How to Launch a Postpartum Program at Your Gym (and What to Charge)

Look at your 9:30 class. If it's like most gyms, it's full of moms. Brianna Battles, founder of Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism (P&PA), puts it plainly: “If you aren't coaching moms, you're just not coaching moms yet.”

During our October 2026 PushStart webinar with Brianna, host Zach Forrest ran the numbers on his own gym, Work Ethic, live. The gym had been open seven months and had about 70 members. Eight of them were pregnant or had given birth in the past year. “Why hasn't this been more obvious to me?” he asked.

This post walks through the program model Brianna has run herself and seen work in CrossFit gyms around the world: a 6-week postpartum series that feeds a women's strength class. It keeps the members you already have, and it brings in new ones who would never walk into a CrossFit class cold.

Why do moms leave the gym after having a baby?

Most moms don't leave over price. They leave because coming back feels like too much. At AffiliateCon, a member raised her hand and told Brianna she was one of only two moms from her group who came back after giving birth. The gym lost the rest to motherhood.

“It's not even, like, price,” Brianna said. “It's just, like, I can't, like, finagle getting there.”

The barriers stack up fast. Her body has changed and she doesn't know what it can handle yet. She may be dealing with leaking, prolapse, or pain, and she's not going to bring that up with a coach she barely knows. She has a baby with her, and in a regular class she feels like an inconvenience every time the baby cries. And when she asks what she should do, she often hears “just listen to your body,” which gives her nothing to work with. (More on that in our guide to coaching pregnant and postpartum athletes.)

A postpartum program removes those barriers one at a time.

What is a 6-week postpartum program?

A 6-week postpartum program is a short, closed-enrollment series that takes new moms from postpartum rehab back into building strength and fitness. Brianna's version meets twice a week for six weeks. It starts with core and pelvic floor symptoms, then rebuilds strength and conditioning so members feel ready for whatever they train for next.

Here's Brianna's model:

• Length: 6 weeks
• Sessions: 2 per week
• Price: about $300 per person
• Typical group: about 8 women
• Revenue per run: about $2,400
• How often: at least quarterly

Run it quarterly and that's roughly $9,600 a year from one series, before anyone moves into another membership.

The series format matters. “Running something as a 6-week series is a lot better than just an ongoing class for something that is that specialty,” Brianna said. A start date and an end date make it easy to sell, easy to staff, and easy to fill again next quarter. It's the same playbook as a youth fitness program or a senior fitness program: a specific group, a specific outcome, a clear container.

Who is a postpartum program for?

Two groups, and you want both.

The first is your current members coming back after a baby. These are the moms you're at risk of losing. The series gives them a structured way back instead of dropping straight into the regular class schedule.

The second is new people from your community. Brianna is clear that this isn't only about getting your CrossFitters through six weeks: “This is about saying, hey, our CrossFit Gym offers this 6-week postpartum program.” A lot of new moms would never sign up for a CrossFit class. A postpartum series is a much easier first step through your door.

After that, Brianna said, they might stay, move into your CrossFit class, or go train for a triathlon. Either way, you've brought more people into your gym, and moms are a great source of referrals.

What comes after the 6 weeks?

The second piece of the model is a women's strength and conditioning class. Brianna calls it a bridge between postpartum rehab and regular classes.

It's for women who aren't ready for CrossFit classes yet, women who may never join CrossFit but want to train with other women, and moms who still need to bring the baby. Brianna's version ran three classes a week.

• Typical enrollment: about 10 women
• Monthly price: $150 to $200
• Monthly revenue: $1,500 to $2,000

“Women's only class is not going to be for everybody,” Brianna said, “but the women it's for, it's, like, really for them.” You're not losing them to another gym because CrossFit felt like too big a jump. You keep them as members under a different setup. If you're weighing a women-only option, here's what women think about when they join a new gym, and what one academy learned from running a women's program.

What other formats work besides a 6-week series?

Once a coach on your staff has real expertise here, Brianna described several ways to use it:

• Workshops for your members, your wider community, or both
• One-on-one or small group training for members who want more attention
• An in-house expert on the floor. Coaches stop guessing and know exactly who to send a member to.
• Funneling into existing classes with a coach who can guide scaling

The point is the same in every format: “create multiple ways for women to get the support they need without sending them somewhere else.”

Who should coach a postpartum program?

A coach with real training in pelvic health and performance, not a coach doing their best with a few online searches. “In order to, like, responsibly offer those kind of classes, you need to have that coaching expertise and that scope,” Brianna said.

That's why she built the Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism Coaching Certification. It has certified more than 5,000 coaches in 62+ countries, and it covers what the program looks like logistically and structurally, not only the coaching. If you're deciding whether to invest in a coach's education, here's how to think about the return.

Brianna also offered webinar viewers $500 off the certification with code PUSHPRESS500.

Postpartum program FAQ

Do I need childcare to run a postpartum program?

No. In most postpartum programs the baby stays right next to mom, in a car seat or on a blanket, and the equipment stays minimal. Brianna said this setup “tends to be a system that works very, very well, without having to have, like, formal childcare.” One gym owner on the webinar said that's exactly what they do: sometimes the baby is the resistance.

How many people do I need to run one?

Brianna's typical group is about 8 women. That's enough to make the series worth running at about $300 per person, and small enough for one coach to give real attention.

How much should I charge for a postpartum program?

Brianna's model is about $300 for six weeks at two sessions a week. Set your own price against your regular membership so the series reads as a premium, coached program rather than a discount.

How often should I run it?

Most gyms Brianna works with run it at least quarterly and add sessions as demand grows.

Watch the full conversation

Brianna covers the coaching side in depth, including the cues and positions she uses with pregnant and postpartum athletes. Watch the full webinar replay.