Riding after cesarean section - your experiences?

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Ginge Crosby

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As above really. Had my little boy nearly 2 weeks ago by unplanned c section as it was discovered he was breech after i'd gone into labour. It's really knocked me for six, as ending up having a section had never even crossed my mind.

I'm desperate to get back riding (or even lunging would be a start!) but i'm not even allowed to drive for 6 weeks, and tbh the way i'm feeling atm i know doing anything sooner would definitely be pushing my luck.

So has anyone else been in this situation? How soon after did you start riding? Any tips?
thanks guys x
 
Hi, congratulations:)

My c section was planned, however the main thing I found was my core strength was very weak.

If you are a member of a gym, a lot do post pregnancy pilates which is great for core strength.

Do not be in a rush, and allow your body time to heal.

I was fit to drive nearly 3 weeks later, and had it cleared by my insurance company
 
Congratulations on the baby!

The main thing I would say is that each person is different and you must do what your body tells you otherwise you risk being unwell and finding it more difficult to look after the baby. I had a planned c-section 3 months ago. I drove at 4 weeks (but doc never said anythign about not driving), sex at 6 weeks (sorry to be explicit but quite a lot of activity is involved in this), gentle riding at 7 weeks and proper schooling at 9 weeks although I get tired a lot faster. However remember it's not a race and you're not in competition with anyone else! :) I had every intention of riding through pregnancy, but my body had other thoughts and I gave up at 5.5 months!
 
i had an unplanned section after a failed induction, could bearly ger off the sofa for the first week! however after about 3 weeks i felt so much better. I rode after 8 weeks just a walk round the block and it nearly killed me :( it took a while to get into things but i was also very unfit which didnt help, even now i struggle to mount from the ground as stomach muscles are not what they used to be

I second the taking it easy, give yourself plenmty of time to rest before you start worrying about anything other than making it out of your pjs during the day :)
 
I had an emergency section but was well enough to ride after a month, though I later had a planned section and the wound was slow to heal so I didn't rush. Its major surgery, and my abdominal muscles have never been quite the same. Agree with the others, take your time.
 
thanks guys. i rode up to 5 months during pregnancy, and i feel pretty fit in myself. but i think ive overdone it these first few weeks with jumping out of bed/off sofa to sort babi out, and really feeling it now!

i wanted to get neddy ready for winter dressage, and a bit of hacking would be lovely right now but i dont think it'll be happening for a while. OH is very protective, and wont let me do any riding until health visitor has cleared it. same with driving. i feel like i could drive now, but the pressure of the lap belt might not be too pleasant.

anyone have any exercises i could do in the meantime to help regain some stomach muscles/core strength? (even tho the thought of doing sit ups ever again makes me wince, with a stomach resembling a half full hot water bottle....)

Unfortunately gym/pilates is out of the question - its 15 miles to town and the only gyms in the area don't do any kind of pilates or yoga, i investigated the prospect when i was pregnant.

ps booboos - dont mention the 'S' word, think my OH will explode with joy if he realises it could be on the horizon!! lol
 
Congratulations :)

My sister in law had an emergency C section recently and has been told by doctors she can't do horse riding for a year :eek:

I would check with your GP before doing anything. You might feel OK but you don't know what damage you might be doing to yourself internally.

At the end of the day you have just had major surgery. Better to be safe than sorry.
 
OFG sorry to hear about your sister! Perhaps there were special circumstances though because I have never heard of anyone prohibiting exercise for a year after an unproblematic c-section?

OP: ooops sorry about the S word, hope OH is not reading this!! But seriously...a good Pilates DVD is Darcy Bussell's Pilates for Life. It has a huge number of exercises and you can pick and choose, although keep in mind that even post pregnancy when I was doing pilates twice a week I could not do all of them so the more advanced are seriously demanding - don't do yourself an injury trying them! Little tip for getting up from bed/sofa: either roll sideways or hook your arms under one knee to help from putting all the strain on the stomach muscles.
 
Congrats on the baby - I didnt have a c section with my BB but still took it easy! Even without a C sec it took me a fair while to regain my core strength. Agrre with the others - take your time, reain fitness and you may well be up to winter dressage.
 
My first was an emergency, just as I began pushing, and as I was completely unprepared it took me a while to adjust... I started by walking longer distances each day but within my comfort zone, by the third week I was driving after my doctor gave me the OK (which covered my insurance). I rode just before the 6 weeks were up (just gentle walking) and was back to riding almost normally (if there is such a thing) shortly after 3 months and back working with horses around 4 months.
The second time I was more prepared and when the induction failed to get me past 5cm I knew what to expect. I took more time getting out and about this time around as I only had the one horse who was happy not to be ridden and an office job... but I was back in the saddle around 3 months when I got the time to ride!

As others have said listen to your body and do not do more than is needed xx
 
Hi, congratulations:)

i had an emergancy c-section under general anesthtic (sp) nearly four years ago now which wasnt planned either, so didnt get to see the birth and neither did my husband :(

Daisydo said:
the main thing I found was my core strength was very weak.
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this was the first thing that i really noticed that you just have no core strength for canter at all or for mounting off the ground i cant really remember when i started riding but im guessing it was a good 4-5 weeks at least.

horsemadmum1 said:
Its major surgery, and my abdominal muscles have never been quite the same.
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unfortunately this is the same for me too my stomach muscles just arent the same and you have to remember that it is major surgery and the muscle has been cut through.

alj7 said:
i feel like i could drive now, but the pressure of the lap belt might not be too pleasant.
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its not the pressure of the belt that you have to be careful about but the fact that your stomach muscles will not work properly if you need to perform an emergancy stop so please be careful. you just have no power in your core strength. i think i drove when i started riding again so about 5 weeks but only short local driving (if that makes sense :)) i cleared it with my insurance company to make sure i was covered.

