Five Signs You May Benefit From Postnatal Assessment After Childbirth
Back pain, pelvic discomfort, leaking or difficulty returning to exercise? Here are five signs it may be worth having your postnatal recovery assessed.
Having a baby changes your body.
Some changes are obvious. Others are much more subtle.
You might notice an ache in your lower back when you lift the car seat. Perhaps you leak a little when you sneeze or go for a run. Your abdomen feels different when you exercise. Your neck and shoulders ache after feeding. Or maybe you can’t quite put your finger on it — you simply don’t feel as strong or comfortable in your body as you expected to.
These things are common after pregnancy and childbirth.
But common doesn’t mean you have to ignore them.
And importantly, experiencing one of these symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean that your body has “failed to recover”. Postnatal recovery is individual, and symptoms can have several contributing factors.
At Family Osteopathy Hammersmith, we offer postnatal osteopathy and Mummy MOT assessments to help women understand what’s happening physically and decide what support, if any, would be useful.
Here are five signs that an assessment may be worth considering.
1. You Still Have Lower-Back or Pelvic Pain
Lower-back and pelvic pain can continue after pregnancy, even when the original pregnancy-related symptoms have settled.
You might notice pain or discomfort when:
Walking for longer periods
Climbing stairs
Turning over in bed
Getting in and out of the car
Lifting your baby
Carrying a car seat
Standing on one leg
Returning to exercise
If you experienced pelvic girdle pain (PGP) during pregnancy, symptoms can sometimes continue after birth.
PGP can involve discomfort around the front or back of the pelvis, including around the pubic symphysis or sacroiliac regions, as well as the hips, groin or buttocks.
But not every episode of postpartum pelvic or back pain is PGP.
Your symptoms may instead relate to changes in activity, muscular capacity, previous back problems, lifting and carrying, sleep disruption or several factors together.
How can osteopathy help?
An osteopathic assessment considers your symptoms in the context of how you’re moving and what you’re asking your body to do.
Where appropriate, treatment may include gentle hands-on techniques for relevant areas of muscular tension, stiffness or discomfort, alongside movement advice and progressive exercise.
The aim isn’t to “put your pelvis back into alignment”.
It’s to understand what is contributing to your symptoms and help you build your physical capacity again.
2. You Notice Doming or Bulging Through Your Abdomen
Your abdominal wall changes considerably during pregnancy.
As your uterus grows, the two sides of the rectus abdominis move apart and the connective tissue between them — the linea alba — stretches.
This is a normal part of pregnancy.
After birth, the appearance and function of the abdominal wall gradually change again, but the process is different for every woman.
You might notice:
A ridge or dome through the middle of your abdomen
Bulging when getting up from lying down
A feeling of reduced abdominal strength
Difficulty controlling your trunk during certain exercises
A change in how your abdomen feels when you lift or move
These can occur with diastasis recti, but seeing a little doming doesn’t automatically mean that something is damaged.
And the width of the separation isn’t the only thing that matters.
We’re interested in how your abdominal wall functions and how you’re managing pressure and movement during everyday activities.
What about exercise?
You may have heard that certain exercises, particularly crunches or planks, will “make diastasis worse”.
It’s more nuanced than that.
There isn’t a universal list of exercises that every woman with diastasis should avoid. What matters is your individual symptoms, your current capacity and how your abdominal wall responds to the exercise.
Rather than giving you a list of forbidden movements, we can help you gradually build strength and tolerance.
How can a Mummy MOT help?
A Mummy MOT can include an assessment of your abdominal wall and discussion of symptoms such as doming, weakness or difficulty returning to exercise.
Where appropriate, we’ll work with you on progressive rehabilitation and refer to a specialist pelvic-health physiotherapist if your presentation would benefit from their expertise.
3. You Leak When You Cough, Sneeze, Laugh or Exercise
This is one of the symptoms women often feel embarrassed to mention.
You cough.
You sneeze.
You laugh.
You jump.
You go for a run.
And suddenly there’s a small leak.
This is often stress urinary incontinence, where physical pressure increases faster than the bladder and pelvic-floor system can manage.
