessions/Week	Program (for each session)	Total Time
Weeks 1-2	2–3	Run 1 min / Walk 4 min (Repeat 5x)	25 mins
Week 3	3	Run 2 min / Walk 4 min (Repeat 5x)	30 mins
Week 4	3	Run 3 min / Walk 3 min (Repeat 5x)	30 mins
Week 5	3	Run 5 min / Walk 3 min (Repeat 3x)	24 mins
Week 6	3	Run 8 min / Walk 2 min (Repeat 3x)	30 mins
Week 7	3	Run 10 min / Walk 1 min (Repeat 3x)	33 mins
Week 8	3	Run for 15 minutes continuously	15-20 mins

Beyond Week 8: Listening to Your Body
Once you can run for 15-20 minutes straight with no symptoms, you can start to slowly increase your duration by no more than 10% each week. Don’t even think about adding in speed work or big hills until you have a solid base of 30 minutes of easy, continuous running.

Troubleshooting: Common Problems & What to Do

Even with the best preparation for your Return to Running After Childbirth, you might hit a speed bump. Here’s how to translate what your body is telling you.

• “Oops! – I’m leaking when I run.”

  • What it means: Your pelvic floor isn’t quite ready to handle the impact of running. The “trampoline” isn’t providing enough support.
  • What to do: Stop running. No ifs, no buts. Go back to Phase 0 and really focus on your pelvic floor connection and strengthening. This is the perfect time to see a Women’s Health Physio for an internal assessment and a targeted program. You cannot push through this.

• “I feel a heaviness or dragging in my pelvis.”

  • What it means: This is a major red flag for pelvic organ prolapse, where one or more of the pelvic organs are descending.
  • What to do: Stop running immediately and make an appointment with your GP or a Women’s Health Physio as soon as possible. High-impact activity can make a prolapse worse.

• “My lower back, hips, or knees are sore.”

  • What it means: This is usually a sign of weakness in your glutes and core. When these key stabilisers aren’t doing their job, the stress gets transferred to your joints and other smaller muscles, causing pain.
  • What to do: Take a few days off. Drop your running volume back. Spend more time on targeted strength work for your glutes (bridges, clamshells) and core (dead bugs, bird-dog). A professional Running Analysis can also pinpoint specific biomechanical issues and help refine your running form.

• “I’m seeing a ‘cone’ shape or my ‘mummy tummy’ feels worse.”

  • What it means: You’re not managing your intra-abdominal pressure properly, which is putting strain on your linea alba and making your Diastasis Recti worse.
  • What to do: Stop running. Go back to basics with your 360-degree breathing and deep core connection. A physio can teach you strategies to manage this pressure during effort.

More Than Just Muscles: Looking After the Whole You

A successful Return to Running After Childbirth involves more than just muscles and ligaments. It’s about looking after the whole package.

• Fuel Your Body: You are an athlete in recovery. Prioritise protein for tissue repair, complex carbs for energy, and healthy fats for hormone function. If you’re breastfeeding, your hydration and calorie needs are even higher. Don’t skimp on fuel.
• The Power of Sleep: We know, we know… sleep? It’s the holy grail for new mums. But it’s when you sleep that your body does its most important repair work. Acknowledge that less sleep means slower recovery. Be kind to yourself. A walk might be a better choice than a run after a rough night.
• The Right Gear: Your body has changed, and your gear needs to change with it.
  • Shoes: Your foot size can change during pregnancy. Go to a proper running shop and get fitted for a new pair of shoes.
  • A Supportive Bra: This is non-negotiable. Breast tissue is heavier and more sensitive postpartum. A high-impact, encapsulation-style sports bra is essential for comfort and to protect the delicate Cooper’s ligaments.
• Patience & Mindset: Drop the comparison game. Your journey is yours alone. Don’t compare your progress to your pre-baby self or to what other mums are doing on Instagram. Celebrate the small wins – a pain-free walk, passing a strength test, your first run/walk interval. This isn’t a race back to the past; it’s a journey of rediscovery.

Your Questions, Answered (FAQs)

1. What about returning to running after a C-section?
   

   The 3-month minimum guideline is even more crucial after a C-section, which is major abdominal surgery. Your scar tissue needs time to heal and build strength. You must wait for the all-clear from your doctor and for your incision to be fully healed. A physio can teach you gentle scar massage techniques to improve mobility and show you how to safely re-engage your core for a strong Return to Running After Childbirth.

2. Is it okay to run while breastfeeding?
   

   Absolutely! Running won’t negatively affect your milk supply, as long as you’re drinking enough water and eating enough calories. For comfort, try to time your run for just after a feed or pump session. A super supportive bra will be your best friend.

3. Can I run with a pram?
   

   Pushing a pram while running is significantly harder than running solo. It forces you into a slightly hunched posture and restricts your arm swing, which can lead to back and hip issues. Wait until you have built a strong, symptom-free solo running base (e.g., you can run for 20-30 minutes continuously) before you even attempt to introduce a running pram.

4. How do I know if my Diastasis Recti has “healed”?
   

   Healing a diastasis is less about the “gap” closing completely and more about restoring function. The key question is: can you generate tension in the linea alba and prevent “coning” during exertion? A Women’s Health Physio is the best person to assess this and give you the right strategies.

The Finish Line is Just the Beginning

Your desire to run again after having a baby is a testament to your spirit. It’s a search for wellbeing, for mental space, and for a connection to a part of yourself that you love.

Embrace this journey with patience and self-compassion. Listen to your body’s wisdom, build your foundation block by block, and never be afraid to ask for expert help. The road back might be longer than you expect, but by taking it carefully and intelligently, you won’t just return to running – you’ll build a stronger, more resilient athlete for all the kilometres to come. Your best run isn’t behind you. It’s still ahead.

Medical Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before beginning any new exercise program, especially concerning your Return to Running After Childbirth.