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Somewhere between 2019 and now, "wait 12 weeks" turned into a rule. It is not a rule. It never was.
I have been in pelvic health for 26 plus years, and right now I am watching that number get handed around in Facebook groups, on social, and quite honestly by a lot of professionals who are leaning really hard on it. I don't know that the foundation exists to do that. So this is a solo episode where I walk you back through how we got here.
🔹 Why the six week visit was a medical checkpoint, not a green light to run
🔹 What the 2019 UK document really is, and what it isn't
🔹 The 2024 international Delphi: 95 professionals, 12 countries, seven professions, and what they actually agreed on
🔹 Why "returning before 12 weeks is possible" is the line that keeps getting missed
🔹 The one in a hundred outlier, and why I will not shut her down
🔹 Gatekeeping. My own profession has been doing it, and I was a product of it
🔹 The 2025 Canadian postpartum guidelines, including why sleep got named a movement behavior
🔹 The four variables nobody puts on a timeline: sleep, fueling, support, mental health
🔹 What you control and what you absolutely do not
🔹 The line a kindergarten teacher gave me that I now use with patients
If you are a mom trying to figure out when, this one gives you better questions than a date on the calendar. If you are a pro who has been leaning hard on 12 weeks, this one is an invitation to step back.
And if what you really want to know is where YOU are right now, that is what the free Return to Run Readiness Screen is for. Balance, strength, impact. https://course.carriepagliano.com/R2Rreadyscreen
IN THIS EPISODE
(00:00) Why we are talking about 12 weeks right now
(02:44) Where the six week mark came from
(03:55) The 2019 UK document that was never a guideline
(05:22) ACOG moved off six weeks in 2018
(08:50) The 2024 Delphi: what 95 professionals agreed on
(11:16) The one in a hundred outlier
(14:07) Gatekeeping movement in pregnancy and postpartum
(16:08) The 2025 Canadian postpartum guidelines
(18:06) Phase based instead of date based
(20:26) All roads end up in the same place
(22:03) Sleep
(22:50) Fueling and energy availability
(25:13) Support, childcare and logistics
(28:32) Mental health, and what is going on physically
(31:51) What you control and what you do not
(39:28) Episodes to listen to next
STUDIES MENTIONED
Christopher SM, et al. Br J Sports Med. 2024;58(6):299-312.
Deering RE, et al. Br J Sports Med. 2024;58(4):183-195.
Davenport MH, et al. Br J Sports Med. 2025;59:515-526.
Schulz JM, Thornton JS. Br J Sports Med. 2024;58:511-512.
Christopher SM, Cook CE, Snodgrass SJ. PLoS One. 2021;16(8):e0255383.
ACOG Committee Opinion No. 736. Obstet Gynecol. 2018;131(5):e140-e150.
The Active Mom Podcast — a real mom's guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond, for active moms and the professionals who help them get there.
Quick-hit conversations with moms, providers, and researchers... because you don't have a lot of free time (you're probably listening at 1.5x right now).
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