After pregnancy, it takes time for your body, especially your tummy, to recover. Hormonal changes gradually reduce your belly size, but it can take six to eight weeks for your womb to shrink. Factors like pre-pregnancy shape, weight gain, and activity level influence how quickly your pregnancy belly returns to normal. Some women find that breastfeeding can help them lose weight.
Why do I still have a saggy tummy after pregnancy?
It takes time for your body, and especially your tummy, to fully recover from pregnancy. You've had your baby, but you may look as if you're still six months pregnant, with a tummy that's squishier and rounder than you expected.
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Imagine your tummy as a balloon, slowly inflating as your baby grows. Giving birth doesn't pop the balloon, it just starts a slow leak. The decrease in your tummy size may be slow, but it will be steady.
From the moment your baby is born, hormonal changes cause your tummy to decrease in size. However, it takes another six to eight weeks for your womb (uterus) to contract to its pre-pregnancy size (Berens 2024).
The extra fluid that built up in your body during pregnancy will gradually decrease, reducing swelling and bloating (Berens 2024). And any extra fat you put on to nourish your baby will start to burn off, especially if you're exercising (Berens 2024). Some women also find that breastfeeding helps them lose weight (Berens 2024). But it takes at least a few weeks to see noticeable results.
After giving birth you may still have a dark line down your tummy called a linea nigra, as well as a web of stretch marks (Pregnancy Birth & Baby 2022).
The linea nigra is caused by pigmentation in the skin where your tummy muscles have stretched and slightly separated, to accommodate your baby as they grew (Pregnancy Birth & Baby 2022). This line of pigmentation usually fades within a few months of giving birth (Pregnancy Birth & Baby 2022).
Stretch marks are caused by your skin stretching over your fast-growing body during pregnancy (NHS 2022b). You may have them on your tummy, thighs and breasts (NHS 2022b).
You can't get rid of stretch marks completely, but they will fade over time. Eventually, the lines will look like fine streaks that are closer to your skin colour (NHS 2022bc). Try to be patient. You may not like your stretch marks now, but they will look a lot better in six months' time, and they’re a reminder of all the amazing work your body did to grow and nourish your developing baby.
How long will it take for my belly to shrink back to normal?
We've all heard stories of new parents who regain their pre-pregnancy bodies within weeks of giving birth. Although this is possible, it doesn't happen that way for most of us. Bear in mind that your body may change shape after pregnancy. You may find it difficult to return to your exact pre-pregnancy weight or shape.
Patience is the key. It took nine months for your tummy muscles to stretch to accommodate a full-term baby. So it makes sense that it can take weeks or months to tighten up again (Berens 2024).
The speed and degree of this tightening up depends on a few factors, including:
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- What shape and size you were before you conceived your baby.
- How much weight you gained during pregnancy (NHS 2022b).
- How active you are (NHS 2022b).
- Something you can't do anything about: your genes.
You may find it easier to shed the weight if:
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- You gained less weight than average during pregnancy.
- You breastfeed.
- This is your first baby (Berens 2024).
Even with exercise, most new parents don’t get back to their pre-pregnancy weight until about six months after their baby's birth (IQWiG 2022).
How can I safely lose weight to help my belly look better?
Breastfeeding may help, especially in the early months after giving birth. If you breastfeed, you'll burn extra calories to make milk – anywhere between 200 and 700 calories a day (Bonyata 2023, LLLI nd). You may lose your pregnancy weight more quickly than parents who formula-feed their babies but it’s not guaranteed (Bonyata 2023, Jarlenski et al 2014, LLLI nd). The longer you exclusively breastfeed, the more likely you are to lose weight, too (Alves et al 2020).
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Breastfeeding also triggers contractions that help to shrink your womb, which may help you to get in shape faster (ACOG 2023). However, if you eat more than you burn off, you will put on weight, even if you breastfeed.
It's fine to lose weight while you are breastfeeding. Your body is very efficient at making milk, and around 0.6kg (about 1.5lb) a week shouldn't affect the amount of milk you make (Bonyata 2023, LLLI nd).
However, if you have a newborn to look after, you'll need plenty of energy. Trying to lose weight too soon after giving birth may delay your recovery and make you feel even more tired (IQWiG 2022). It’s especially important not to attempt a very low-calorie diet (Bonyata 2023, NHS 2023a). So try to wait until you've had your postnatal check before trying to lose weight (NICE 2010).
