Pregnancy can significantly affect your overall daily functioning. Before and after delivery, a woman’s body undergoes tremendous physical and hormonal changes.
Discomfort associated with expecting a baby, such as back pain, pelvic girdle pain, rib pain and urinary incontinence can be overwhelming at times, and for a long time women have simply accepted this as a normal part of the pregnancy process. However, physiotherapy during pregnancy can greatly relieve your discomfort as well as help you to prepare your body for an easier delivery.
Benefits | Full benefits of physiotherapy during pregnancy | Full benefits of physiotherapy after childbirth
Post-natally, aches and pains can continue, or new problems can arise dependant on your labour experience and lifestyle changes after giving birth. There may be an inefficiency in your pelvic floor after childbirth, with symptoms ranging from bladder bowel control problems to pelvic pain and organ prolapse. This can be due to the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles being weak, tight or overactive – the extent to which a diastasis recti exists is also a factor. Even if you have no symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction after childbirth, your muscles may still be inefficient and it is only after some time, or after subsequent pregnancies or menopause, that this inefficiency may become apparent. This is why a routine post-natal physiotherapy women’s health assessment is an effective way to prevent future pelvic issues. Some other European countries routinely offer physiotherapy follow-up to women after childbirth as they acknowledge just how important it is.
At Live Well, Laura is trained in assessing and treating aches and pains associated with pregnancy. We offer one-to-one physiotherapy assessment and treatment sessions, as well as specialised ante-natal pilates classes and post-natal pilates classes.
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