Jen Dugard has spent nearly two decades reshaping the way women are supported through pregnancy, birth, and every chapter that follows. As the founder of MumSafe™ and creator of the Safe Return to Exercise™ certification, she has trained thousands of professionals worldwide and sparked a global movement grounded in education, safety, and respect for the realities of motherhood.
In this conversation, she shares the philosophy behind her mission, the misconceptions that still dominate postnatal fitness, and the small shifts that can make a huge difference for mums and trainers alike.
You’ve trained thousands of exercise professionals around the world to better support women through pregnancy, birth, and beyond. What first inspired you to create MumSafe™, and how did it grow from an idea into a global movement?
I started in the fitness industry as a personal trainer. After becoming a mum myself, I realised just how broken the system was. Women were cleared at six weeks and then more or less left to figure it out on their own. Many were returning to intense exercise without the right support, while others were too scared to move at all.
I created my first business, Body Beyond Baby, to give mums a safe place to exercise with proper guidance and community. As that grew, I began training other exercise professionals in how to work safely with pre and postnatal women. Over time, I could see that one course wasn’t enough – we needed an ecosystem.
MumSafe™ was born from a simple but powerful idea: every mum deserves access to a properly educated trainer who understands her body, her history and her reality. What started as a handful of trainers in Australia has grown into a network across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK. It’s become a movement because trainers were already passionate about helping mums – they just needed a framework, ongoing education, small business support and a banner to gather under. MumSafe™ gave them that.
So many fitness programs for mums focus on aesthetics – “getting your body back.” How are you reframing that conversation? What do you wish more women understood about exercise after birth?
I’ve never liked the phrase “get your body back.” Your body didn’t go anywhere – it carried and birthed a whole human. The idea that you should erase that experience as quickly as possible is not only unhelpful, it can be harmful.
At MumSafe™, we focus on function first. Can you lift your baby without pain? Can you run after your toddler without leaking? Do you feel strong, confident and connected to your body? These are the questions that matter far more than fitting back into pre-baby jeans.
What I wish more women understood is that postnatal is forever. It’s not just the first six weeks or six months. The way you return to exercise after birth, even years later, should respect things like pelvic floor health, abdominal separation, birth trauma (physical or emotional), sleep deprivation and the mental load of motherhood.
When we take the pressure off “bouncing back” and instead focus on rebuilding strength, capacity and confidence step by step, women give themselves permission to move in a way that supports them long term rather than punishing their bodies for having changed.
For trainers, what are the most common mistakes or misconceptions when it comes to working with new mums, and how does MumSafe™ help shift that mindset?
Most trainers genuinely want to help, but they often don’t know what they don’t know. Common mistakes include:
- Treating a postnatal client like a “beginner” rather than a recovering body with specific needs and birth history.
- Assuming that once a mum is “cleared” at six weeks, she’s good to go.
- Jumping straight into high-impact exercise or heavy lifting without properly screening for pelvic floor symptoms, abdominal separation or birth-related injuries OR just asking her ‘if she feels okay!’
- Underestimating the impact of exhaustion, feeding, mental health and the invisible load on a mum’s capacity to train.
MumSafe™ helps shift this by giving trainers a clear, evidence-informed framework for working with mums at every stage. Through Safe Return to Exercise™ and ongoing education, we teach them how to screen properly, when to refer to a pelvic health physio, how to progress exercise safely and how to have the conversations many mums have never been invited to have.
Just as importantly, we work on mindset. Trainers learn that working with mums isn’t a “soft” niche – it requires a high level of skill and responsibility. They begin to see themselves as part of a wider care team, which changes how they show up, how they program and how they advocate for their clients.
You’ve built a network that now spans multiple countries. What has that expansion taught you about the universal challenges women face when it comes to fitness and motherhood?
What’s been most striking is how universal many of the challenges are. The healthcare systems, cultural norms and languages may differ, but I hear the same themes over and over:
- Mums feeling rushed to “bounce back.”
- A lack of clear, consistent information about what’s safe after birth.
- Gaps between medical clearance and real-world support.
- Women feeling guilty for taking time for themselves to exercise.
Whether I’m speaking to trainers in Australia, New Zealand, Asia or the UK, the stories from mums are similar. They’re often navigating exhaustion, identity shifts, pressure to do it all and a body that feels unfamiliar – all while being told to just “get on with it.”
This global perspective has reinforced for me that safe, mum-centred exercise isn’t a nice-to-have – it’s essential public health work. It’s also highlighted how powerful it is when local trainers are grounded in the same principles but able to adapt them to the culture, language and realities of their own communities.
Running a business, raising awareness, and supporting other professionals can be a lot to juggle. What does balance look like for you personally, and how do you maintain your own wellbeing while leading this mission?
For me, balance isn’t about everything being perfectly even. It’s about being honest about the season I’m in and making conscious choices.
There are times when work takes more of my energy – big projects, events, launches. When that happens, I try to be really clear with my kids and my team about what’s going on and why. At other times, I deliberately dial things back to create space for family, travel or simply rest.
Practically, a few things keep me grounded:
- Non-negotiable movement – running is my reset button. It’s where I think, process and reconnect with myself. And if I’m not running, I’m in the gym!
- Strong boundaries around my time – I’m still a work in progress here, but I’m much better at saying no to opportunities that don’t align with my mission or values.
- Support – I don’t try to do it all alone. I have a team, mentors and a community of trainers around me.
Balance, for me, is less about juggling perfectly and more about continually checking in: Is how I’m working still aligned with the life I want, the mum I want to be and the impact I’m trying to have? When the answer drifts towards no, I know something needs to shift.
For new mums or trainers reading this, what’s one small shift they can make today to approach movement with more safety, compassion, and confidence?
For mums, the small shift is this: swap “How do I get my body back?” for “How can I support my body today?” That one question changes everything. It invites you to listen inwards, be curious rather than critical and choose movement that leaves you feeling better, not broken.
For trainers, the small shift is to get curious before you get creative. Ask better questions in your pre-screening. “Do you have any pelvic floor symptoms?” “How was your birth?” “How are you really feeling in your body right now?” And if you’re not sure what to do with the answers, that’s your nudge to up-skill and connect with specialists like pelvic health physios.
On both sides, it comes back to the same idea: you don’t have to push harder to do it “right.” You need the right information, the right support, and permission to take it one step at a time.
