Two very different ways to rebuild a postpartum core
One is a coached, ongoing membership built around breath work. One is a one-time guide you buy once and keep. Here is how to work out which fits your body, your week and your budget.
Quick answer
The Bloom Method is a pregnancy and postpartum training method founded by Brooke Cates, built around breath-led core work and its signature belly pumping technique, and delivered mainly as an ongoing app membership with a practitioner certification arm. Mumma Glow is a one-time digital guide, from $15 for a single guide or $50 for the full bundle, with no subscription and no app to keep paying for. Pick The Bloom Method if you want coached, class-style content you follow week after week. Pick Mumma Glow if you want a plain, affordable plan you own outright and can do in short blocks during a nap. Neither is a substitute for a women's health physiotherapist if you are leaking, feel heaviness or dragging, or have pain.
of women still had diastasis recti at six weeks postpartum in a Norwegian cohort study
still had it at 12 months, so a long, slow curve is normal
one-time starting price for a single Mumma Glow guide, or $50 for the bundle
Prevalence figures: Sperstad et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2016.
What The Bloom Method actually is, and what it does well
The Bloom Method was founded by Brooke Cates and is based in Denver, Colorado. It sits in the prenatal and postnatal fitness space rather than the general fitness space, which already puts it ahead of a lot of what mums are handed at six weeks. Its identity is built on breath: teaching you to coordinate the diaphragm, deep abdominals and pelvic floor before you load them, using the technique it calls belly pumping.
Its genuine strengths, said plainly:
- Breath-first sequencing. Starting with pressure management rather than movement volume is the correct order of operations, and it is the same principle women's health physiotherapists teach.
- Coaching feel. The content is guided and instructional, so you are being talked through the work rather than reading it off a page.
- Pregnancy through postpartum continuity. You can be with the same method before birth and after it, which is genuinely useful if you plan more than one baby.
- Practitioner training. Bloom certifies trainers in its method, which means the approach has been formalised enough to teach, not just filmed.
The trade-off is the model itself. It is a membership, so the cost is ongoing and the library keeps its value only while you keep paying. Pricing and plan structures change, so check their current rates directly rather than trusting any number in a blog post, including this one. Video-led programs also ask for something new mums do not reliably have: a phone propped up, a stretch of floor, and enough quiet to hear the cue.
What Mumma Glow is
Mumma Glow sells one-time digital recovery guides. You pay once, download it, and it is yours. There is no app, no renewal date, and no login that expires. Individual guides start at $15 and the full bundle is $50. The programming is written for the realistic version of postpartum life: short sessions, floor-level starting points, and progressions you move through when your body is ready rather than when a calendar says so.
The honest limitation is the mirror image of Bloom's strength. A written guide will not talk you through a rep in real time, and it will not adjust to you the way a coach or a physiotherapist can. It is a structured plan, not a relationship. For a lot of mums that is exactly the right amount of support, and for some it is not enough. If you are unsure which you are, our breakdown of a guide versus a trainer versus a physio walks through it properly.
Side by side
| The Bloom Method | Mumma Glow | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | App and video-led membership | Downloadable written guides |
| Core philosophy | Breath-led core training, belly pumping | Breath and deep core first, then progressive loading |
| Payment model | Ongoing subscription, check current rates | One-time, $15 per guide or $50 bundle |
| Access after you stop paying | Ends with the membership | Yours permanently |
| Coaching | Guided instruction, coach-led feel | Self-paced, written cues |
| Pregnancy content | Yes, prenatal and postnatal | Postpartum focused |
| Best for | Mums who want to be talked through it and will use it weekly | Mums who want a cheap, permanent plan for nap-time sessions |
Where each one genuinely wins
Choose The Bloom Method if
You learn better by watching and being cued out loud, you are still pregnant or planning another baby soon, and you know you will actually open the app most weeks. A subscription is good value when it is used and poor value when it sits there, and only you know which you are.
Choose Mumma Glow if
Your budget is finite, you resent recurring charges, or you want something you can print, screenshot and follow at 6am without loading anything. It is also the sensible option if you have already spent money on postpartum programs you stopped using, which is more common than anyone admits. Our comparison of free versus paid diastasis recti programs is worth reading before you spend anything at all.
What neither one can do for you
No program, at any price, can assess your pelvic floor. Book a women's health physiotherapist rather than buying anything if you have leaking that is not settling, a feeling of heaviness, dragging or bulging in the vagina, pain during sex, ongoing back or pelvic pain, or a bulge along your midline that feels firm and does not soften. The NHS and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists both direct women with persistent postpartum pelvic floor symptoms to individual assessment, and RANZCOG says the same for Australia and New Zealand. A guide can sit alongside physiotherapy. It cannot replace the assessment.
It is also worth being realistic about the timeline before you judge any program. Diastasis prevalence in the Sperstad cohort fell from 60% at six weeks to 45.5% at six months and 32.6% at twelve months, all without any specific intervention. That means a program that looks like it is working at week eight might simply be sitting on top of normal recovery, and a program that looks slow at week four might be perfectly fine. Our piece on gap width versus depth explains why the number of fingers that fit is a weak scorecard on its own.
The verdict
The Bloom Method is a well-built, breath-first method with real teaching credibility, and if you want ongoing coaching it is a fair place to spend money. Mumma Glow is not trying to out-feature it. It is the affordable, one-time, no-subscription option: the budget alternative to programs like MUTU, for mums who want a clear plan they keep forever rather than a membership they have to remember to cancel. Results vary from mum to mum whichever you choose.
Start with the core work, not the cardio
The Core Reconnect Program walks you from diaphragmatic breathing to progressive deep core loading in short, realistic sessions. One payment, yours to keep. Use code GLOW20 for 20% off.
Frequently asked questions
Is The Bloom Method worth it?
If you will use a video membership consistently and you value being coached through each session, it is a legitimate option built on sound breath-first principles. If you are likely to use it a handful of times, a one-time guide is better value. Check their current pricing directly before committing, since subscription rates change.
What is belly pumping?
It is The Bloom Method's term for its signature breath-and-core technique, which coordinates the diaphragm with the deep abdominal wall. The underlying principle, managing intra-abdominal pressure before adding load, is standard in women's health physiotherapy and appears in most credible postpartum programs under different names.
Can I do both?
Yes, though there is little point running two full programs at once. Most mums are better served by picking one structure, following it for eight to twelve weeks, and judging it on how their midline and symptoms respond rather than switching every fortnight.
Which is better for diastasis recti specifically?
Both take a breath-first approach, which is the right starting point. The deciding factor is usually format and cost rather than exercise selection. If you want a comparison across the wider market, see our roundup of postpartum diastasis recti programs for 2026.
How soon after birth can I start either?
Gentle breathing and pelvic floor work can usually begin in the early weeks, but wait for your postnatal check, around six weeks, before progressive loading, and earlier clearance if you had a caesarean or a complicated birth. Your GP, midwife or physiotherapist should make that call for your body, not a program.
Sources: Sperstad JB et al., "Diastasis recti abdominis during pregnancy and 12 months after childbirth", British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2016. NHS, postnatal recovery and pelvic floor guidance. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), postpartum care guidance. RANZCOG, postnatal care information. Cleveland Clinic, diastasis recti overview.
This article is general education, not medical advice. Mumma Glow is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to The Bloom Method, MUTU System or any other program named here. Results vary from mum to mum. Please see your GP, midwife or a women's health physiotherapist for advice about your own recovery.