Flexi Stretch
Get cleared first. Wait for your postnatal check and your clinician's go-ahead before starting any exercise routine, and longer after a caesarean or a complicated birth. This guide is general information, not medical advice, and Flexi is a fitness and wellbeing app rather than a medical device. If you have pelvic floor symptoms, abdominal separation, or ongoing pain, a pelvic health physiotherapist is the right first stop.
Why everything feels tight
Pregnancy shifts your centre of gravity forward for months, which tips the pelvis and loads the lower back. Then the newborn phase adds its own posture: hours of feeding with the head down and shoulders rounded, carrying a baby on one hip, leaning into a cot at an awkward angle, and very little time spent upright and moving.
So the usual complaints cluster in predictable places — upper back and neck, chest and shoulders, lower back, and hips. Relaxin, the hormone that softened your ligaments, also lingers for a while, which is exactly why gentle beats deep for now: your joints will let you go further than is useful.
Four principles
- Range you control, not range you can reach. With ligaments still lax, "as far as it goes" is not a safe target. Stop well before end range.
- Breathe out on effort. Exhaling as you move into a position engages your deep core naturally and keeps pressure off the pelvic floor.
- Short and frequent wins. Ten minutes when the baby naps beats an hour you will never get. Consistency is the whole game.
- Stop for pain, leaking or heaviness. Any pelvic heaviness, dragging sensation or leaking means stop and speak to a pelvic health physio.
A gentle starting routine
All of these are low-load and can be done in ten minutes on a mat or a bed.
30 seconds each side
1. Seated neck release
Ear towards shoulder, opposite shoulder relaxed down, no pulling. The most direct answer to hours spent looking down at a feeding baby.
30 seconds
2. Chest opener
Hands clasped behind your back, arms straight, chest lifting. Undoes the rounded feeding-and-carrying posture. If your wrists object, hold a towel between your hands instead.
30 seconds each side
3. Knee to chest
On your back, one knee drawn gently in, the other foot flat. Very low load, and a kind way to give the lower back some length.
30 seconds each side
4. Figure-four glute stretch
Ankle across the opposite thigh, drawing that thigh towards you. Go gently — hips are often both tight and unusually mobile at this stage, which is a combination that rewards restraint.
30 seconds
5. Child's pose, knees wide
Kneel, knees apart, sit back towards your heels and rest your forehead down. Widening the knees keeps pressure off the abdomen. Breathe into your back ribs and finish here.
What to hold off on
- Deep backbends and big abdominal stretches — they load a midline that is still knitting back together.
- Aggressive end-range hip stretches — the pelvis and its ligaments are still settling.
- Traditional crunches and sit-ups — if you have any abdominal separation, these tend to widen it. Get assessed first.
- Anything that makes you hold your breath and brace. If you cannot breathe evenly through it, it is too much for now.
Flexi's Postpartum plan is built around this kind of gentle work, with timed holds and illustrated instructions for each position — and you can pause it the moment you are needed and pick up exactly where you left off.
Common questions
When can I start stretching after giving birth?
Gentle movement and breathing often start within days with your clinician's agreement, but a structured routine should wait for your postnatal check — and longer after a caesarean. Your midwife, doctor or physiotherapist knows your situation; a guide cannot.
Is stretching safe while breastfeeding?
Yes. Gentle stretching has no effect on milk supply. Many people find it easier just after a feed, when comfort is better.
What if I have diastasis recti?
Abdominal separation is common and usually improves. Avoid crunches and deep backbends, and get assessed by a pelvic health or postnatal physiotherapist — targeted work is far more effective than guessing.
I only have five minutes. Is that worth it?
Absolutely. Pick two — the chest opener and the knee-to-chest are a good pair — and do those. A short routine you actually repeat outperforms a full one you keep postponing.