It can happen after vaginal birth, but pregnancy itself can also affect pelvic-floor function, so it isn’t exclusively a consequence of vaginal delivery.
You might also notice:
A feeling of heaviness or pressure
Difficulty controlling your bladder
Urgency or changes in bladder habits
Symptoms during running or jumping
Reduced confidence exercising
You don’t have to simply accept it
Urinary leakage is common after pregnancy and childbirth, but it isn’t something you have to regard as an inevitable part of becoming a mother.
A pelvic-health physiotherapist is often the appropriate specialist for detailed assessment and rehabilitation of pelvic-floor dysfunction.
At Family Osteopathy Hammersmith, we’ll ask about these symptoms as part of your wider postnatal assessment and can discuss appropriate next steps.
We don’t perform internal pelvic-floor examinations as part of our osteopathic assessment.
Sometimes the best thing we can do is recognise when you need a different specialist.
That’s part of good healthcare.
4. Your Neck, Shoulders or Upper Back Are Constantly Aching
Newborn life can be surprisingly demanding on your upper body.
Hours of feeding.
Holding your baby.
Carrying a car seat.
Lifting your baby in and out of the cot.
Pushing a pram.
Spending time looking down.
Doing it all while you’re running on broken sleep.
It’s understandable that your neck, shoulders and upper back may start complaining.
You might notice:
Aching between your shoulder blades
Tightness across your shoulders
Neck stiffness
Discomfort after feeding
Headaches associated with neck tension
Symptoms that build throughout the day
These symptoms aren’t necessarily caused by “bad posture”.
There isn’t one perfect feeding or carrying position that every mother needs to achieve.
Instead, variation matters.
If you’re spending hours in one position, changing how you sit, supporting your arms, bringing the baby towards you rather than constantly leaning forwards, and taking regular movement breaks may all help.
How can osteopathy help?
Where appropriate, osteopathic treatment can address relevant areas of muscular tension and restricted movement.
We’ll also look at what you’re doing repeatedly throughout the day.
Because if you spend an hour on the treatment table and then go straight back to doing something that aggravates your symptoms for six hours, the treatment isn’t the whole answer.
Practical advice matters too.
5. You Don’t Feel Like Your Body Has Fully Recovered
Sometimes there’s no single obvious symptom.
You simply feel different.
Perhaps you’re less confident lifting.
Your body feels weaker.
Running doesn’t feel right.
Your pelvis feels uncomfortable after a long walk.
Your abdomen feels unfamiliar.
You’re unsure whether you’re ready to return to the gym.
Or perhaps you can’t identify anything specific — you just have a nagging feeling that something isn’t quite right.
That’s a perfectly reasonable reason to ask for an assessment.
You don’t need to have a dramatic problem before you’re allowed to seek support.
A postnatal assessment can help you understand where you are now
Rather than trying to compare yourself with another mum, an assessment can consider your individual starting point.
What can you currently do comfortably?
What movements provoke symptoms?
How is your abdominal wall functioning?
Are there musculoskeletal factors contributing to your discomfort?
What are your goals?
And importantly:
What support do you actually need?
Sometimes the answer is treatment.
Sometimes it’s exercise.
Sometimes it’s reassurance.
Sometimes it’s referral.
And sometimes you don’t need anything at all beyond knowing that your recovery is progressing appropriately.
What Happens During a Mummy MOT at Family Osteopathy Hammersmith?
A Mummy MOT is a dedicated postnatal assessment that can form part of your wider care with us.
Your appointment begins with a detailed discussion about your pregnancy, birth, recovery and current concerns.
Depending on your presentation, we may assess:
Abdominal-wall function
We can look for signs of diastasis recti and assess how your abdominal wall responds during relevant movements.
Your lower back, pelvis and hips
We’ll assess areas relevant to your symptoms and consider how they function together.
Movement and everyday activities
We’ll discuss the things you’re actually doing — lifting your baby, carrying a car seat, feeding, getting up from the floor or returning to exercise.
Your C-section scar
If you’ve had a caesarean and the wound is fully healed, we can discuss any scar-related symptoms and assess the area where appropriate.
