Why should physical therapists be involved in pregnancy and postpartum care?
The real question is… Why have they not been?!
Pregnancy, childbirth and the fourth trimester are all extremely physical experiences.
I mean, for 40(ish) weeks, your body transforms constantly.
From day 1: your connective tissue changes, the postural muscles of your spine take on new demand as your center of mass shifts forward. Your abdominal muscles stretch as baby grows, creating a mechanical disadvantage for your core. Your pelvis and pelvic floor modify their roles to support an exponentially heavier uterus. Even the joint mechanics in your feet can change!
On top of it, after that 40 weeks of change, there’s a physical marathon of even more bodily changes. For a vaginal birth: Your bony pelvis opens, rotates, and maneuvers to create space so that baby can move down. In the second stage of labor (pushing), there is a unique coordination between your pelvic floor and trunk muscles… your pelvic floor needs to relax and slowly stretch while your abdominal and trunk muscles need to activate. If you have a perineal tear, there’s even more consideration for muscle and core function after birth.
For a cesarean birth, 9 layers of tissue (including skin, fat, fascial layers, muscle, connective tissue, and organ) are cut to get to the depth of your baby (stay tuned for more posts about c-section recovery).
Then bam! You’re holding a tiny baby and your body feels like it’s not yours anymore.
These explanations are not meant to incite fear or anxiety… it’s to prove a point.
Pregnancy and childbirth impact the way your body moves. Physical therapists are experts in understanding how bodies move.
Which is why there’s a whole specialty of physical therapy that specifically treats the unique physiology pregnant and postnatal bodies.
So yeah… considerations from the view of a physical therapist should be the standard when it comes to pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care. Not to mention, in our country and health system, there is an absurd lack of awareness for these topics.
Which is why I’ve devoted my physical therapy career to this problem and why I started Live Embodied PT in the first place! To provide unique & highly specialized care for pregnant and postpartum bodies. And just one more quick note… a postpartum body is forever. So even if the baby(ies) you birthed are 20+ years old, you’re body still went through this massive process, therefore deserves care from a specially trained provider (like me!).
If you are enlightened after reading this and interested in a free phone consult or booking an evaluation, follow this link! If you want to learn a bit more about pelvic floor PT or things that I treat, click here.
Cheers: to the amazing feats that our bodies are capable of. And not settling for inadequate care in the aftermath.
Sam