Oh Baby! Fitness co-owner Kathleen Donahoe was recently interviewed by Happy Babies Parent Education about postpartum recovery—specifically cores and floors (pelvic ones, that is!)
What’s really up with your pelvic floor after you have a baby?

Oh Baby! Fitness co-owner Kathleen Donahoe was recently interviewed by Happy Babies Parent Education about postpartum recovery—specifically cores and floors (pelvic ones, that is!)
Often clients will take one or two Oh Baby! Fitness classes a week, but ask what they can be doing in between classes to stay in shape. I’ve been teaching a mom and baby fitness class for the last few weeks and decided to offer “homework” to the class. It was completely optional, but a number of moms have taken me up on it and have said they can see and feel a real difference in their fitness level.
How quickly will I lose weight the baby weight?
Just as weight gain happens at different rates during pregnancy, weight loss has different paces for different women. 9 months on , 9 months off is a good rule of thumb— not 9 months on and back in your skinny jeans at 2 months! If your baby is 9 months old and you still have weight to lose we recommend a combination of exercise and healthy diet to lose the last few pounds.
How soon can I exercise after baby?
Wraps and Belts and supports, oh my! In general, we don’t recommend too many products here at Oh Baby! Fitness—we think babies need a place to sleep and some food to eat, but not much beyond that, and we never want to tell new moms “you must buy this one magical product, or else!” That said, there are two products that we get asked about a ton and recommend for some clients- the pregnancy support belt and the postpartum belly wrap. These may seem similar, but are actually very different products that can help with very different conditions. Here’s a primer:
Pregnancy and abdominals is easily the topic our clients ask us about the most. This area has changed a lot in the ten years Oh Baby! Fitness has been open- a decade ago women thought ALL ab work during pregnancy was “bad.” Thankfully the tide has turned a bit and pregnant women generally understand now that they probably should be doing ab work during pregnancy. That said, they often don’t know what they should do (and what to avoid). The good news is, it’s not rocket science! Here are the five basic rules of pregnancy abdominal work:
Several years ago, I sat with a team of newly hired Oh Baby! Fitness instructors in a live perinatal fitness training. This was the go-to pre/postnatal training at the time–basically the only one on the market. I had taken the live training a few years before with a great instructor and had spent the years since teaching 20+ Oh Baby! Fitness classes a week. I was excited for our new team, but about halfway through called Clare, the CEO and founder of OBF and said, “We’ve got to create our own training. NOW.”
Life is a little crazy with a newborn and just-turned-two year old. I AM exercising, just not in the same way I did with only one kid. Here’s what exercise looks like now that we’ve got two little ones around the house:
Pregnant women should get moving! That’s the clear message in the newest guidelines released by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), a group that advises doctors what to tell their patients when it comes to pregnancy and health. See what exercises are recommended and which are NOT OK.. you might be surprised.
Oh Baby! Fitness is thrilled to announce our newest class offering: the Pushing Partner Workshop: How to Push Out Your Baby. Based on our bestselling app, this pelvic floor, yoga and abs class will prepare women for the most difficult stage of childbirth: pushing!
Wear or carry your baby for the first 3 exercises. We promise this one will leave mom sore and baby happy!