New guideline for postpartum moms validates challenges and benefits of exercise

This article was produced by the Healthing editorial team with the support of a grant from Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology. While the CSEP made the production of this article possible, they did not have any editorial influence or control over the content, including review prior to publication.

There’s so much excitement leading up to the birth of a baby, but what happens to moms afterward hasn’t been a focus of research or support. But it should be. The reality is that the postpartum period is a vulnerable time of life. Routines fly out the window as the demands of childcare outweigh the critical self-care mothers need when they are sleep-deprived, sedentary and often lonely, struggling to keep it together.

A Statistics Canada survey found that 23 per cent of mothers in 2018 wh