Protecting Your Body After Baby: How Proper Movement and Massage Support Postpartum Recovery

Your body just did something extraordinary — and now it needs your full attention. The weeks after giving birth are filled with joy, exhaustion, and a physical recovery that doesn't always get the care it deserves.

For many new mothers in Montreal, the postpartum period quietly accumulates into a series of aches that feel inevitable: a nagging lower back, sore shoulders from nursing, tension that settles in and never quite leaves. The demands of caring for a newborn don't pause for recovery, and without the right support and movement habits, small strains can turn into lasting discomfort. It's not about being fragile — it's about understanding that your body has been through an enormous physical event and deserves to be treated accordingly.

Imagine moving through those early weeks with more ease. Lifting your baby without bracing for a twinge in your back. Feeding at 3 a.m. without waking up the next morning with a stiff neck. Feeling present and grounded in your body rather than fighting it. That kind of recovery is possible — and it starts with understanding how you move, and how you care for your muscles during this critical window of healing.

Why Postpartum Injuries Happen — And Why They're So Common

During pregnancy, your abdominal muscles stretch and separate, your pelvic floor bears increasing load, and your entire musculoskeletal system adapts to accommodate a growing baby. Hormones like relaxin soften your ligaments to prepare for birth — and those ligaments don't snap back to their previous tension overnight. After delivery, whether vaginal or by cesarean, your deep core muscles are weakened, your posture has shifted, and you're suddenly doing some of the most physically demanding repetitive work of your life: lifting, carrying, bending, feeding, rocking, repeat.

The most common postpartum injuries — diastasis recti (abdominal muscle separation), pelvic organ prolapse, and chronic back and neck pain — are not signs of weakness. They're predictable consequences of the body being asked to do too much, too soon, without proper support or movement awareness. Proper body mechanics during the postpartum period means learning how to move in ways that protect your healing tissues rather than strain them. It means bending at the knees when you pick up your baby from the bassinet, bracing gently through your core as you lift, sitting in a position that supports your spine during those long nursing sessions, and recognizing when your body is asking you to slow down.

How Massage Therapy Supports Postpartum Recovery

Proper movement habits are essential — but even the most mindful new mother carries tension she can't release on her own. This is where therapeutic massage for new mothers becomes genuinely transformative. Registered massage therapists trained in postpartum care work with the specific anatomy of a post-birth body: the overworked trapezius and rhomboids from hunching during feeds, the chronically shortened hip flexors from long hours sitting, the lumbar muscles that have been compensating for a weakened core since the third trimester.

From a therapeutic standpoint, massage during the postpartum period works on several interconnected levels. Soft tissue manipulation helps reduce muscle hypertonicity — the constant low-grade tightening that develops when your body is perpetually guarding against pain or fatigue. It improves local circulation, which accelerates tissue healing and reduces inflammation in overused muscle groups. It also stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, shifting the body out of the stress response that so many new parents live in around the clock. That shift is not just emotionally relieving — it has a direct physiological effect on how quickly muscles recover and how much pain you perceive.

For mothers recovering from cesarean sections, massage therapy can also play a supportive role in scar tissue management once the incision has healed, improving tissue mobility and reducing the restrictions that can contribute to ongoing lower back and hip tension. If you were also receiving prenatal massage during your pregnancy, continuing that therapeutic relationship into the postpartum period allows your therapist to understand your body's full journey and adapt their approach accordingly.

What Six Years of In-Home Postpartum Care in Montreal Has Taught Us

After six years of bringing massage therapy directly into Montreal homes during the postpartum period, a few things have become very clear. First: new mothers almost never prioritize their own recovery until someone explicitly gives them permission to. The culture around new parenthood celebrates selflessness — which is beautiful — but it can also leave mothers depleted in ways that don't serve them or their fa