The Importance of Postpartum Physical Therapy.
Discover why and when to start postpartum physical therapy for optimal recovery.
Your body goes through a lot of changes during pregnancy. Over the course of 9 months, your ribs widened, your diaphragm shortened, your pelvic floor lengthened, your pelvis widens, your posture changes and your ligaments get more relaxed.
All of these things happened passively over the time, while you were pregnant. Birth is another level of trauma to the tissue of the abdomen (in a C-section) and pelvic floor (in a vaginal birth).
Postpartum physical therapy is necessary in 100% of women after birth. We don’t treat our body as if it sustained major trauma, muscle changes, postural changes and joint changes. If we tore our ACL, or had shoulder surgery, we would absolutely have physical therapy to rehab it. Yet, we don’t automatically get referred to postpartum physical therapy.
Postpartum physical therapy focuses on restoring the joint alignment, posture and muscle coordination so that you can connect with your body post-birth. The goal of postpartum physical therapy is to get you back to the activities you love, safely. Postpartum physical therapists help create routines of postpartum exercises that help you progress towards all the things you want to do postpartum.
You can start postpartum physical therapy whenever you are ready postpartum. We see some patients days after giving birth and others weeks after giving birth. We cannot do anything internally to the pelvic floor muscles until those muscles have healed and have been cleared by your birth professional, however we can absolutely address joint, posture, and muscle imbalances that have occurred over the past 9 months.
Common postpartum concerns that we address in postpartum physical therapy include:
Prolapse or feelings of heaviness in the pelvis
Diastasis recti or abdominal separation
Core weakness
Pelvic floor dysfunction such as bladder leakage, fecal incontinence, or pain or fear of pain with intercourse
Orthopedic pain such as low back pain, hip pain, and pelvic pain
Even if you have been postpartum for a while, it is never too late to start postpartum physical therapy. The common postpartum concerns listed above can be present years after having a baby and it is never too late to work on them or to make improvements.
Postpartum physical therapy is a safe, effective way to regain your strength, confidence and mobility after baby. A postpartum physical therapist can help guide you safe return to exercise and support your journey through motherhood!