Just take it easy as a c-section is major surgery and there's no rush just do what your body says is ok and all will be well :)
 
I am not 100% certain but I think people on this thread may have experienced two different types of cuts for a c-section? Mine is really low, below the bikini line and doesn't affect my abdominal muscles at all. The muscles are weak from the pregnancy but were not in any way cut by the c-section. I think this is the more modern version of the c-section the older one is much further up and in an emergency perhaps they sometimes have to use the one further up?
 
Booboos said:
I am not 100% certain but I think people on this thread may have experienced two different types of cuts for a c-section? Mine is really low, below the bikini line and doesn't affect my abdominal muscles at all. The muscles are weak from the pregnancy but were not in any way cut by the c-section. I think this is the more modern version of the c-section the older one is much further up and in an emergency perhaps they sometimes have to use the one further up?
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i was reading up on c sections today, and yes there are the 2 types of incision. The more conventional is the low bikini line, and the older style is a vertical belly-button down line which is still used in emergencies when the baby is positioned sideways.

Mine is the low type, just above my bikini line. I'd say at the moment i can feel the weakness where muscle has been cut (especially when i sneeze, cough or launch off the sofa!) but i dont know how much it would affect your core muscles used when riding? i think generally the abdo muscles dont go back to how they were as they've been stretched so much. There was a woman on that embarassing bodies programme who'd had 4 kids and her stomach still looked pregnant because the muscles didnt meet or hold in the stomach any more. I'm hoping riding in a few months might help tone things up a bit for me!
 
Booboos said:
OFG sorry to hear about your sister! Perhaps there were special circumstances though because I have never heard of anyone prohibiting exercise for a year after an unproblematic c-section?

OP: ooops sorry about the S word, hope OH is not reading this!! But seriously...a good Pilates DVD is Darcy Bussell's Pilates for Life. It has a huge number of exercises and you can pick and choose, although keep in mind that even post pregnancy when I was doing pilates twice a week I could not do all of them so the more advanced are seriously demanding - don't do yourself an injury trying them! Little tip for getting up from bed/sofa: either roll sideways or hook your arms under one knee to help from putting all the strain on the stomach muscles.
Click to expand...



No, it wasn't me! it's the sister in law :D.

She hasn't been told not to do any exercise just mustn't go horse riding for a year (I asked her when she wanted to get out and ride my sons pony and that was when she mentioned couldn't do it for a year). Not sure what type of c section she had though, after reading others comments.
 
alj7 said:
i think generally the abdo muscles dont go back to how they were as they've been stretched so much. There was a woman on that embarassing bodies programme who'd had 4 kids and her stomach still looked pregnant because the muscles didnt meet or hold in the stomach any more. I'm hoping riding in a few months might help tone things up a bit for me!
Click to expand...



Yep, I've had two children, both naturally and my youngest will be four in December, yet my stomach muscles have only just recently met in the middle again.
 
i've had 3 c-sections, each one was different healing time.

my first one i had no choice but to drive a car 9 days after having the c-section but it put back the healing time. i found it hard to move and even coughing was agony. i had stitches with this one and thought that was bad until i had my second!

my second one i was still in the hospital 2 weeks after having it so i had more resting time, once i was released i HAD to move around and was a passenger in a car every day for another 2 weeks doing round trips of 45 miles going round bumpy lanes, it hurt but i was then used to the feelings or rather lack of them so wasn't too concerned. i didn't ride for a few months but that was mainly down to not being able to due to my horse not being the quietest although i did do other things with her. i had staples with that c-section.

my third was definately the easiest, i was out the hospital the next day and going to visit the horses within 3 days, after 2 weeks i was able to lead my horse around, within 2 months i was able to do alot more with him, didn't ride him until 4 months after the c-section but only because he was on field rest at the time but i did feel ready to get on board after 2 months. i had the glue used for this section and it just healed so much better, the wound wasn't painful and i felt i had more movement. the only downside to having the glue used it always felt that if i did too much it might 'burst' open, never did but it was just trying to get it out of my head that normal glue isn't that strong! lol
 
just to add i had the below the bikini line c-sections. they did cut through the muscle though (so i was told) and now i can't seem to get rid of my baby belly, my eldest child is 13yrs and my youngest is 5yrs, i even went to a gym but my stomach still won't go flat.
i was stick thin straight away after having each of my kids but as soon as i gained weight it sat on my stomach and only way i can shift it is to lose weight, 12 stone down to 7 stone (what i used to be).
 
My muscles haven't met in the middle yet, but I was told this was an effect of the pregnancy not the c-section. My MW said that women with strong stomach muscles pre-pregnancy tend to have this problem as the muscles can separate as the belly stretches. In most cases the recovery is through normal exercise but in extreme cases a laparoscopy may be needed to knit the muscles together again.
 
I had a c section 10 weeks ago, the first 3 weeks were tough but I heeled rapidly after the first3 weeks, I was riding after five weeks, competed and had lessons from 8 weeks! But just go with the flow, don't rush ur self everyone heals at different paces.
 
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