Eating healthily, combined with gentle exercise, will help you to get in shape. The following general guidelines will help you to achieve and maintain a healthy weight:
- Make time for breakfast.
- Eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
- Include plenty of fibre-rich foods, such as oats, beans, lentils, grains and seeds, in your diet.
- Include a starchy food such as bread, rice, pasta (preferably wholegrain varieties for added fibre) or potatoes in each meal.
- Go easy on high-fat and high-sugar foods, such as biscuits, cakes, fast food and takeaways.
- Watch your portions at mealtimes and the number and type of snacks you eat between meals.
(NICE 2010).
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There's no right answer about how many calories a day you should have. The amount you need to eat depends on your weight and how active you are (LLLI nd). For more tips on healthy weight loss after birth, see our diet for a healthy breastfeeding parent and parents' tips for managing your weight after having a baby.
What else can I do to help regain my pre-pregnancy belly?
Exercise can help to tone stomach muscles and burn calories (POGP 2022). You can do light exercise like walking and stretching even in the early weeks after having your baby (POGP 2022).
If you stopped exercising during your pregnancy or are a newcomer to fitness, start slowly and gradually build up your exercise levels (POGP 2022).
Fitness aside, all new parents can begin pelvic floor exercises and work on gently toning up lower tummy muscles as soon as they feel ready (POGP 2022). This may help you to get back to your pre-pregnancy shape and help to flatten your tummy (POGP 2022).
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When you feel up to it, take your baby out for walks in their buggy (NHS 2022a). Getting out and about will help to lift your mood and exercise your body gently (NHS 2022a). You may find there are buggy workouts with other new parents in your local park.
Read about toning up after a caesarean.
VIDEO
My tummy muscles feel slack. Is this normal?
If your tummy muscles feel very slack, it could be because pregnancy has over-stretched them (St George's Healthcare 2023, Berens 2024, NHS 2023b). If this is the case, you may also notice a bulge developing on the front of your tummy, above and below your belly button (St George's Healthcare 2023).
The medical term for this over-stretching is diastasis recti (DR) or divarication (St George's Healthcare 2023). Diastasis simply means separation.
There are four layers of muscle across your tummy. The top layer is a pair of long, flat muscles that run vertically down each side of your abdomen (rectus abdominis), commonly known as the six-pack (St George's Healthcare 2023). DR happens when the two halves pull away from each other, stretching and thinning the connective tissue between them (St George's Healthcare 2023).
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At least half of women experience DR after having a baby (Cavalli et al 2021). It's more likely to happen if you:
- have given birth more than once (Cavalli et al 2021, Nahabedian and Brooks 2022)
- had twins or more (Donnelly 2019, Nahabedian and Brooks 2022)
- have had more than one caesarean birth (Cavalli et al 2021, Nahabedian and Brooks 2022)
- had a high BMI before you were pregnant (Cavalli et al 2021).
- regularly strained your abdominal muscles during pregnancy through frequent heavy lifting (Sperstad et al 2016), straining on the toilet, or chronic coughing or vomiting (Donnelly 2019)
It's likely that DR may run in families (Donnelly 2019), so if your mother or sister has DR, you're more likely to develop it too.
If you’re unsure whether you have DR, here's how to check:
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- Lie on your back, with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor or bed.
- Place your palm down on your tummy, just below or above your belly button.
- Lift your shoulders off the floor slightly and look down at your stomach. With the tips of your fingers, feel between the edges of the muscles, both above and below your belly button.
- See how many fingers you can fit into the gap between the muscles. The number of finger widths is the size of your diastasis. Do the test regularly - as your muscles get stronger, the gap should reduce.
(NHS 2023b)
If the gap you feel is bigger than two finger-widths, you may have DR (Nahabedian and Brooks 2022).
The separation gap often returns to normal within the first eight weeks after giving birth (NHS 2023b, St George’s Healthcare 2023). If the size of the gap hasn’t decreased, or you’re worried about it, see your GP or health visitor. They may be able to refer you to a women's health physiotherapist who can give you specific exercises to help you (NHS 2023b). In some areas of the UK, you may be able to refer yourself directly for physio.
Leaving DR untreated isn't harmful, but it may weaken your abdominal core. This can increase your chances of getting back pain and can make exercise and other activities more difficult (NHS 2023b).
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More advice and information on your post-baby body:
- Find out more about diastasis recti.
- Check out these real-life post-baby belly pics.
- See Sarah Cawood's brutally honest diastasis recti journey.
- Learn more about exercising after having a baby.
