No one tells you this part clearly enough: after you give birth, your core doesn't just need strengthening. It needs to be re-educated. The muscles that held your spine stable for years, your transversus abdominis, your pelvic floor, your deep stabilisers, have been stretched, shifted, and in some cases separated by the demands of pregnancy. Jumping back into crunches or planks before reconnecting with these structures is how injuries happen.
This is the sequence that works. Not because it's intense. Because it's precise.
Start with the breath
Before any exercise, before any piece of equipment, start with your breath. Diaphragmatic breathing is the foundation of core rehabilitation, it's the mechanism that drives pressure management in your abdomen and activates the pelvic floor through the 360-degree expansion of your ribcage.
Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat. Breathe in through your nose and feel your ribcage expand outward and your belly rise. Breathe out through pursed lips and notice a gentle drawing-up sensation in your pelvic floor. Do ten of these before you do anything else.
This isn't warm-up filler. This is the work.
The postpartum core sequence
1. Dead bug (modified)
Start lying on your back with knees bent at 90 degrees, arms reaching toward the ceiling. Breathe in to prepare. As you breathe out, lower one arm overhead and extend the opposite leg, keeping your lower back connected to the floor. Return. Switch sides. Start with five per side.
If your lower back lifts off the floor, the movement is too big. Make it smaller. The floor contact is the cue that tells you your deep stabilisers are working.
2. Heel slides
Lie on your back, knees bent. Breathe out and slide one heel along the floor until the leg is nearly straight. Breathe in to return. This is deceptively simple and genuinely effective for re-establishing the connection between your pelvic floor and your lower limb movement.
Ten per side. Keep your pelvis completely still.
3. Glute bridges with resistance band
Place a looped resistance band just above your knees. Feet hip-width apart, pushing gently outward against the band. Breathe in, then breathe out and lift your hips into a bridge, driving your knees outward and squeezing your glutes at the top. Lower slowly.
Start with ten. Progress to a heavier band when this feels easy at fifteen.
The band adds external rotation load, which activates your glute medius and takes pressure off your lower back. It also prevents your knees from caving inward, which is a common compensation pattern postpartum.
4. Clamshells
Lie on your side with hips stacked, knees bent, feet together. Keep your pelvis still, this is where most people fail, and lift your top knee open like a clamshell. Lower it with control. Ten each side.
Add a light resistance band around your thighs when bodyweight becomes simple. The glute medius is chronically underused postpartum and directly affects pelvic floor function.
5. Side-lying leg lifts
Same side-lying position. Straighten your top leg and lift it to hip height. Lower slowly. The goal is hip stability, your trunk shouldn't rotate or shift as the leg moves. Ten per side.
What this isn't
This isn't a shortcut back to where you were. It's a deliberate reconstruction of a foundation that, if done correctly, will make you stronger than before, because you're building from a properly integrated base rather than compensating on top of dysfunction.
Most women skip this phase and then spend years wondering why their lower back aches, their pelvic floor is unreliable, or their core "doesn't engage" the way it used to. This phase isn't optional.
When to add more
When the above sequence feels easy and connected, usually 4–6 weeks in, begin adding load: single-leg progressions, resistance band rows, supported squats. The RIVI Maternity Kit is designed to support this exact progression, with the bands, mat, and guide you need to move from this foundation into a full restorative practice.
There's no deadline. Progress looks different for every body. But the direction is clear: start with breath, build from the inside out, never skip the foundation.
Further reading:
Six Weeks Postpartum: What to Know Before You Start Moving Again
The Morning Ritual That Actually Works
How to Build a Daily Wellness Routine That Actually Sticks
Postnatal Yoga at Home: Gentle Moves to Heal After Birth
Diastasis Recti Exercises for Postpartum Core Healing
Postpartum Nutrition: What to Eat to Heal After Birth
Postpartum Sleep: How to Get More Rest When a Baby Controls Your Night
Shop this article: Maternity Kit · RIVI Bubble Butt Kit · Maternity & Postpartum Collection
