Pelvic floor physical therapy during pregnancy
Pelvic floor physical therapy can be extremely valuable during pregnancy, from early on in your first trimester all the way into your third trimester. (And also even after baby is here!)
You may be wondering why seeing a pelvic floor physical therapist can be helpful during pregnancy, and that's exactly what we'll cover in this blog.
Let's chat.
What is pelvic health physical therapy?
I'll give you the short version here, because you can head to my blog post about pelvic health physical therapy if you want the long version where I explain why you should care about the pelvic floor.
Pelvic floor PT is a niche that exists within physical therapy that focuses on the pelvic region and on all the regions influencing the pelvic region of the body.
So, while we call it "pelvic" PT, we still treat you as a whole human and address whatever needs to be addressed to help you reach your goals and achieve your ideal outcome.
It's important to know that not all physical therapists are pelvic floor physical therapists, so finding a PT who has been trained specifically in pelvic floor physical therapy is key.
Pelvic floor physical therapy during pregnancy: What is it?
So that probably leaves you wondering: why would you need pelvic floor physical therapy while you're pregnant?
First things first, I know that physical therapy is oftentimes a reactionary investment. Meaning, you feel pain and then seek out someone to help you.
One of the BEST parts about pelvic health PT (and physical therapy in general) is that you don't have to wait until you feel bad to get started.
This is especially important for those who are pregnant.
Don't wait until you have back pain, SI joint pain, abdominal separation (aka diastasis recti), or you're leaking when you laugh and sneeze, or feel heaviness in your pelvic region.
By getting started with pelvic floor PT before any symptoms arise, we can actually decrease your risk for developing these symptoms overall (yes, really!).
But if you're reading this and thinking: "Welp, I already have those symptoms, is it too late for me?" Absolutely not. It's never "too late" to get started.
Now let's talk about what pelvic floor physical therapy looks like if you come in during your pregnancy.
What we do inside of your pelvic PT sessions:
A full-body assessment to get baseline data for your body: During an exam, we'll see where your strength and mobility are, we'll determine short and long-term goals, and we'll go into lots of education about what to expect during your pregnancy, as you prepare for labor. Depending on where you're at in your pregnancy (and your comfort level of course), we may choose to include an internal pelvic floor muscle exam or instead defer one til a later date.
Pelvic floor exercises: We incorporate pelvic floor exercises based on what you specifically need for optimal pelvic floor health, which we find out during your assessment.
Full-body exercises: Like I alluded to above, many different factors can contribute to pelvic floor symptoms so working on overall strength and mobility can help expecting moms feel good during their pregnancy.
Education: There can be a lot of fear around what to expect when it comes to pregnancy, birth, and changes you will see in your body throughout pregnancy and in the postpartum period. My goal is to ensure we leave no stone unturned and you feel fully prepared and understand everything you need to know.
Pregnancy-related diagnoses and symptoms that we commonly address
As I mentioned above, there are so many things we can do during your pelvic PT sessions. Here are some of the most common things that I treat and help my patients with:
Birth preparation: Preparing the whole body, mentally and physically, for birth so that you can lower your risk for birth-related trauma.
Core strengthening: When it comes to pelvic floor PT, some of the work that we do will revolve around strengthening the core muscles. While it is normal and expected to have some abdominal muscle separation during pregnancy to accommodate your growing baby, we can work to ensure that you maintain strength throughout your pregnancy and have a seamless core recovery during the postpartum period.
Pelvic floor muscle relaxation: While strengthening the pelvic floor is talked about regularly, what I typically help my pregnant patients with is actually learning how to relax the pelvic floor muscles. This helps prepare your pelvic floor for birth because if the muscles aren't able to relax as the baby passes through the birth canal, there is a higher risk for birth-related trauma. Plus, all of the kegels in the world won't help you push the baby out, I promise. But we’ll go over what will help with those pushes!
Breathing for birth: Speaking of birth, we’ll cover breathing strategies to use during birth that can help you have a better birth experience overall as well as help with pelvic floor muscle relaxation, which you now know is super important.
Common diagnoses during pregnancy: Pain during pregnancy (back pain, hip pain, SI joint pain, etc.), leaking/urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, pelvic pain, pelvic floor dysfunction, diastasis, and more. Pregnancy doesn't have to be miserable, I promise! Your quality of life can still be great as you undergo all of these bodily changes.
Strengthening in general: As a parent, you need to be strong! Strollers, car seats, babies, groceries. They are all heavy. We can work on a safe strengthening plan for you during pregnancy.
Postpartum recovery: We'll talk about postpartum rehabilitation and develop a plan for post-baby to help you recover.
Where to book pregnancy and postpartum pelvic floor physical therapy
If you are local to the Durham area and are looking for a pelvic health provider with expertise in pregnancy and postpartum treatment, I'd love to work with you.
To get started, feel free to book a complimentary discovery call or reach out to schedule with me by filling out the contact form located here.
