Strategies for the C-Section Mom: A Complete Fitness, Nutrition, and Lifestyle Guide

While the book could use some reorganization in its chapters and headings, I really found a lot of new information about health and fitness inside! I thought I knew quite a bit about the topic because I have occasionally read a diverse set of articles over the years and been part of different Reddit forums, so I was ready to hear much of the same information being repeated. Not the case here though! This was a useful learning experience.

This book has a lot of good information and I really like the part that includes the diet and how to keep a healthy life style. However I was unable to implement the plan as stated in the book. I tried to follow it and get started gently, I even waited a few extra days to start, but I would get a lot of bleeding and pain the next day. I tried to get started a few times, but each time the same.I consider myself a fit person, ran a 5K right before getting pregnant, but I was in bed rest during my pregnancy and that might have influenced my ability to exercise. I really wanted to have it work for me, but it didn't.***edit***Now that I have been a mother for a while, there is some advice that I see with new eyes that I see horrifying. Take her example of "take care of yourself first", when the baby wakes up in the night, first go to the bathroom, then go for a cup of water and a snack, and then go feed the baby... If you take so long to go get your already crying of hunger newborn you will soon find yourself with a frantic child that will be hard to console and then feed. Especially if you are meaning to breast feed, this is very poor advice, you need a calm child to get a good latch.

I used this book religiously through my first C-section and I'm preparing to go through the exercises again after my second surgery. I found it really helpful - for me, I needed a good plan so I didn't push my body too hard or too fast. The Kindle edition has a few problems - some missing exercise lists and descriptions - so I'd recommend buying the print book. I also found myself flipping back and forth between the lists and descriptions which was difficult to do electronically.

This book is awesome! It is great at really walking through what types of physical activities should be performed at all stages of recovery. I wish there was a DVD I could follow to do the stretches and different workouts. There is some info on diastasis recti, but I found more info on that in the book Lose Your Mummy Tummy by Julie Tupler. These two together will help me get physically back on track. Thank you!!

So thorough it's a bit overwhelming, but a lot of really great information. I like how she repeats over and over that postpartum fitness is and should be different for c-section moms. It sure feels different to me, and I bought this book to help guide me through it. It's nice that she had some exercises you can do with baby.

I’ve read almost every book on c-sections. I had an emergency one after my first 40-hour labor failed. For my second, I’m having a planned one due to complete placenta previa. So many books on c-sections sound very judgmental about the surgery and effects and it’s NOT what an expecting mother needs, especially if she already knows she needs a cesarean. This book is helpful, not scary, and will better help you prepare whether it’s your first or second or beyond. Highly recommend.

After my second c-section, I was looking for a resource to help me with fitness and specifically, a safe abdominal workout to help me improve tone and re-approximate my rectus muscles. This book was perfect for me because it is very heavy on the post-surgical fitness aspect. The pre-op information was thorough and considerate; definitely worth buying before your procedure if you find the title ahead of time.

Generally a good book if you want to know more about c-sections. There’s not a lot of information out there otherwise. However, the book is a little dated and the workout routine is a little intense. In fact, my doctor told me not to follow it.

The pre-op stuff is great. I went through all the exercises with a specialist physio for after the section and the majority on the ones advocated for weeks 1-6 i was strongly advised against doing while i was healing in this initial stage.

Very practical and useful. Bought this ahead of C-Section and will keeping this as a handy how-to on the recovery side as well. Some of the information is very much for the American market and less relevant to UK but the fitness programs are great.

Had all what you need to know in there, as you come away from hospital with very little advice on what to do next and advice on exercise is always vague, but this book helps you so much

Ok for light reading through the night feeds! Wouldn’t tackle excercises so early on though.

I have been looking for information to guide me getting back in shape after my emergency c section. I feel that it's really important to find the right types of exercises to help strengthen and repair your body after both pregnancy and surgery. The book gives a very detailed plan that covers a full body workout and gives advice on how to incorporate fitness into life as a mum. Looking forward to getting stuck in!