Jen (00:01.582)
Welcome to the Mum Safe Movement Podcast. I'm your host, Jen Dugard, and this is series two. Series one of the podcast I really wanted to delve into and I did delve into all of the business or the majority of the business aspects of working in the fitness industry and training mums. So,
I'm on a mission to ensure all moms are looked after safely and effectively within the fitness industry. And in order to do that, we need mom focused fitness businesses or fitness businesses that know how to work with moms that are building and running thriving fitness businesses. So if you're listening and this is you and you've dropped in today for the very first time, I would absolutely love for you to go back to series one and delve into all of the business aspect of
working with moms and women in the fitness industry. Now, series two, I am delving into, or I want to have more conversations about what it means, you know, the education side of working with moms and women in the fitness industry, and also what it even means to...
be working in this space. And I've been doing a lot of thinking about this of late and I've put together some thoughts and I'm going to share them with you today. But in series two, you can expect me to welcome guests that may have different differing perspectives than I do. We're going to talk about new research. We're going to talk about how to know when to change what you're doing based on the research that's evolving in this space.
I'm gonna be inviting moms themselves to share their journeys on the podcast. And sometimes those moms will be trainers or experts in their field of, or in this space of also working with women and moms, because there's many, many people out there who've chosen to take this journey because of their personal experience. So expect a little bit of a shift this series.
Jen (02:15.726)
And we will also be sharing some business stories and journeys as well, because at the end of the day, I truly believe that in order to really, really shift what's happening in this space, we have to keep evolving in our fitness businesses. And I wanna see you, the exercise professional that chooses to make a difference in this space, to be making a difference in your own life too. So we're not gonna say goodbye to all the business stuff, but we are gonna be.
saying hello to a lot of, I guess that the educational content and the yeah, how to work with moms. And if you're a mom that's listening, we'll be offering you a lot of insight into your body and your postpartum, your pregnancy and postpartum recovery as a woman at any stage of motherhood, because we know that motherhood is not or postpartum is not only that first.
first few weeks, months, or even years of being a mom, being postpartum is for the rest of our lives. So I made some, I did some writing last week and I wanted to share this with you today. And I'd love, absolutely love to know your thoughts at the end of my sharing. The best place to do that is either to write a review here on the MomSafe Movement podcast.
or to head over to my Instagram, which is at Jen Dugard and share your thoughts there. Whether you wanna do it in public as a comment or whether you wanna tag me in a story or a post or whether you wanna shoot me a DM, I don't mind. But what I love, absolutely love is connections with people that connect with.
the words that I'm saying and the things that I'm sharing. And a podcast is an interesting thing when you do a solo episode because it's a one way conversation. But I know it's actually not a one way conversation because you're taking time out of your day and your week and whatever you're doing right now, you're choosing to hang out with me. And that means a lot. So it means a huge lot when I hear back from you. So here are some of my thoughts around postpartum or pregnancy and postpartum. And...
Jen (04:39.086)
been delving a little bit later in sorry a little bit recently not later I'll do it later too into what is really the problem so I have this thought that not being educated about her body is a power problem it's not only a fitness industry or a medical industry or a mum problem it's a power problem and it's an empowerment problem so imagine this.
She walks into a hospital. Over the past nine months, her body's been changing. She's been measured, poked, prodded. She's been told she's normal. Many of her questions have been dismissed and she doesn't really know exactly what to expect. She's read books about her changing body and the body that's growing inside of her, but she's been given no guidance about her physical body or about how to prepare.
for the next phase of her life. She's only told the basics and what may happen if it all goes to plan. She's basically in the dark hoping for the best outcome, but she doesn't know what that outcome will be because no one has told her and no one has offered her the best possible way to prepare. Afterwards, she learns that there were things that she could have done to make it easier.
She learns that her body now behaves in a way that's completely foreign to her that others call normal, but that no one told her about beforehand. And no one seems to want to offer more insight even now. She feels lost and she feels alone. She feels disconnected to her body and sometimes her baby too. She's lost her sense of self. Her identity has shifted and it's all foreign. The things that she loved to do before just don't work anymore. She leaks.
