Postpartum Recovery and Healing the Body — with Physical Therapist Dr. Shefali Christopher

2018-06-18

#061 — Postpartum Recovery: Healing the Body, Being an Athlete Before + After Pregnancy If you’re a new mom and an athlete, it can be tempting to hit the trail or the gym asap after the six-week checkup. You want to regain a sense of normalcy and working out is likely a big part of your identity. But it’s incredibly important to be cognizant of what your body just went through and give yourself the time to regain your core strength and allow the pelvic floor to heal. You may even have to relea...

#061 — Postpartum Recovery: Healing the Body, Being an Athlete Before + After Pregnancy

If you’re a new mom and an athlete, it can be tempting to hit the trail or the gym asap after the six-week checkup. You want to regain a sense of normalcy and working out is likely a big part of your identity.

But it’s incredibly important to be cognizant of what your body just went through and give yourself the time to regain your core strength and allow the pelvic floor to heal. You may even have to relearn the correct use of certain muscles in order to avoid injury.

Physical therapist Dr. Shefali Christopher was taken aback by the fact that her postpartum body didn’t quite feel like her own: ‘You’re learning how to be in touch with your muscles again, how to contract them again, how to work them again. I think that was more shocking to me … and it took a lot of work."

Today, Shefali joins me to offer her insight on postpartum care for athletes, explaining the importance of rebuilding core strength and giving the body time to heal. I ask Shefali about her own experience with pregnancy and postpartum recovery, and she shares her ongoing efforts at ‘mental forgiving and acceptance’ of her postpartum body. Listen in for Shefali’s advice around the best resources for postpartum exercise and learn why she shifted her career path to pursue research as a new mom.

FULL SHOW NOTES:

Get the complete show notes with episode quotes, photos, and time stamps at http://www.startuppregnant.com/061.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT DR. SHEFALI CHRISTOPHER

Dr. Shefali Christopher is a board-certified clinical specialist in sports physical therapy. After four years of teaching in the Duke DPT program, Shefali joined the Elon University faculty in June of 2017. Her clinical passion lies in treating triathletes and distance runners as well as helping postpartum athletes return to their sport safely. Shefali is currently pursuing a PhD through the University of Newcastle, and her research focuses on understanding and addressing pain in postpartum endurance athletes.

Shefali at Elon University Shefali on Twitter

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Lily Nichols on Startup Pregnant EP059 Jill Thein-Nissenbaum at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Everymom Athletics with Christine Iverson British Journal of Sports Medicine Pregnancy & Postpartum Series Danielle LaPorte on Startup Pregnant EP034 Annie Dean on Startup Pregnant EP002

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