The 5/5/5 Rule for Postpartum Recovery

You may have heard the 5/5/5 rule mentioned in passing, but what actually is it and why is it important? I’m so glad you asked!

The 5/5/5 rule refers to the rest you should be giving yourself the first 2ish weeks postpartum. Once you give birth, if possible, you should spend as much time as you can during those first 5 days laying down IN bed (horizontal). During this time you are spending all of your time bonding in bed with your new baby and only getting up for necessary tasks such as toileting. You will need the most support during these first 5 days. 

The second 5 days after you give birth should be spent ON the bed, or couch, or other comfortable surface. Its at this point that you can spend more of your time sitting up vs laying down, but you should still only be getting up to do necessary tasks.

The third (and final) 5 days of the 5/5/5 rule is spending your time AROUND the bed. At this point you still shouldn’t be leaving your house if you can help it. You can start getting up and moving around the house to do some light tasks, but you should limit yourself to standing no more than 30 min at a time and continue to focus on resting and bonding with baby.

Now that you know what the 5/5/5 rule entails, lets talk about why its important to follow to the best of your ability.\

During birth, no matter how beautiful and peaceful it was, your body undergoes trauma. You placenta detaches and you have a dinner plate sized wound inside your uterus that needs to heal. You may have additional wounds if you had any perineal tearing (especially if it was a severe tear) or delivered via c-section. 

Any time our body experiences trauma, the body’s natural defense system increases blood flow to the injured area in order for it to heal. This is followed by an inflammatory phase which is then followed by a proliferation phase. The proliferation phase of healing is when the majority of the scar tissue is formed. This phase typically starts 24-48 hours after “injury” and the bulk of the scar tissue will be formed 2-3 weeks later. Fibroblasts (which are responsible for for filling the wound in with connective tissue) start to fill the wound around day 3-5 and by 2 weeks, that tissue is starting to mature and get stronger.

As you can see, a lot of important healing is taking place during the first 2 weeks postpartum. This is why resting as much as possible using the guidance of the 5/5/5 rule is key to setting yourself up for long-term success.

Just because staying in, on, or around the bed these first 2 weeks will improve your postpartum recovery doesn’t mean you can’t add some gentle movement into your day. Adhering to the 5/5/5 rule is why the first two weeks of the Raise with Strength – Reconnect Postpartum Program can be done all from your bed. If you are looking for a postpartum recovery program created by a pelvic floor physical therapist, that guides you through safe & effective exercise progressions, start your 7 day free trial of the Raise with Strength programs today.