There are no mums and bubs classes on the current roster (September 2018) - please email me for more information! 
hello@melanieirons.com

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How does the mums and bubs work?

You can bring babies, infants and toddlers. Bring 100 of them if you like.

The class goes for about 50 to 55 minutes. Come even if you can't do the whole thing! See the Classes and Location tabs for more info about when this is on. 

We won't be 'using' small humans in the class - essentially, it is just a class where I will focus on what mums need for their bodies, and little people are welcome to be present!

If you feel like you won't be able to concentrate at all because your little one is very full of beans, maybe try to get a sitter (ha!), but really, so long as you can get SOME time on the mat it's worth bringing them along!

I can't work with you in class until you have had your 6 week check, and really, I would leave it a bit after that before getting stuck into class. But each case is different so get in touch with me and we will have a chat!

You can definitely come without your tiny person. Of course!
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Now, for some light reading...

​POST NATAL EXERCISE

Congratulations for making a tiny, tiny person! Or two! More! You did it! 

What a huge achievement. 
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Here are some guidelines for you to have a think about as you embark on your post natal fitness journey!

• Everyone recovers at a different speed.
• Please don't compare yourself to Rebecca Judd or that gal in your mum's group.
• Exercise has huge benefits for you post-natally: mentally, socially, for your pelvic floor both in the short term and long term, for your bone density, for getting you ready for next baby (heaven forbid), to help you get through the demands of breastfeeding and/or bottle feeding and being a mumma, to reduce aches and pains, to reduce your chance of injury, to build your self-esteem and confidence, to manage healthy weight, to fight fatigue (zzzzzz), to improve your sleep (my what now? Whatdat?), to get you strong!
• So - lots of benefits - but if you start too early, or go too hard, or do the wrong types of activities, you are potentially going to do more harm than good.
• Thus, rule number one... be patient and be smart. Ok that's two rules. Be patient. Be smart. 

When are you ready to start exercising again? 

• ​First of all, you must have your 6-week check with your GP. A thorough assessment is really important to make sure your body is healing well.
• Post-baby, I personally found the 6-week check I had a bit superficial. Therefore I also booked myself with a pelvic floor physiotherapist - I highly recommend that you not only have your tick-the-box 6-week GP check, but that you also have a check up with a physiotherapist. They can make sure your pelvic floor function is well on the way, and that your deep abdominals have started to reactivate. They can give you good professional advice on where you can start back on the exercise train. I recommend Rebecca at Melbourne Sports Physio. 

What factors might make your return to exercise a little more challenging?

• If you weren't exercising regularly pre-baby and during pregnancy
• If your abdominals have not knitted back together well (you have diastasis rectus abdominus - more on this later)
• If you are getting no sleep!!
• If you are having a rough go of it and are experiencing PND 
• If you had a challenging pregnancy or birth
• If your baby is not very well and you are mentally or physically extra-depleted
• If you have other children diminishing your time and energy for exercise! 
• If your pelvic floor really took a hit during the pregnancy or the birth
• Just about anything else under the sun! 
• So remember the first rule(s) of thumb? Be patient and be smart. 
• There are some documented increased risks if you have a high BMI (such as thrombosis, diabetes and high blood pressure). Please do let me know if you think you might fall into this category. I really hate the BMI but in this case it's a useful starting point. Body weight and body size really doesn't matter that much.​

What's the diastasis rectus abdominus thing I keep hearing about?

• Here's a not-bad video you can watch on how to test and what you are looking for. Ignore her phrase 'you should worry' about this... translate that to 'it's a good idea to pay attention'. No need to panic! Also check out the sweet basketball moves of the little boy.
• Main traps to avoid when testing yourself: don't try to do a 'crunch'. Just float your head up ever so gently. Check up and down your belly and around the belly button. Check vertically AND horizontally around the belly button AND also look at depth. How deep can you get your paws in there? 
• If you have anything around 2cm or bigger, you really need to get your heinie to the physio for a personalised program. You can still join me in class... but you will be so limited in what you can do that you will be so bored your brain will fall out of your head. You are better off to do some work at home and get your abdominals closer, and then start up classes with me. If you aren't sure just let me know and we can have a chat! 
• You definitely need to do a rec check before committing to Pilates, and before getting out there and doing crazy things like sit ups and planks! 
• A diastasis of more than 2cm means your back is vulnerable, and if you aren't careful you are setting yourself up for a back injury, making the gap worse, and all manner of other issues related to pelvic instability and a weak powerhouse. Be fussy with this one! I will be! 
• If at about 8 weeks you still have a decent bit of separation - it's not going to get better on its own. Physio! Go now! You can do something about it! Hurrah! 

