Childbirth is an overwhelming accomplishment, but new mothers would do best not to rest on their laurels following delivery, a new guideline says.
New moms should clock at least two hours a week of moderate to vigorous physical activity in the first months following birth, experts recommend.
Two to four hours of exercise per week can keep a new mother healthy and reduce her risk of postpartum depression or anxiety, researchers wrote in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Experts also recommend daily pelvic floor exercises to reduce the risk of urinary incontinence, as well as taking steps to improve sleep quality.
“The weeks and months following birth are a period of abrupt changes in physiological and psychological health,” wrote a team led by Margie Davenport, a professor of kinesiology, sport and recreation at the University of Alberta in Canada.
“Postpartum women and people are at increased risk of depression, weight retention, sleep disorders, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, especially if they experienced pregnancy complications,” the team wrote.
“Such conditions have significant consequences on the short-term and long-term health and well-being of both the mother and the infant.”
For the new guidelines, researchers analyzed data from 574 prior studies related to the health of mother and child following delivery.
After consulting with a panel of new mothers, the research team selected 21 “critical” and “important” outcomes for analysis, including injury, breast milk quantity or quality, depression or anxiety, urinary incontinence, fear of movement, fatigue, and infant growth and development.
All told, the evidence suggests that new mothers with no conditions or symptoms that prevent physical activity should aim for a mix of aerobic exercise and weight training for at least 120 minutes a week, spread over four or more days a week, for the first three months after birth.
Moderate-intensity activities can include brisk walking, recreational swimming, slow bicycling, doubles tennis, ballroom dancing, active forms of yoga, or general yard work, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Vigorous-intensity activities can include running, swimming laps, singles tennis, aerobics classes, fast bicycling, jumping rope or heavy yard work that involves digging or shoveling.
The guidelines recommend that new moms with health problems seek medical advice before beginning or returning to regular exercise.
“However, they stress that everyone who has recently given birth should be doing light daily activities such as gentle walking, to prevent the known harms of inactivity,” researchers said in a news release.
The team acknowledged that meeting these recommendations may not always be possible, but wrote that “even small steps towards achieving them will still promote physical and mental health benefits.”
The new guidelines were released March 25.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on measuring the intensity of physical activity.
SOURCE: BMJ, news release, March 25, 2025
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