Ah, the world wide web. Once a place of collaborative wonder, helpful content, and clear mission and motive… is now a digital hellscape that leaves inquirers feeling more confused than when they initially went to the search bar.
Ask any pregnant or postpartum woman how they feel about the mothering collective online and they’ll probably tell you how guilty it makes them feel. In every area of parenting – feeding, sleeping, schooling – there are strong convictions and even stronger opinions, and prenatal/postpartum fitness is no exception.
These days, it seems every active pregnant woman suddenly becomes an expert in pelvic health, and every person with a random online personal training certification has THE ONLY program YOU NEED in order to GET YOUR BODY BACK! These days there is so much noise around prenatal and postpartum fitness, that it can feel completely overwhelming when trying to choose a trainer or program that feels even remotely good or right for you.
So in an effort to try and quiet some of those loud opinions, we polled our prenatal and postpartum certified Rebuild coaches to share some of their red flags when it comes to prenatal/postpartum programs. Here’s the scoop:
Red Flag #1: It uses erasure language to sell you something
Programs that promise to help you "defeat your diastasis" or "get rid of your mom pooch" or "look like you've never even had a baby" aren't promising you anything but to be a waste of your money and emotional energy (neither of which you can spare if we're all sitting around being honest). Your postpartum body is a magical, miraculous thing that is worthy of rest and respect. Instead of encouraging you to get your "pre-pregnancy body back" (which is actually physically impossible considering organs move, tissues expand, bones shift, hormones change, and brain chemistry alters...), your postpartum program should be educating and empowering you to notice all the newness that your mom bod is bringing to the (changing) table, and work with it. Not against it.
Red Flag #2: It promises to deliver your goals on a specific timeline
Postpartum recovery is not linear; it's not universal, and there is no one-size-fits-all protocol that is going to work for every body. As a society, we lost the plot a bit on how long it takes a woman to recover from the physical trauma of pregnancy and birth. Hint: it ain't six weeks. In fact, for the vast majority, the entire recovery process can take up to two years. So if anyone is trying to convince you to buy a program that will package that two year marathon up into a 6 or 8-week sprint... remove from cart.
Red Flag #3: It assumes postpartum women are fragile
There’s a huge difference between respecting a postpartum body and being afraid of it. If a postpartum program treats you like you’re made of glass; telling you to avoid any one movement without giving you a clear path toward rebuilding those abilities – scroll on. Your body has been through something significant, and recovery deserves patience and respect, but postpartum does not mean permanently fragile. A good postpartum program should meet you where you are without keeping you there. That might mean starting with foundational strength, learning how to coordinate your breath with movement, or modifying an exercise based on what your body is ready for right now. But over time, you should be given the opportunities to gradually build strength, challenge stability, introduce impact, and work toward the activities that not only matter to you, but actually move the needle on your recovery. Your program shouldn't make you afraid to move, it should help you understand what your body is capable of now and give you the tools and confidence to do more.
Red Flag #4: It glosses over the common, but challenging components of childbirth recovery
These too-good-to-be-true programs assure you that their programming will get you back to working out, no matter what your birth experience looked like. But just as every body is different, every birth is different, and more often than not women need more hands-on assessment and support in the form of pelvic floor physical therapy and coach-led training. Issues like prolapse or clinical injury after birth are well outside the scope of practice of a downloadable workout program or run-of-the-mill personal trainer. Look for a program that works closely with pelvic floor physical therapists for building programming – and even better – find a trainer who will receive informed feedback from your medical professionals in order to better tailor your programming. At Renew, we work closely with PFPTs to help bridge the gap between professions, working in tandem and in support of recovery, while staying firmly in our lane and out of the realm of diagnostic!
Red Flag #5: It has a "one-size-fits-all" approach
Every body is different, and every single birth (even for the same person) is its own unique story. So why trust a program that hands you, and a thousand other women, the exact same cookie-cutter template? Someone recovering from an unmedicated vaginal delivery is starting from a completely different place than someone healing from a complex C-section, a severe tear, or intense pelvic pain. Similarly, a person who was on bedrest for 3 months will likely need an entirely different program than a person who was a competitive athlete throughout their lives and pregnancy. Look for a program that involves a real human who actually sits down with you, listens to your birth story, and asks about your specific goals. A true prep and recovery plan is built around you. This means multiple in-person sessions where a coach monitors real-time feedback like pressure, heaviness, or pain to see how your body adapts over time, rather than forcing you to blindly follow an arbitrary downloadable PDF.
You deserve a program and a coach that cares about you, your birth story, and your progress, on a timeline that works for you and your unique story. Don't settle for any less.
Want to work with a Rebuild coach? Book a free intro and let’s chat.
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