What about stopping the flow of pee when I'm on the loo? Is that a good pelvic floor exercise? #pelvicfloorofsteel

• No.
• It absolutely is not.
• It is a good one-off way to check if your pelvic floor is functioning well, but do not use this as a workout! This is known as a urine-stop test. 
• If you can stop peeing mid-flow, this suggests your pelvic floor is functioning well enough to start introducing more challenging exercises into your routine. So just use this as a test, not an exercise! 
• Also... one pee stop does not a marathon make. Just because you can stop peeing for a second doesn't mean you are ready for the sustained and incredibly heavy duty of something like running. It's just means you are ready to start adding a bit more to your program! 

When do you need to see a professional? Like a physiotherapist?

• The following things are unlikely to go away on their own, so you need to be proactive and get professional help: incontinence, back pain, neck pain, pelvis pain, abdominal separation, bulging tummy when exercising, tailbone pain, pain in your legs (knees, ankles etc). Pain is a message. Something is wrong. Pay attention to that message!
• We can do pretty great things in Pilates, but I am not a physiotherapist. Make sure you are getting the best help you can if your feel like something is not quite right. Don't be surprised if I march you off to a physio after observing you in class! 
• You might also benefit from 'clinical pilates' - this is generally taught by a physiotherapist, in much smaller groups or one-on-one, and has a remedial and rehabilitation focus. Yes it is more expensive but you are getting more tailored care, which might be just what you need right now. Once you have graduated from there you can come back to more general mat classes! 

Should I wear one of those sexy tube belly belt thingies?

• Yep! They can really help. Particularly if you have abdominal separation or issues with your pelvis. These make the most difference in the first three months or so post-birth. 
• You can use a range of things such as an SIJ belt, recovery shorts, belly wraps, taping... AND SPANX! Woooot!
• Again it's worth not getting excited by DIY hack jobs. Go see a professional. They will make recommendations about what will help with your recovery and what will just help someone else's bank account! 

What can you do in the first 6 weeks after birth?

• Celebrate! Eat goddam poached eggs.
• You'll probably feel floppy and have difficulty with pelvic floor control (who passed wind? Oh. Me again). You'll still bleed for a while but it should be getting less and less. You'll feel general aches and pains as your body gets used to its new posture. And of course you'll get aches and pains because the baby fell asleep on you in the most ridiculous position possible BUT YOU REFUSE TO MOVE BECAUSE IT IS ASLEEP
• So, generally, if you've had a really complication-free birth, you can start gentle walking for short periods, gentle stretching, and pelvic floor work. Don't do much more than these three things! You can also start some very gentle deep abdominal work at this point too. More on that later. 
• Try to be really good with your posture - where possible think about how you are sitting and walking and standing. Use pillows to help with breastfeeding. Don't cross your legs too much. Try to pull up nice and tall when you are standing. Little things, little things! Don't aim for perfection, it will kill you. Just try to become more and more aware. 
• If you've had a more complicated birth, please make sure you are seeing the right health professionals before doing much of anything! 
• Don't be a goddam superhero. Don't be a nutcase. So many days it will be a miracle you even managed to sit upright and not fall over from exhaustion. KEEP YOUR EXPECTATIONS VERY LOW and CELEBRATE ANY TEENY TINY THING YOU DO!! Seriously. Be very low key. You have so much other stuff to think about at this point! If you have to choose between some exercise and getting some sleep... come on. Be serious! 
• Anything that hurts, strains your pelvic floor, strains your back, just doesn't feel right... all to be avoided. Listen to your body. Tune in. Don't tune out and ignore what it is telling you! 

How do you know when you can progress with your exercise?

