After childbirth, many moms experience challenges like diastasis recti, pelvic organ prolapse, and incontinence. These conditions are often the result of dysfunctional core and pelvic floor muscles. The good news is that you can rebuild your strength at home with postpartum corrective exercises that focus on proper breathing, posture, and bodyweight movements.

In this blog, we'll discuss how breathing and posture are critical to postpartum recovery and outline five essential exercises that support healing and strengthen your core and pelvic floor.

The Connection Between Breathing, Posture, and Postpartum Healing

Before diving into specific exercises, it’s important to understand the role of breathing and posture in postpartum recovery. They lay the foundation for healing core and pelvic floor muscles and help manage common postpartum conditions.

Breathing (Diaphragmatic Breathing)

Many new moms don’t realize how powerful proper breathing can be for core and pelvic floor recovery. Diaphragmatic breathing helps re-engage the transverse abdominis (deep core muscle) and retrain intra-abdominal pressure, which is crucial for healing diastasis recti and pelvic floor dysfunction. This type of breathing can also be beneficial in hormone regulation, digestion, relaxing/strengthening your pelvic floor muscles and bringing your nervous system into the parasympathetic state (rest, restore, relax, regrow state.)

How to practice: Sit or lie comfortably. Place one hand on your chest and the other on your belly. Inhale deeply through your nose, letting your belly rise as you fill your lungs, trying to feel your ribs gently expand outward for about the last third of the inhale and feel your pelvic floor muscles slowly expand, as well. As you exhale, gently scoop your lower abs up and in toward your spine, feeling for the muscles of the ribs to gently contract and push the last bit of air out of your lungs. You should feel your pelvic floor muscles gently contract on the exhale. This doesn’t have to be a strong Kegel contraction but rather just feel for the muscles to slowly move in the opposite direction that they did for the inhale. Repeat for 8-10 repetitions.

Posture

Maintaining good postpartum posture helps support the healing of your core and pelvic floor. Poor posture can increase pressure on your abdominal muscles and pelvic organs, which may worsen diastasis recti or prolapse. The rolled forward shoulders that often accompany pregnancy and postpartum can also negatively affect our breathing patters making it more difficult to get into the diaphragmatic breathing.

Posture tips: Stand or sit tall through your neck, actually lengthening your neck and bringing your chin in slightly. Gently roll your shoulders back, and then stack your ribs over your pelvis so that your ribs are not flared out in front. You should feel deep core muscles engage when doing this. Maintain your pelvis in a neutral position. Imagine lengthening through the crown of your head, avoiding slumping or excessive arching of the lower back and pelvis.

Top 5 At-Home Postpartum Corrective Exercises

Now that you understand the importance of breathing and posture, here are five effective at-home exercises to rebuild your core and pelvic floor strength, while helping address conditions like diastasis recti, prolapse, and incontinence.

1. Pelvic Tilts

Pelvic tilts are an excellent way to activate the lower abdominal muscles and engage the pelvic floor. This move is especially beneficial for reconnecting with the deep core.

How to do it: Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat. Inhale, then as you exhale, tilt your pelvis slightly backwards, pressing your lower back into the floor and engaging your lower abdominal muscles, being aware that you don’t engage your glute muscles to perform the move. Hold for a few seconds then release and roll the pelvis the opposite direction creating space between your back and the floor, feeling for muscles on either side of the spine to be doing the work here. Repeat 10-15 times.

2. Heel Slides

Heel slides are a safe and effective way to engage the core without straining the abdominal wall, making them perfect for diastasis recti recovery.

How to do it: Lie on your back with knees bent. Inhale, and as you exhale, slowly slide one heel along the floor, straightening your leg. Keep your core engaged throughout the movement. Inhale again as you bring the leg back to the starting position. Do 10-12 slides on each side.

**Progress this exercise by slowly lifting one leg with a bent knee (hip and knee are at 90 degrees) instead of sliding the heel on the floor. Can you lift one leg without the pelvis rolling to one side or the other? As you develop core/pelvic control you will be able to hold the pelvis still as you lift one leg.

3. Bridge Pose

The glute bridge is excellent for activating the glutes and the pelvic floor, while working on core control.

How to do it: Lie on your back with your feet hip-width apart and knees bent. Inhale deeply, then as you exhale, lift your hips toward the ceiling by squeezing your glutes and gently engaging your pelvic floor. If this causes pain in your lower back or if you do not feel your glute muscles working, adjust your pelvis to gain better core control. For most people this will look like rolling the pelvis backward just a little however, depending on how you naturally hold your pelvis, you may adjust by rolling your pelvis forward. Hold for a few seconds before lowering back down. Repeat 10-15 times.

4. Clamshells

This exercise strengthens the hips, glutes, and core, which all contribute to better posture and pelvic floor support.

How to do it: Lie on your side with legs bent. Rest your head on your arm and engage your core. When you engage your core check to see if your rib cage on the floor side has lifted just slightly off the ground. This will help to create a straight spine all the way down. Slowly lift your top leg as high as possible without tilting your hips. Lower it back down with control. Do 10-12 lifts on each side.

5. Modified Plank/side plank

A modified plank builds core strength in a safe way, helping with diastasis recti while being mindful of postpartum recovery.

How to do it: Start on your hands and knees in a tabletop position. Engage your core on an exhale and extend one leg behind you, keeping the other knee on the ground for support. Hold for 10-20 seconds, then switch legs. Gradually increase hold time as you gain strength.

**An easy progression is a side plank which is also a diastasis safe exercise. Start out on your side with your elbow stacked underneath your shoulder and your knees bent. Slowly lift your hips off of the ground and check to make sure that your legs are directly under you creating a line from your head down to your knee, your feet should be shifted behind your body. Hold for 10-20 seconds each side or as long as you are able to maintain proper breathing. Take care not to hold your breath through the move.

How These Exercises Help with Postpartum Conditions

These at-home exercises are not just about building strength—they also play a key role in healing common postpartum issues:

• Diastasis Recti: Exercises like heel slides and diaphragmatic breathing help bring the separated abdominal muscles closer together without placing too much strain on them. As you work to scoop the lower ab muscles upward and inward you are targeting the transverse abdominal muscle, this is the deepest of the abdominal muscles and is the starting point to help bring the outer muscles back in line again.

• Pelvic Organ Prolapse: Strengthening your deep core and pelvic floor with exercises like pelvic tilts and glute bridges can reduce pressure on your organs, supporting healing and preventing worsening of the condition. Working with proper posture and strengthening the muscles in this position further reduces the pressure through the pelvic floor muscles. When working on proper breathing with a diaphragmatic breath you are also helping to bring relaxation through the pelvic floor muscles, helping to create a healthy muscles that can be properly strengthen for support.

• Incontinence: Targeting the pelvic floor with posture position and diaphragmatic breathing helps regain control over bladder function, addressing postpartum incontinence. When done properly, the pelvic floor muscle training brings correct lengthening and contracting of the muscles, giving you more control when needed.

Conclusion:

Healing from pregnancy and childbirth takes time, but by focusing on breathing, posture, and core and pelvic floor exercises, you can speed up recovery and address issues like diastasis recti, prolapse, and incontinence. Start with the foundational exercises we covered today, and as your body grows stronger, continue to build on your progress.