Are you Pregnant? Pelvic Health Physiotherapy is a must!

I think most of the women I have talked to who are pregnant or who have been pregnant, share what I call their “horror stories” … tailbone pain, low back, or hip pain throughout their pregnancy, sciatica, incontinence, prolapse, perineal tearing, painful sex months after delivery…

I hear stories from women more than 15 years later saying how things were never quite the same again; how they never returned to running because of urine leakage or how their back pain became an ongoing issue after they had their kids.

Here are the statistics:

• Over 50% of women will experience lower back pain during pregnancy
• 40% will develop some form of pelvic organ prolapse
• 30-40% of women experience some degree of urinary Incontinence
• Symptoms of urinary incontinence may present 2-3 decades after vaginal delivery
• 62% of women experience pain with intercourse in the first 3 months after delivery
• 40% of women have unresolved abdominal muscle separation 6 months postpartum

My hope for for women during and after pregnancy, is that with pelvic health physiotherapy we can start to change some of these statistic and “horror stories”. Just because these conditions are common during/after pregnancy, does not mean we should accept them as normal!

Do you know what your risk factors are? Are you interested in feeling the best you can during your pregnancy and optimizing your recovery afterwards?

I am optimistic because I have also seen another side of the spectrum — women who feel great all the way through. Women who recover from their lower back pain, run marathons without leaking, or go on to have second or third pregnancies without their symptoms recurring. I believe there is way more that we can do for women during and after pregnancy. What do you think?

What would it look like to be proactive? Before, during and after — pelvic health physiotherapy for pregnant women should be standard practice!

Learn more about our Pre and Post Pregnancy Program here.