So, you had a baby and want to get your body back! Where to start?

One thing is for sure, there is a lot of pressure on new mums and sadly I think it is all too easy to push and overwork the body at a time when it needs rest and recovery.

Your body has taken nine months to grow a whole new human being and it’s had to change and adapt before finally going through birth. It’s not called labour for nothing!

If anything, you deserve to lie around and eat good food without having to worry about whether you have a baby bulge.

Once you’ve done the amazing thing of producing a baby your shape has changed. Nothing wrong with that, it’s womanly.

But this is a time when it’s easy to put long term damage into the body by doing inappropriate exercises.

Take care with the type of exercise you choose and leave off exercising until your six week check, 12 weeks for a caesarean. Your body is different to a man’s, so jumping jacks, press-ups, planks, will all need to be modified so as not to cause ongoing injury.

Let your body recover before you go for the hard workout.

Over stretching during pregnancy and in the post natal period will damage your ligaments.

Your body is still producing the hormone relaxin which makes your joints super flexible so deep stretching and twisting is out until at least six months after birth, longer if you are breast feeding.

Sit ups and stomach crunches are out too, all that pressure bearing down into the pelvic floor will cause damage and also encourage the stomach to bulge, especially if you have separation of the abdominal ligaments.

These exercises are so often given to women wanting to get their figures back and they are absolutely the wrong thing to do. Much better to do dynamic movement in supported positions which emphasise deep abdominal contraction.

Pilates is great for this. My studio encourages 1:1 classes to start with and then exercising with pilates apparatus for the first few weeks post-natally.

Having a toned pelvic floor will encourage the deep abdominal muscles to contract and return to normal, they work in unison. Start doing light pelvic floor exercises as soon as you have given birth.

The sooner you start the stronger you will be. Here’s what to do: mentally, imagine your pubic bone and your sacrum (the boney base of the spine between your bum cheeks) are being magnetised together and at the same time lightly lift up the vaginal muscles.

Hold this for a few seconds, relax and repeat several times. As things improve, hold for up to a slow count of 10. Keep breathing.

Do remember, breast feeding is one of the best ways to get your shape back. It uses up your stored body fat and shrinks the womb. If you are breastfeeding wear a good bra to exercise and drink plenty of water.

- Patricia Issitt is a movement therapist and Pilates instructor based in York. Find out more at yorkpilates.com