PORTLAND -- They say necessity is the mother of all invention. So it only makes sense that a mother created a way for new moms to lose the "baby weight," without leaving behind their babies.
It's called Mamalates. It's a pilates-based class for moms, designed to restore core strength, with your newborn.
Wendy Foster created it right here in Portland. The Internationally certified pilates instructor couldn't find a safe post-partum exercise class after the birth of her first child. So with help from a doctor she created Mamalates. Recently she added a DVD version of the class for "at home" workouts too.
Foster explains "if they had a Cesarian, a vaginal birth, if they had abdominal separation or pelvic floor issues - it all has to be addressed with whatever fitness you're doing post-partum."
She adds, "the first piece is to learn what's going on with your body before you can rebuild it."
Foster helps moms "rebuild" with this low-impact workout. New moms fill her classes. Moms like Alanna Brown, with three month old Oliver, attends many Mamalates classes.
"My goals are to tone up again." She says "obviously every new mom wants to lose all that baby weight - but more importantly - it's about spending time with him."
Tammy Lundervold, a fitness expert with Providence Saint Vincent Medical Center, says "any kind of exercise is really good exercise."
She explains why you must start any exercise program slowly after having a baby.
"Everything is kind of relaxed and stretched." But she says it's also that "your joints are not back to where they should be, tendons, ligaments, nothing has contracted and come back yet."
Lundervold says even though you may not be "feeling this," your body is doing a lot of repairing.
Brown says after a month of workouts she's noticing a difference. She's says she's stronger and leaner, loves the interaction with other new moms, and says baby Oliver enjoys seeing other babies.
Both Lundervold and Foster caution you consult your doctor before you start any post-partum exercise program.
For more information please visit mamalates.com.
