On 4.12.25 we welcomed our little girl Amelia Mae Maher to the world. We have had so many lovely messages from our community, so I want to start this blog by thanking you all for your kindness and well wishes. I am writing this blog at 2 weeks postpartum and reflecting on all the things I did in the lead up to my birth to make the 4th trimester easier. I also want to share my approach to my core and pelvic floor recovery, as well as my plans with returning to exercise. My goal with this blog is to help some other Moms by sharing what has helped me.

Before I get into all of that, I want to acknowledge that everyone’s recovery journey is different and it’s not a one size fits all by any means. I’ll do my best to add some generic advice alongside sharing my own experience here, in the hope of you being able to take some tips away from this.

Things I Did During Pregnancy To Prepare For Postpartum

Ok, I have mentioned this before, but I’m very much a type A personality (I really hope my poor kids don’t inherit this trait from me). In my life, everything needs to be organised and I need to feel like I have a good handle on things in order to be relaxed. Before bringing a 2nd baby home, I wanted to do as much as I could to feel organised and to make life as easy as possible as we navigate through the transition from a family of 3 to 4.

Some of what I’m going to share may seem unnecessary, but take from it what you will. These are the little things that made me feel at peace before having my baby.

Meal Preparation – This has been amazing and I would really recommend it. I am so conscious of eating as well as I can to help my recovery. I also want to ensure that my family continues to eat well, especially at a time of year when there’s so much sickness going around. So, I prepped and froze a number of meals in the weeks before I had Amelia. I made a sweet potato and chickpea curry, a lasagne loaded with vegetables and a beef and bean chilli. Wholesome, comforting and delicious meals. I froze portions of each in lunchboxes. We still have some left and they have been great for the chaotic, busy days.

Healthy Snacks – I am a snack lover. But not just any snack; homemade with clean ingredients is the preference! I made a batch of flapjacks, PB stuffed dates and clean rocky road the day before I went in to have Amelia. It passed the time on an anxious day (I knew I was going in to be induced) and meant that I had some of these to bring into hospital. I also had some more in the fridge to come home to. The breastfeeding hunger is like nothing else and having some nice nutritious snacks is really handy.

Baby Clothes Organisation – I went through all of Hugo’s old clothes and organised them into little clothes organisers with labels. For example; vests 0-1 month, sleep suits 0-1 month etc. This just made me feel a little more organised. It’s also a job that I know I probably won’t have the time or the energy to do in the first few months with a newborn.

Getting House Jobs Done – Nesting is a real thing! Anything that needed to be done, cleaned or organised in the house was done (within reason of course). The motivation was “let’s get this done now while we just have one baby”. The few little things I did made me feel much better and more relaxed.

Pilates – This goes without saying, but I kept up my exercise right up until I had Amelia. I focused on my breathing, activating and relaxing my pelvic floor, opening up around my hips and gently maintaining my strength. This has really stood to me as I feel my postpartum recovery has been going really well so far.

Nappy Caddy & Changing Unit – Having your new baby’s nappy caddy and changing unit organised and well set up will make it much easier when you get home. I have a nappy caddy upstairs and one downstairs in Hugos playroom. It’s such a simple thing but it makes life so much easier. I don’t know about anyone else, but I get so much joy from little things like this.

Postpartum Recovery

Recovery is so different for everyone and it’s dependent on so many factors. This time I had a vaginal delivery with no tearing, so my recovery journey has felt “straightforward” so far. I did have a difficult delivery and a trip to theatre after having Hugo, so I have experienced what a tougher recovery is like. Nonetheless, delivering a baby in any circumstance is incredibly demanding on our bodies and we need to be kind to ourselves and take time to recover. There are two key things I have been prioritising: rest and eating well.

Rest: I’ve been trying to spend as much time off my feet as I can these first two weeks. It’s not easy with a toddler, but it’s such a nice opportunity to just lie down and bond with your baby. Giving our body a chance to recover and taking the pressure off our pelvic floor and the perineum is really important. I’ve really been relying on my husband’s help to make this happen. He has been doing most of the work in the house and keeping our little boy occupied.

