Duncan Roberts: Why are you targeting new mothers and pregnant women?
Sanna Peltonen: I focus on women’s health generally, from the age of around 25 through to the prenatal phase, and then moving on to postnatal, and even beyond menopause. I want to break the myths around prenatal training and encourage women to remain active in a safe way. Activity in the prenatal phase helps keep up energy levels, works preventively for postural issues, has proven positive impact on the baby’s health, reduces the risk of gestational diabetes.
When we think of women who have just had a baby, it’s kind of hard to find the motivation and time. So I want to give them a coach who gives them flexibility but also holds them accountable for what they’re supposed to be doing. It’s always personalised, particularly in the postnatal phase.
What are the goals?
Women in the postnatal phase mainly want to lose weight, they want to find their body back again and feel how they felt before having a baby. That’s why the programme is called B2Y--’back to you’. So I want to help them on that journey and really give them the tools that are safe.
The programme works as a hybrid model.I meet the clients for an assessment and prepare their programmes based on that. After that, we kick off with the programme on my app. They have continuous control from me for getting the workouts done. The workouts are 30 minutes, twice a week, which makes it very feasible for them to fit it in their day. After two weeks, we catch-up on any possible questions and, each month we meet and do the workouts together.
I find it very important that there remains this human contact. My ultimate goal is to give them motivation, energy and the right way to work so that they manage to lose those extra kilos and simply feel great in their bodies again.
Quick solutions might seem handy, but they are not.
Are there some common misconceptions about mothers and mothers-to-be and what they can do?
There are quite a few actually. I mean, women often think that the only way to lose weight is to do very-high-intensity training, when it’s basically vice-versa. I want to help break those myths, both in pre- and postnatal phases. . It is all new, their bodies feel different and they often lose track of themselves whilst taking care of their babies.
Quick solutions might seem handy, but they are not. You cannot return straight to your old fitness routines after a pregnancy... Postpartum is a long revalidation process, but once it is done correctly, your body will become stronger than before.
And how have attitudes to women’s health, particularly for postnatal phase, changed over the past few years?
The recommendations from the World Health Organization actually changed in 2020. It used to be that you had to wait for the green light from your doctor to kick off training for prenatal or postnatal. But now the recommendations are that you should just basically remain active unless you have any contradictory indicators.
For example in the prenatal phase, 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity throughout the week, strength-training and replacing sedentary time with physical activity. All this will provide health benefits for both the mothers and babies.
You work with Luxembourg-based physiotherapist Caroline Bui. How did that come about?
I have known Caroline for quite some years, and I love the way she works. She is specialised in pelviperineology and has a true passion for her work. Our chemistries clicked immediately and when I initiated the program, she was immediately onboard.
I also work with a nutritionist, Vesela Drews from Nourished Motherhood who covers the nutritional side of these young mothers.
Luxembourg is good in the sense that you get your prescription from your gynaecologist to do postnatal rehab, which is already the step towards the right direction, and my programme comes straight after that.
For me, these three aspects, the fitness with the physiotherapy--which specialises in rebuilding the connection between the pelvic floor and core--and nutrition advice, are really the keys that any woman, in fact anybody, should pay attention to. I mean, women who feel good in their body are also mentally more relaxed, they feel at ease.