What’s happening:

The first weeks after birth are about allowing your body to begin its natural repair. If you had stitches or a C-section incision, this is the time when wounds start to close and early scar healing begins. Hormonal changes are also at play, relaxin and other postpartum hormones keep your ligaments softer, which can leave your joints feeling unstable. Your abdominal muscles may begin the slow process of drawing back together, but true strength and support take much longer.

Research shows that while most surface-level healing happens within 6–8 weeks, deeper recovery of connective tissue and muscle takes far more time. This is why patience and the right kind of support matter.

Your focus:

This stage is about slowing down, honouring your recovery, and gently reconnecting with your body.

• Re-connecting Neural Pathways: Pregnancy and birth can disrupt the natural pathways between your brain and your muscles. Gentle pelvic floor and core activations can help rebuild these connections and begin the healing process.
• Breath-based Movement: Using the power of your breath to softly awaken your pelvic floor and deep core muscles, laying the foundation for strength and stability.
• Mobility and Postural Support: Small, restorative movements that release stiffness, support your spine and pelvis and help you feel more comfortable in your body day to day.

How the EMP supports you:

In Level 1 of the Empowered Motherhood Postnatal Program, everything is designed to gently guide you through those first steps of recovery with physiotherapist-led classes that nurture your body while supporting its natural healing.

• Pelvic Floor + Core Activation: Gentle, guided exercises to rebuild the brain–body connection, helping you feel supported from the inside out.
• Pilates + Strength Foundations: Simple movements that rebuild stability and lay the groundwork for future strength.
• Mobility + Stretching: Ease stiffness, improve posture, and create space in your body as you recover.
• Education: Practical, evidence-based guidance from women’s health physiotherapists so you understand what’s normal, what’s not, and how to safely progress.

What’s happening:

As you move beyond those first weeks, your body is still healing on the inside. If you had a C-section, your scar tissue and fascia are continuing to strengthen. Research shows that at 6 weeks the fascia is only about 50–60% as strong as it was before pregnancy, which is why gradual progression is so important. Hormones like relaxin are still present, keeping your joints looser than usual. This means you may feel unstable at times, and controlled strength work is key.

Your pelvic floor may also still be recovering from the stretching of pregnancy and birth or from stitches, and it needs time and support before it can handle higher impact or heavier loads.

Your Focus:

This stage is about beginning to rebuild your foundations slowly and safely. Think of it as re-training your body to move well again.

• Core and Pelvic Floor Strengthening: Start building the strength and endurance required to support you in daily life and help to reduce symptoms of incontinence.
• Low-impact Strength Training: Focusing on full-body global strength alongside postural strength and core control to create stability through your whole pelvis and spine.
• C-section Recovery: Beginning gentle wound mobility to reduce scar tissue build-up and improve mobility, continuing to progress core and full-body strength through specialised workouts designed for C-Section recovery.

How the EMP supports you:

The Empowered Motherhood Postnatal Level 2 Program is designed to help you to return to exercise confidently and build strength safely.

• 4-6 Short Workouts per Week: Combining Pilates, core and pelvic floor classes, foundational strength, and mobility.
• Mum and Baby Workouts: These sessions are designed to help you move even on the busiest, most unpredictable days, while building connection with your baby.
• Birth-type modifications: Week by Week Programs for vaginal birth, C-Section birth and women living with pelvic organ prolapse.

What’s happening:

By this stage, your body is ready to start taking on a little more. Connective tissue is continuing to remodel, and with the right kind of progressive loading, it becomes stronger and more resilient. Your core and pelvic floor are also adapting to higher demands, but they still need careful support to avoid overload. Many women notice their energy levels begin to improve here, though fatigue can still come and go depending on sleep, feeding, and the demands of motherhood. Research confirms that gradual, progressive reloading not only improves tissue strength but also helps create the stability your pelvis and core need for long-term function (Bø & Hilde, 2013).

Your focus:

This is the stage where you begin to feel your strength coming back, and it’s about using that strength in practical, functional ways.

• Functional Strength: Focusing on functional movements and progressive overload. Include squats, lunges, pushing and pulling into your routine to mirror the demands of daily life.
• Progressive Loading: As your strength and fitness return, the key is gentle progression. Gradually increasing your workload allows your body to keep adapting without overload, setting the foundation for long-term results.
• Safe return to Impact and Running: If your goal is to get back to running or sport, start with small bursts of controlled impact in your workouts, then gradually increase as your pelvic floor, core, and strength allow. A guided return-to-running pathway helps protect your body, reduce injury risk, and ensure you come back stronger and more confident.

How the EMP supports you:

Level 3 of the Empowered Motherhood Program will help you to build on your solid foundation and prepare your body for dynamic movement. Every session is designed by women’s health experts to challenge you safely while supporting long-term recovery.

Here’s what you’ll find inside:

• Functional Strength: Workouts that train your body for the real demands of motherhood.
• Full-body Pilates: Carefully programmed to challenge your core while continuing to support and reduce abdominal separation.
• Return to Running Assessment: A step-by-step framework to ensure your pelvic floor, core, and strength are prepared before you hit the pavement.
• Return-to-Impact Classes: Guided sessions to introduce jumping, running, and sport-specific impact in a safe, progressive way.

What’s happening:

By now, your body has rebuilt its foundations and is ready for more dynamic challenges. Your muscles, fascia, and pelvic floor have adapted to progressive loading, and you can begin safely layering in more complex movement, higher resistance, and impact. Energy and confidence often start to feel more consistent here, although fatigue is still normal with the demands of motherhood.

Your focus:

• Rebuilding Strength to Pre-pregnancy Levels and Beyond: Using heavier loads and more dynamic exercises to build strength and muscle tone.
• Core Tone and Control: Continuing to progress your core and challenge your abdominal strength with functional core movements.
• Return to Impact: Gradually layering in jumping, agility, and running drills with proper guidance.
• Sport-specific Conditioning: Preparing your body for the activities you love, whether that’s gym training, team sport, or high-intensity fitness.
• Thriving in Motherhood: Feeling energised, capable, and no longer defined by recovery, but stronger than before.

How the EMP supports you:

• Dynamic Strength Training: Advanced pilates, functional circuits, and heavier resistance work that push your body to the next level.
• Return to Running Program: An 8-week structured return to running program combining progressive runs, run-ready strength, pilates and core workouts.
• Education and Empowerment: Physiotherapist-led guidance so you understand how to keep building strength, protect your pelvic floor, and thrive long term.