Eating Well: I really believe that nourishing our bodies is one of the best ways we can help it to recover. I’ve been eating as well as I can these past two weeks. Homemade, nutritious and comforting meals. Again, I’ve been relying on my husband and my family (who kindly delivered meals, healthy treats etc) for some help here. I’ve also been using lots of frozen meals that I made towards the end of my pregnancy. I am so happy to have those now.

Pelvic Floor & Core Exercises

I want to begin by saying that doing your pelvic floor and core recovery work is not “exercise”. Well technically it is, as you are exercising those muscles, but it’s not something you need to wait until you’re 6-weeks postpartum to begin. At 6-weeks, most of us like to get back “exercising”, so having your core and pelvic floor recovery work done in the early weeks will really prepare your body to return to exercise.

So, you can start these simple exercises just a couple of days postpartum. I began breath work and activating my core and pelvic floor the day after I had Amelia in the hospital. I would do it while lying on the bed – when she was napping on me and I was nice and relaxed. I try and do these exercises every day while lying down and at 2 weeks postpartum now, I feel a difference. These muscles feel stronger.

In those first couple of days when I would do the exercises, I would barely feel my lower core or my pelvic floor activate. It took a couple of days for me to really feel them switch on. But because I know how to activate these muscles, I knew what I was doing was correct, despite not getting that muscle feedback initially.

That’s one of the key benefits of doing Pilates pre pregnancy or during your pregnancy. You learn how to activate these muscles and then when you are postpartum, you have the confidence to know that what you are doing is correct, despite not feeling it initially.

I have not yet began my Core & Pelvic Floor Recovery Programme as mentally I haven’t felt ready to roll out the mat, but I have been doing my basic breath work and core & pelvic floor work each day (usually while nap trapped). I plan on starting the full Recovery Programme in the coming days.

Returning To Exercise

I will have my 6-week check with my consultant and I’m hoping that I will return to Pilates then. I’ll start with my Postnatal Sculpt Programme and after that, I’ll return to my regular classes, if I’m feeling up to it.

I have signed up for a half marathon with my family and some friends in June of next year. I’m not much of a runner but I just felt like it would be a nice focus for me and that the training would get me out of the house. Pilates at home is incredible, but I also work predominantly from home so I often need an incentive to get out of the house. I also know our house is going to be busier now and I like the idea of having a training goal that would get me out a couple of times each week. I’m hoping to do 2 runs a week and I just know that I will enjoy that time to myself. My plan is to get back walking and doing Pilates before I attempt a run. I think it’s really important not to rush getting back to “impact training” as it can be a lot on our pelvic floor. I imagine that it could be some time in February before I’m attempting to run. I’ll begin with a walk/run where maybe I run 1km, walk 1km for a total of 5km and see how I find that. I’ll go from there. As I said it’s not a one size fits all, but I think taking things step by step and listening to your body is the best thing to do.

A Note To Our Members

Postpartum is a time where we need to be kind to ourselves and take our recovery day by day. Everyone’s pregnancy, birth, recovery and even circumstances at home are so different. I really hope that any aspects of this blog that resonate with you can be helpful in some way, or at the very least make for an interesting read.

Running a business that depends on you adds a certain amount of anxiety when it comes to starting a family; “will members still be interested in what we have to offer while I’m expecting?”, “how will we ensure we don’t turn into a “pregnancy Pilates platform”?” and “can we still cater for and appeal to those who aren’t Moms?”. I also have thoughts like “how will I manage to keep my business going without a ‘maternity leave’ and still be the best Mom that I can be?”. The juggle is real, there’s no doubt about that. But, I really do want to mention our community of members who have been nothing but supportive to me during both pregnancies. So, for that I thank you for your loyalty and understanding.

In return, I promise to keep working hard and giving everything I can to TPP to ensure that we are motivating and inspiring you, while striving to add more value in every way that we can to the platform and app.

This is our final blog for 2025 and I want to finish by wishing you all a happy, healthy and safe Christmas. I hope that 2026 brings nothing but joy and I cannot wait to see you on the mat again in the New Year.

Best wishes,

Aoife