How I Came to Teach Pregnancy and Postpartum Training: My Story

Read the personal story of how my own postpartum struggles led me to become a corrective exercise specialist for moms.

Welcome back to part two of our series! If you missed yesterday's post, be sure to check out [10 Things You Didn't Know About Pregnancy and Postpartum Training]. After reading that list, you might be wondering how I became a corrective exercise specialist and what qualifies me to teach these concepts. Like many passions found later in life, my journey to this exact spot didn't happen by accident. It came from a very personal, very frustrating story.

How I Came to Teach Pregnancy and Postpartum Training: My Story

I went to school for Kinesiology, knowing I wanted to be in and around sports and fitness. After graduating, the jobs I was interested in required personal training experience, so that’s where I started. I quickly fell in love with watching people reach their goals, grow more confident, and avoid injuries. About five years into my career, I got pregnant with my first daughter in 2016. I went into pregnancy thinking I could effortlessly continue running half marathons, lifting heavy, and feeling great. After all, fitness was my life! I was wrong. Very wrong.

The Reality Check of My First Pregnancy

I spent 40 weeks intensely nauseous. Shortly after my first trimester, spotting during a run forced me to stop for two weeks. Trying to run again while growing a baby proved too difficult. When I switched to lifting, I needed an amniocentesis and had to pause again. By 23 weeks, lifting was hard, I was starting to leak when I laughed or coughed, and I was incredibly uncomfortable. By 30 weeks, I gave up fitness entirely. The imposter syndrome was crushing: How could I possibly be a good trainer when I can’t even get through my own pregnancy?

The birth was awful. After 36 hours of labor, six hours of pushing, and an epidural that only worked on one side, I was utterly exhausted and we resorted to a c-section. My recovery was painful, complicated by a hurricane evacuation with a 9-day-old, an infected scar, and a baby struggling to latch. When my midwife cleared me at 8 weeks, I thought I should be ready to jump back into my old life. Instead, I was slow, weak, and felt completely broken. It took me nearly a year to really start moving like myself again, and even then, I couldn't reach my old PRs. I did absolutely nothing to treat my core or pelvic floor differently, unaware of the damage I was likely doing.

A Second Pregnancy and Hitting Rock Bottom

Fast forward to 2019, pregnant with my second. I showed sooner and looked much bigger—likely a result of unresolved diastasis recti and neglecting my core. I experienced more leaking and intense back and hip pain. This time, we opted for a planned c-section, though complications and low amniotic fluid turned it into an early, chaotic delivery. The initial recovery was much smoother, but at 2-3 months postpartum, debilitating back pain hit. It hurt so badly I needed my husband's help just to stand up from the couch. I was in tears, unable to lift my own daughters from their cribs.

Finding the Missing Link: Corrective Exercise

My primary care doctor sent me to pelvic floor physical therapy. While it provided temporary relief, it was essentially a band-aid; by the time my next session rolled around, the severe pain had returned. At six months postpartum, I decided I needed a real solution. That’s when I found my Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Certification. I started the coursework selfishly, just trying to heal my own back and hip. But as I learned, a massive realization hit me: If I, as a certified trainer, didn’t know any of this, then certainly the average mom doesn't know this either. I need to help women avoid what I went through.

Turning My Struggle Into Your Solution

I realized that while men and women don't need different types of weights, we all need to train with a deeper understanding of our foundational systems—the core and the pelvic floor. I rebuilt my own body, and now I've dedicated my career to helping you rebuild yours. If you want to skip the trial-and-error and learn exactly how to strengthen your body from the inside out, click here to see how my 4-week Fit Foundations course can help you.

Categories: : C-section, Pelvic Floor & Core Health, Programs