Do you know the importance of Pre and Post Natal care?
During pregnancy, your body undergoes various changes to help grow your baby and prepare your body for birth. The female body is incredible! It goes without saying that it is common to experience a number of symptoms associated with these changes. Some of the changes include:
- Hormonal
- Vascular
- Respiratory
- Gastrointestinal
- Cardiac
- Haematological
- Anatomical/weight/biomechanical
Some of these changes are not overly comfortable. In an ideal world, all women should see a Women's Health Physiotherapist pre and post-natally to receive appropriate education, support, treatment and rehabilitation.
We believe that being pro-active in your pregnancy can help to minimise your risk of aches and pains developing, optimising your experience of pregnancy, supporting your labour, and helping with post-partum recovery. Studies have shown that maintaining good abdominal and pelvic floor control throughout pregnancy helps with spinal and pelvic stability and facilitates a better post-natal recovery. An enjoyable and effective way of facilitating good pelvic floor and abdominal/ core control is through Pilates. Pilates is low impact form of exercise that can help to work the deep abdominal, hip and pelvic muscle groups which are under an increased amount of load during pregnancy. We have Physiotherapists and Exercise physiologist at MLPP who are experienced in the management of lumbopelvic issues and specialise in the Pilates approach to rehabilitation. They can individualise an appropriately targeted program to help you reach your goals. If you are interested in pursuing this, you can make an appointment for an initial Pilates assessment.
So many women experience birth trauma (whether physical or psychological) and are left with the consequences and do not receive sufficient support. This is an area that has been explored in mainstream media recently. ABC reported on this in an article called “Women speak out about birth trauma and poor pelvic health care in public system”. This article is an interesting read which touches on the importance of accessible pre and postnatal care for all and can be accessed via this link:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-03/women-birth-trauma-pelvic-health/102643754
If you’re not sure, please contact our friendly admin team and they will point you in the right direction or come and have a chat with one of our Physiotherapists or Exercise Physiologists who are trained in Women’s Health, we are here to help you. You may be eligible for Private Health Fund Rebates.