Pelvic-floor symptoms
We’ll ask about symptoms such as leaking, heaviness or pelvic pain and discuss whether referral to a pelvic-health physiotherapist would be appropriate.
Your goals
This is important.
Maybe you want to return to running.
Maybe you want to get back to lifting weights.
Maybe you want to walk around Hammersmith with your baby without your back aching.
Your recovery plan should be built around your life, not a generic checklist.
What Happens After the Assessment?
There’s no automatic treatment package.
We’ll explain what we’ve found and discuss what we think would be useful.
Depending on your needs, that might include:
Gentle osteopathic treatment
Progressive strengthening exercises
Advice around movement and lifting
Guidance for returning to exercise
C-section scar advice where appropriate
Self-management strategies
Referral to a pelvic-health physiotherapist or another healthcare professional
You don’t need to commit to a particular number of appointments before you’ve even had an assessment.
We’ll make recommendations based on what you actually need.
When Should You Have a Postnatal Assessment?
There isn’t one magic date.
You don’t need to wait until six weeks if you’re concerned about something, but you also don’t suddenly miss your opportunity for support if you’re several months postpartum.
You might be:
Six weeks postpartum
Six months postpartum
A year after giving birth
Several years after your last baby
If you’re experiencing ongoing symptoms or you’re unsure about your return to activity, it’s reasonable to ask for help.
And if you feel completely well?
You don’t necessarily need a Mummy MOT just because you’ve had a baby.
Postnatal care should be individualised.
When Should You Speak to Your GP or Another Healthcare Professional?
Not every postnatal symptom is musculoskeletal.
Seek medical advice if you’re experiencing symptoms such as:
Increasing or severe pain
Fever or feeling significantly unwell
Redness, swelling or discharge from a C-section wound
Heavy or unexpected bleeding
New neurological symptoms
Significant pelvic-floor or bladder/bowel symptoms
Concerns about wound healing
If something doesn’t seem right, getting the appropriate medical assessment comes before osteopathic treatment.
Your Body Doesn’t Need to “Bounce Back”
One of the messages we most want to challenge in postnatal care is the idea that you should simply bounce back.
There isn’t a deadline by which your body needs to look or feel exactly as it did before pregnancy.
Recovery is individual.
Your goals are individual.
And your starting point is individual.
At Family Osteopathy Hammersmith, our approach is about helping you understand your body after pregnancy and birth, addressing relevant musculoskeletal problems where we can, and working alongside other healthcare professionals when that’s the right thing to do.
You might need treatment.
You might need rehabilitation.
You might need a referral.
Or you might simply need reassurance.
You don’t have to figure it all out yourself.
If something doesn’t feel quite right after pregnancy or childbirth, book a Mummy MOT or postnatal osteopathy assessment at Family Osteopathy Hammersmith and let’s work out what support would actually be useful for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if I need a Mummy MOT?
A Mummy MOT may be useful if you’re experiencing ongoing back or pelvic pain, abdominal-wall concerns, difficulty returning to exercise, C-section scar symptoms or other physical concerns following pregnancy and birth. You don’t need to have a significant problem to ask for an assessment.
Is leaking after having a baby normal?
Urinary leakage is common after pregnancy and childbirth, but it isn’t something you simply have to accept. If you’re experiencing leakage, particularly during exercise, coughing or sneezing, discuss it with a healthcare professional. A pelvic-health physiotherapist can provide specialist assessment and rehabilitation.
How long does it take to recover after childbirth?
There isn’t one universal recovery timeline. Different aspects of recovery happen at different rates, and factors such as the type of birth, complications, previous health, activity levels and your individual circumstances all matter.
Can osteopathy help postpartum back pain?
Osteopathy may help some women with musculoskeletal back pain after pregnancy. Your symptoms should be assessed individually, and treatment may be combined with exercise, movement advice and other forms of care.
Can I have a Mummy MOT after a C-section?
Yes, where clinically appropriate. Your C-section scar, abdominal wall, movement, back and pelvic symptoms can all be discussed as part of your postnatal assessment. Hands-on scar treatment should only be considered once the wound is fully healed.