She feels heavy. Sex isn't the same. There's no connection to herself, no climax, but it's all normal. She tries to ask for help, but she's told it's normal. She had a baby after all. She wants to move her body in ways that felt good before, but they just don't feel good anymore. She tries to go to the gym. She joins a class. She squats and she jumps and she leaks. She leaves and she doesn't go back. She is alone.
Jen (07:05.934)
She's got no one source of education, no one to help her to learn about her body. She's been given all of the education about her baby, but she has been forgotten. She feels like she will never find herself again, but she tells herself it's okay because she has a healthy baby and she should be grateful and it's all normal. Five years later, she joins the gym again. She tries again. It's been a long time, but surely,
It will be okay now. It's been a long five years immersed in caring for another human. She's been at the bottom of the pile. She's pushed her own needs to the side in service of others, but now she's ready to try again. She's scared, but she goes back to the class. She hopes with all her heart, it will feel different. She squats, she jumps, she links. She's devastated.
Her body proving to her once again that it is no longer familiar. It betrays her. It refuses to cooperate, but it's normal. But the reality is that we betrayed her. From the moment that she became pregnant to the days, weeks and months after she had her baby, we let her down. The system, the medical professionals, the allied health industry, the gyms, the people she trusted.
let her down. It shouldn't be this way. But for too many women it is. It's normal. They move through life as a mother in service of others betrayed by their own body, a body that created life, a body that they want to love and want to feel grateful for, to cherish and to nurture, but they can't because it let them down because nobody told them it didn't have to be this way because everybody said,
It's normal.
Jen (09:05.582)
What if her obstetrician talked openly to her about her pelvic floor? What if they'd referred her to a pelvic health physiotherapist during her pregnancy? What if she had learned to both contract and release her pelvic floor? What if this had made her birth process easier? What if even if the birth wasn't easier, she understood the potential outcomes and was prepared for the future? What if she'd been given
birth and our medical system had referred her back to her pelvic health physiotherapist. What if the gym that she first went to understood the special requirements of a postpartum woman? What if they ensured she was offered a thorough pre -exercise process and guided to the right class for her, to the right trainer for her? What if all the exercise professionals in this environment were trained in pre and postnatal exercise?
And what if she'd been offered alternate exercises in those classes? What if she'd been told that what she was feeling and experiencing was common, but not normal to live with for the rest of her life? What if she'd been given the education she deserves from the get -go to fully understand her body as a woman and as a mother? What if she was empowered through education?
What if she was empowered?
What if she was empowered to move her body in a way that felt right for her? What if she was empowered to connect with her partner and initiate sex in a way that felt good for her? What if she was empowered to stand up tall and allow herself to be seen? What if she was empowered to leave her job and start the business that she'd always dreamed of? What if she was empowered to share her story with other women to ensure that they felt empowered too?
Jen (11:04.654)
What if she was empowered to take up the new hobby that she'd always wanted to do? And what if she was empowered to say no to what she doesn't want to do and hell yes to the things that she does? What if she was empowered to dance like no one was watching, to take up space in the world and to do all of the things that deep down she knows she is capable of? I believe that when a woman understands her body, she is empowered.
I feel a bit nervous putting that out into the world, but empowered as well. It felt quite emotional to share those words with you. And I'm gonna keep this episode short and sweet to allow those words to land. If you've got the time in your day, maybe listen to it again and see what comes up for you. And if you felt moved or empowered in any way, I would absolutely love for you.
like I said at the start, to share your thoughts with me, to share this short and sweet episode with your communities, and to join me on a mission to ensure that every woman feels empowered and every postpartum mother is taught to understand her body. And she can step forward on her journey as a mom in a way that...
satisfies and empowers and she feels in control of what's happening in her future. And in a world that nobody tells her that what's happening is normal. Have a beautiful day.