• If there is no pain. We aren't in the 'no pain no gain' domain yet. At this point we are looking for pain-free, not challenging exercise! Trying to get the tiny dictator to sleep is challenging enough. Soon we will start looking for some nice exercise related muscle stiffness, but not now! 
• You should be able to keep good control of your pelvis and spine during particular exercises - so you should be able to lift one leg up to about a 30 degree angle without your belly popping and doming and your back arching. This is called the ASLR or SLR test - active straight leg test or straight leg test. We will do this one in class. You can test yourself now if you like (if you are at least 6 weeks post-baby and be gentle). Here's some more information on how to do the test. 
• There is no clicking in your back and hips - things have stabilised
• Your pelvic floor just keeps improving like a boss! 
• There is no doming or popping of your belly when we do our abdominal exercises. 
• You can quite easily do 'easy' exercises, such as some of our pre-Pilates moves: single knee floats, single knee sides, single knee slides, small chest lifts. The really easy moves that won't feel easy at all to start with! Once they start to feel too easy, and you can keep excellent control, then you can start to progress. Bit by bit! 
• Some of the things that will come much later (things to put on the list for 'all in good time') are things like long walks, running, jumping, heavy weights, sudden dynamic changes of position such as in footy, single-leg activities such as doing stairs and heavy cycling and step ups, and legs-apart activities such as breaststroke in the pool and lunges. All in good time! 

Am I still full of relaxin, the hormone that makes my joints lax and floppy?

• New research suggests that we don't have as much relaxin in us post-birth as was once thought. The levels drop off considerably as soon as baby pops out. Your levels will stay a bit higher if you are breastfeeding though.
• So no, you don't have as much relaxin in you as you did while you were preggz. But you do have some! So you still need to pay good attention to your joints and not do anything bananas like wearing 13 inch stilettos on cobblestones. 

What can you do from 6 weeks onwards? 

• By now your wounds and scars should be healing quite well, although of course they won't be totally 'fixed'. You should be having some pretty good control of pelvic floor function (but with plenty of room for improvement). You should feel like your posture is improving and you no longer have that preggo posture - the big curve in your lower back for example. Pain should be more or less gone! Except for the pain of drinking ANOTHER cold cup of tea.
• So from here onwards, provided you've already been doing some gentle walking, stretching and pelvic floor work, you can start to do a bit more. Longer walks. Walks with a few hills. Some very gentle Pilates or yoga. Some very light resistance work. Of course if you haven't started yet, start doing the gentle stuff at six weeks, and increase bit by bit from there.
• Even if you were some sort of mega athlete prior to getting pregnant, you HAVE to respect your body and give it a good two months at least before you start getting even vaguely vigorous. Don't be a nutjob. Your hormones are still going crazy and your baby is probably going crazy and your body has been through quite an effort, so show some respect to your body and give it time. Your back in particular is still very vulnerable until your abs are nicely knitted back together - and yes it's important to be working on your abs, but you cannot rush things. 
• C-section... don't be daft. Yes, you can start doing a bit more at about 6 weeks, but when that little one came out the sunroof it meant every layer of you was impacted. That's going to take quite a long time to heal. Let it heal well. Don't rush. 
• Once you are ready to start introducing resistance work and higher impact work, start slowly - i.e., just do 5 minutes. Only add on 5 or so minutes every week or so. Slow and steady wins the less-chance-of-a-prolapse race! That's a race I would like to win. 

Yeah blah blah 'take it easy' blah blah. Boring! Hit me with that aerobics! 

• What could wrong if you go back too soon, go too hard too fast? Let's see here...
  • Actually reducing your pelvic floor strength rather than improving it.
  • Prolapse. Your innards coming out. Pelvic organs. On the floor. Messy. 
  • Things going ok now but totally backfiring when you get older. Long term bladder and bowel problems.
  • Stress incontinence. Peeing when you cough or jump etc.
  • Urge incontinence. Peeing when you just feel the urge to go to the toilet.
  • Your diastasis getting WAY worse. Resulting in less strength and support in your mid-section for your back and hips. And it's so much harder to fix if it gets bigger and bigger. 
  • Your tummy muscles bulging out no matter what exercise you do.
  • Pain. Pain! Everywhere. Sore back. Sore neck. Sore shoulder. Sore bicep tendon. Sore knees. Sore sore sore sore sore! And you can't take a rest from lifting that baby... so pain pain pain sore sore sore!

