Physiotherapy After C-Section: Recovery and Safe Exercises

The first days

Getting up and walking soon after surgery reduces the risk of blood clots and helps bowel function. Deep breathing and gentle coughing with a pillow held against the wound clear the lungs. Ankle pumps keep circulation moving.

To get out of bed, roll onto your side, drop your legs over the edge and push up with your arms. This avoids straining the wound.

Weeks one to six

Walking gradually increases. Gentle exercises can begin as comfort allows:

• diaphragmatic breathing with gentle pelvic floor contractions
• pelvic tilts
• gentle deep core activation
• short, gradually longer walks

Our postnatal core exercises guide covers these in order. Avoid lifting anything heavier than your baby, and skip sit-ups and strenuous abdominal work.

Scar care

Once the wound has healed and your doctor has checked it, gentle scar massage can help reduce tightness and sensitivity. A physiotherapist can show you how. Some women experience numbness around the scar for months, which usually improves gradually.

The pelvic floor still matters

Even without a vaginal birth, pregnancy loads the pelvic floor. Pelvic floor exercises are recommended after a caesarean too.

Abdominal separation

Diastasis recti, separation of the abdominal muscles, is common after pregnancy regardless of birth type. Our article on diastasis recti after pregnancy explains how it's assessed and treated.

Returning to exercise

Low-impact exercise can build from around six to eight weeks, once your doctor is happy with healing. Running, heavy lifting and high-impact classes usually wait until around three months or later. A postnatal assessment helps decide when you're ready.

Coughing, sneezing and laughing

In the early days after a caesarean, coughing, sneezing and laughing can be painful. Supporting the wound helps. Hold a pillow or folded towel firmly against the incision and press gently while coughing or sneezing.

This technique, called splinting, reduces pain and gives confidence. It's also useful when getting up from lying down or moving in bed.

Deep breathing exercises in the first few days help keep the lungs clear. Breathe in slowly through the nose, letting the ribs expand, then breathe out gently. A few deep breaths every hour while awake is a good routine early on.

Warning signs

Contact your doctor for increasing wound pain, redness, discharge, fever, calf pain or swelling, or heavy bleeding.

For the general postnatal timeline, see postpartum physiotherapy: when to start.