In the past few years there has been increasing media attention about the lack of pelvic health information and care given to pregnant woman. In a recent survey, 93% of women felt like they did not have enough knowledge about pregnancy and postpartum pelvic health.
Our pelvic floor muscles play a key role in bladder, bowel, and sexual function. Pregnancy is the #1 risk factor for pelvic floor dysfunction. Pelvic floor physical therapy can help women prepare their bodies and pelvic floor muscles for labor and delivery and help minimize trauma and build confidence that they are prepared. Postpartum pelvic floor physical therapy helps new moms restore their pelvic health and prevents pelvic pain, and urinary, bowel and sexual dysfunction from persisting.
By Katie Hunter “In the wild, mother and young have a better chance of survival if the mother can regulate labor so that the young are born in safe, quiet surroundings.” –Niles Newton, behavioral scientist and professor at Northwestern University circa 1987 Before I explain what all of this means… let’s go over […]
By Elizabeth Akincilar-Rummer MEN!!! Are you ready?? Birth Control for men is here….almost. Contraception. For some of us, that word has been a saving grace in preventing unwanted pregnancies and diseases. For others, it is fraught with moral and ethical dilemmas. But, those who are the most concerned with and often the […]
By Admin During pregnancy and the postpartum period, many women suffer from both functional and cosmetic issues caused from the widening of the abdominal wall from stretch and pressure generated from the growing uterus. This stretching can result in a separation of the rectus abdominis muscle, known as a diastasis recti (DR). Diastasis recti […]
Photo: David J Laporte By Melinda Fontaine Peaceful labor? Comfortable delivery? Calm childbirth? Do these sound like oxymorons? It’s true! Jane was a young woman who saw a segment on TV about HypnoBirthing. She saw pregnant women who looked like they were concentrating really hard on an abdominal workout or […]
By Jandra Mueller In my last blog, One and Done: The IUD and the Future of Birth Control, I talked about how the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) are recommending long acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) as their preferred contraceptive option. The two main forms discussed were the implant and the IUD. In […]
By Jandra Mueller Are you currently on birth control? Have you used birth control in the past? These are common questions I ask when doing an evaluation of a female patient who is experiencing painful intercourse, also known as dyspareunia. Most women I see are currently, or have been in the past, on some […]
Image permission via Cosmopolitan By Stephanie Prendergast The Facts 21% of women undergoing vaginal delivery had levator ani avulsion1 29% of women undergoing vaginal deliveries had pubic bone fractures2 60% of postpartum women reported Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI)3 64.3% of women reported sexual dysfunction in the first year following childbirth4 77% of women […]
By Melinda Fontaine Julia called me yesterday to ask some questions about pelvic pain and pregnancy. She was 38 weeks pregnant and getting ready to give birth. She had a history of some pain with intercourse prior to getting pregnant and was surprised to feel some vaginal pain at her last OB appointment as […]
In mid-April, Fox News Health wrote an article on why postpartum moms need physical and occupational therapy. (To see the article click here.) As pointed out in the article, France, Netherlands, and Australia automatically provide postpartum moms with 6-12 pelvic physical and occupational therapy treatments. Meanwhile, here in the US postpartum moms are rarely […]
Some things about childbirth are easy to plan: where to deliver, at a hospital or at home; who to have by our side, an obstetrician or a midwife; what to call the new baby once he or she is born. However, there are plenty of complications that we can’t predict, such as perineal tears, […]
This week, our guest writer and award winning prenatal chiropractor Dr. Elliot Berlin, takes us through a hot button topic: breeched babies. By Elliot Berlin | DC Early in pregnancy, your baby has plenty of room to move, as you’re probably well aware. My patients often share that it’s not unusual for them to […]
Last winter a patient of mine, who we’ll call Sarah, shared her birth story with me. She was in the hospital laboring with her first child and everything was progressing as planned. Sarah started to develop strong urges to push and instinctively started to bear-down. The nurse in the room noticed what she was doing […]
By Melinda Fontaine Back By Popular Demand: Here is the sequel to my 8 Pregnancy Tips. This is what a Pelvic PT/Mom wants you to know about labor and delivery. First off, you have little to no control over it. This can seem scary, so it is important to be flexible. I am a supporter […]
By Wendy Powell, Postpartum Exercise Expert, Founder + CEO of MuTu System This information relates to every woman who is having, has had, or will ever have a baby, who wants to regain full use and look of her beautiful pre-baby body (who doesn’t?). Whether she has just had a baby, has teenage children, or if […]
By Melinda Fontaine, DPT, PHRC Walnut Creek I recall being eight months pregnant treating other pregnant women or new moms. I would always hear, “How are you still working full time on your feet?” I still think the most honest answer is, “Pure luck”. Every pregnancy is different, and there are a lot of […]
By Melinda Fontaine, DPT Having a baby is like running a marathon with your pelvic floor and pelvic girdle muscles. Did you know that: 65% of women who had low back or pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy reported persitent symptoms 14 months after delivery1 20 -70 % of new moms experience stress urinary incontinence 2 […]
Postpartum pelvic floor rehabilitation is a big part of what we do at PHRC, and a major issue that we treat for new moms involves C-section scarring. In this post, we’re going to discuss the issues that can arise as a result of a C-section scar as well as how these issues can be addressed with […]
