When will my postpartum belly go away?

“I have to remind women that it takes nine months to grow a human, and in that time, your body goes through some major physical shifts,” says Green. Before starting an exercise program, she recommends getting assessed by a pelvic-floor physiotherapist to check for diastasis recti and make sure your pelvic-floor and other core muscles are functioning properly.

Through targeted exercises, you can retrain your core muscles to function together properly, says Anniken Chadwick, a Vancouver physiotherapist who specializes in pelvic floor and postpartum health. “It’s about learning to control the core and regain some tension, which can lead to the appearance of a flatter belly.”

Chadwick advises women who have had Caesarian sections to consider massage or even acupuncture (after the incision is fully healed) to try to loosen up scar tissue. Some women may like the feeling of a supportive postpartum “belly band” in the weeks immediately following birth, to keep pressure up and off the pelvic floor.

However, she says there’s no evidence that belly wrapping flattens the stomach in the long term.

Pregnancy, followed by babywearing and carrying an infant everywhere, can often result, says Chadwick, in a “sway-back, banana-shape” posture: tummy and pelvis forward and what she calls a flat “mum bum.”

“When you’re standing with your belly pushed out like that and then slumping forward to breastfeed, it’s hard for the abs to rehabilitate.” Focus on standing and sitting tall and strong. Strengthen your glutes through squats (if your pelvic floor can take it) and bridges while also trying to keep the upper back and shoulders stretched out and loose.

If you are prone to bad posture or just felt out of touch with spinal alignment after months of pregnancy and late-night feedings, try stretching on a yoga ball or investing in a high-tech posture training device.

“I often refer women to counselling to help them get to a more positive place,” says Chadwick. Green says she also struggles to reconcile her current post-baby body with the more toned trainer physique she used to have, but she encourages moms to think about what they’re really trying to achieve.

“Feeling strong and pain-free is one thing. But if the entire goal is about looking a certain way, it’s sometimes worth delving deeper into what’s going on inside.”

Metcalfe has been working with a physiotherapist to correct her diastasis recti and finding ways to fit exercise into her week. Inspired by moms she’s seen sharing postpartum selfies (flabby skin and all), she’s also trying to change the way she thinks about her body. “As much as I want to believe in self-love, I haven’t fully accepted this new me yet. I’m working on it.”

Nobody is saying you should be in Spanx 24-7 for the rest of your life—in fact, it's just the opposite. The first six to twelve weeks after delivering your fascia, muscle tissue and skin are in healing mode though, and offering gentle compression may help. While it offers the immediate benefit of a smoother surface, keeping tissue stuck together may encourage it to reconnect or strengthen.

"Just don't come to rely on your compression panties for more than three or four months postpartum," warns Dr. Jennevieve Wong, a holistic health doctor in New York. "By the time you hit about four months postpartum, the bulk of the skin and cellular healing has finished. Any more regular Spanx wearing or daily compression after that may weaken your own muscles and give you the reverse effect."

She suggests sticking with light compression postpartum underwear for "about eight weeks" after baby is born.

Did you know? A 2014 study found that at 35 weeks pregnant, all women have some separation along the linea alba, the line of connective tissue that runs vertically down the centre of the belly. By six months postpartum, in more than one in three women that tissue hasn’t been able to knit back together, which can lead to a rounded belly.