BUT I FEEL FINE AND READY TO GO, WHERE MY TRAMPOLINE AT

• IT'S A TRICK
• You might feel really good and ready to run a marathon but you may have very little awareness about what is actually going on below on the inside.
• You could be close to a prolapse and have no idea! 
• So get checked. Get your 6-week check from your GP. Get a good pelvic floor physio. It is worth the investment! 

What if I have that nasty pelvic girdle pain? Or issues with the front of the pelvis? Or my SIJ? Groin pain?

• Ouch! 
• This is common in the first 3 months after popping out bubba, but for some people, it won't end there! 
• Your pelvis comprises 6 bones and 6 joints and a whopping 35 different muscles attach to the dang thing... if things are loose or tight or weak or floppy all hell can break loose. If you are still experiencing pelvic pain a few months after giving birth - please! Go and see a physiotherapist! 
• If you have very minor discomfort in the pelvis I am happy for you to come to class. Anything more significant than that though and you need to get your booty to the physio first.
• Same applies if you have pubic symphysis irritation or issues - if you have problems here, there's quite a lot you can't really do in class (doing too much work in the relatively unsupported supine position; doing single leg work/unilateral stuff; sit ups; rotation exercises; loaded adduction work with the legs). You are better off doing a specialised program through your physio until that improves, then come to class! 
• If you have pain in your sacroiliac joint (SIJ), you can come to class if it's fairly mild (but you should still have seen a physio about it!) You need to avoid things that load up one side of your body at a time, such as cycling, stairs, and running. For some people even just walking flares it up. Physio! 
• Groin pain can be complex and challenging to fix, but it can be done. Don't leave it. Physio! They can tell you if Pilates mat classes with me are suitable for now or for later! In the meantime try to avoid heaps of hip flexion and standing on one leg! Flamingo!

Will you teach me how to use my abs all proper?

• Yep. I'll teach you how to use your deep transverse abdominus muscles; your obliques; your pelvic floor; how to breath properly; how to switch on your spinal core muscles such as your multifidus. I will teach you how to switch these things on without overachieving! You don't need to overdo it. 

What are the problems with joining an group mat class like this one?

• Hopefully that's fairly obvious by now... I can't tailor what we do to each and every person in a group class scenario. If you have something specific and challenging going on, such as a large abdominal separation, your time will be better spent working on that with your physio before coming to class. 
• That all being said, classes can be great because they are affordable and social and get you away from the baby for just a short period of time (if you're lucky!) 
• So you are welcome in class but please make sure that you:
  • ​inform me about what is happening with your body
  • make any modifications you need to make - stop and do something else if we start doing something that is not suitable for you! I will make suggestions but you need to also make sure you are looking after yourself. 

Please work out which level below best applies to you. You have some or all of these - just workout roughly where you are at. Just so you know NOT to do the advanced versions of exercises until you are ready! 

LEVEL 1
- less than 6 weeks since baby
- diastastis is greater than 2cms
- you are still bleeding
- maybe some separation at the front of the pelvis
- new to Pilates

LEVEL 2
- 6 to 16 weeks post-baby
- you were doing Pilates before/during preggz
- diastasis is less than 2cms
- no bleeding
- can work your pelvic floor muscles with control

LEVEL 3
- more than 16 weeks post baby
- you have been doing Pilates a few times a week consistently for a few months now
- you are very good at doing the easy versions of our exercises
- you can maintain neutral spine in all our exercises 


Just have a think about where you might be at. You'll hear me say things like 'here's the first level' or 'if you want to make it more challenging' or 'to take it up a notch'... be careful. Only sneak your way up the levels of difficulty when you are ready. 

Can't wait!

I can't wait to see you and meet you, and if you are coming to the Mums and Bubs class, meet your little kidlet if you are bringing him or her. It's a privilege to spent some of your oh-so-precious time with you, and do some work on your body and brain. Yay for Pilates!