The second stage of labour or the pushing stage is the stage we see most often in the movies, in comedies and even in ‘reality tv’ series based in maternity hospitals. So we’ve been kind of conditioned to expect a certain scenario. Lying on your back in a hospital bed, feet in stirrups, being […]
Returning To Running
1. Gradual Return Is Key
After you have had a baby your pelvic floor will need time to heal and returned to full function. For some women this will require extra effort and take longer but it will be worth it when you return to your sporting activities.
If possible it’s great to see […]
Does Forceps Birth Cause Prolapse?
First of all
What is Prolapse?
Prolapse is defined here on the NHS website as “when one or more of the organs in the pelvis slip down from their normal position and bulge into the vagina”. You may or may not feel this bulge, depending on how low the prolapse is in […]
WHAT ABOUT MY PELVIC FLOOR EXERCISES??
As a Pelvic Health Physiotherapist, as you can imagine, I’m often asked about pelvic floor exercises.
How do I do them?
Am I doing them correctly?
How many times?
How long and how strong?
Of course my quick answer to this is that everyone is an individual. If you feel your pelvic floor is […]
Having a significant perineal tear during the birth of your baby can be a bit of a shock to say the least. For the first few days it can be quite painful and difficult to move around and especially to sit. You’ll need to allow yourself time to heal and recover so be gentle […]
Sometimes you get to what you thought was the end and you find it’s a whole new beginning. – Anne Tyler
Preparing for a new baby can so exciting. We eagerly anticipate our appointments with the doctor or midwife, we book our antenatal classes, buy the car seat and the baby clothes and pack our […]
So, AGES ago, I wrote a blog post about what you can do during pregnancy to stack the odds in your favour of birthing your baby with an intact perineum. I intended to follow up with another post on what you or your birth partner can do during labour too, but completely forgot! So […]
As a Women’s Health physio, this question has occurred to me. And I have been asked by women too. They may have been told that having a tight pelvic floor may be the reason they had a more challenging birth. But can having strong or ‘tight’ pelvic floor muscles really cause a problem in […]
During your labour and birth, you may use physical comfort measures like TENS, massage and movement. As labour progresses you may feel you need to avail of some of the pharmacological comfort measures your hospital or birth centre can provide.
There are several options available to you. As with all medications, they do have some […]
This mysterious hormone gets the blame for many pregnancy and post partum complaints, but is it really the culprit? Here’s what the research tells us about relaxin and how it affects the body in pregnancy and the early weeks post partum.
Does relaxin cause pelvic girdle pain in pregnancy?
Relaxin’s best known job is the role […]