Have you ever heard of using postpartum belly binding during your immediate postpartum recovery? Over the course of your pregnancy, your body changes shape and makes room for your growing little one. Then, in postpartum, your muscles and organs literally shift around...
Can I Ice My C-Section Incision? And Other Recovery Questions!
April is Cesarean Awareness Month! You may be wondering, do I need pelvic floor therapy if I’ve had a cesarean birth? Do I need to massage my scar? Can I work on my scar even if it has been a few years? What about a VBAC?
Sara Reardon’s Birth Story For Baby Number One: All’s Well That Ends Well
The exciting birth story of our first son from starting contractions to the final big push.
5 Pelvic Floor and Core Workouts for After a C-Section
Over 30 percent of births in the United States are via cesarean section. After the initial healing period, many moms may want to know how to safely return to exercise and regain their core strength.
The Benefits of Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy After C-Section
One third of women deliver by cesarean section, and the postpartum maternal care leaves something to be desired here in the US, particularly the education on a cesarean shelf.
Pubic Bone Pain After Birth
Pubic symphysis separation (or pubic symphysis diastasis) is defined as the widening of the pubic joint of more than 10 mm and is considered a complication of vaginal childbirth or pregnancy. Is there anything you can do?
Painful Sex Postpartum
Many women experience painful sex postpartum. Postpartum sex can be painful even months postpartum. When you can start having sex again after having a baby is a common question. It’s only second to “When can I start working out?” There are a few things we want to get...
Postpartum Pelvic Pain and Fourth Trimester Healing
One of the hardest parts of the 4th trimester is that you do not even know there is one.
Tips For Your First Postpartum Poop
Bowel movements are healthy and normal. There are some measures you can take to avoid a traumatic experience and to make the first postpartum poop easier.
Returning to Crossfit Postpartum
We often get questions in our clinic and on social media about when it is safe to return to HIIT like Crossfit after having a baby. That is often a hard question to answer, or rather there are many factors that go into that answer. Here, we break it down.
How to Safely Return to Running Postpartum
As more pelvic health research is conducted and outcomes are gathered, guidelines will be updated and expanded so that healthcare providers have the highest quality information for developing postpartum programming. These current guidelines are FREE for all to access.
Postpartum Recovery Explained: Week 4 – Week 8
Continuing along in our “What to expect from your postpartum body” series, we will discuss 4-8 postpartum.
Postpartum Recovery Explained: Week 2 – Week 4
Up next in our “What to expect from your body postpartum” series, we will cover 2-4 weeks postpartum. Click to read what to expect in terms of healing, when to contact your healthcare provider or seek treatment from a pelvic floor PT, and how to safely begin returning to exercise.
Postpartum Recovery Explained: The First 2 Weeks
There are plenty of books on what to expect during pregnancy, but women are often left without much guidance about what to expect after the baby arrives.
Your 6 Week Postpartum Checkup Explained
How to get the most out of your 6 week postpartum checkup, and how to know when you should ask about Pelvic Floor Therapy.
How to Know if You Have Diastasis Recti
Diastasis recti is a separation of the connective tissue in the middle of the large abdominal muscles known as the rectus abdominis (6 pack abs). Here’s how you can help prevent it, and what to do if you have it.
Vaginal and Perineal Granulation Tissue
Perineal tearing during a vaginal delivery can have varying levels of severity, and each woman’s tissue heals differently. While most perineal tearing heals on its own with stitching, there are times when the body can over heal and develop an excess of tissue at the wound site. This is known as granulation tissue.
Returning to HIIT Postpartum
How do I return to HIIT after having a baby? How much time do I take off before starting back up? The answers are not one-size-fits-all. What’s important is that you understand the principles for safe and effective progression.
Postpartum Anxiety
We’ve all heard of “the baby blues,” but what happens when it’s not sadness you feel? What happens when all you feel is debilitating anxiety? Maybe it hits you in the hospital, maybe as soon as you get home, or (as in my case) many weeks into your postpartum journey. It’s scary, all-consuming, and quite frankly it can make you feel helpless.
Best Books for Breastfeeding
Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by Diane Wiessinger, Diana West, Teresa Pitman Dedicated to supporting nursing and expectant mothers, the internationally respected La Leche League has set the standard for educating and empowering mothers in this natural art for...
How Breastfeeding and Estrogen Affect Your Pelvic Floor
How does breastfeeding affect your pelvic health?
Perineal Scar Massage
When and how should you return to sex postpartum? If you have a partner, have an open and honest conversation about easing back into sex or other forms of intimacy.
Mommy Wrist and Hand Pain Postpartum
There are many familiar terms for postpartum symptoms, like “mummy tummy” and “sneeze pee”. Have you also heard of “mom thumb?” It’s a term for symptoms of De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis – pain and inflammation of the tendons that run along the backside of the thumb and across the wrist.
Relieving Breastfeeding Back Pain
During my pregnancy, I knew I wanted to breastfeed my son. I read the books and bought the supplies. I had the breastfeeding pillows and salves and shirts. I had the pump and the rocking chair and ice packs. I was ready for sore nipples and sleepless nights. I was not, however, prepared for the back pain.
Do You Know When to See a Pelvic Floor Therapist After Birth?
A six week postpartum visit typically does not include screening or assessment for pelvic floor issues that would warrant a referral to a pelvic health physical therapist.
How to Create Your Pumping at Work Schedule
Tips to keep your breastmilk supply up when returning to work and how I wean my baby once I stop nursing
What You Need to Know About Your First Postpartum Period
What to expect from your first postpartum period: when it will happen, what it will be like, and what you’ll need.
What Products Do I Need to Breastfeed my Baby?
Sara shares her top product picks for leaky, over (and under) supplying, and soon-to-be sore boobs for expecting and breastfeeding mothers.
Your Pelvic Floor and Hemorrhoids
For most people hemorrhoids are annoying, but can usually be cleared up with some intentional habit/lifestyle changes or home remedies. Here we discuss what they are, who’s at risk and how they can be prevented.
Benefits of Hand Expressing Breast Milk
Looking for an empowering and low-key alternative to traditional pumping? Try hand expression of breast milk! PT Melissa Stendahl the science and history behind hand expression.
The Best Exercises to Help Mom Butt
“Mom Butt” is the term for a loss of ‘junk in the trunk,’ or a flat butt that tends to develop postpartum. Why does your bum go flat after pregnancy? Why do women’s bums seem to go flat after childbirth? What contributes to those weaker, less shapely glutes? What you need to know.
Pelvic Floor Avulsion Tears
Perineal tearing, prolapse, diastasis recti, oh my! But what about a pelvic floor avulsion tear? Have you heard of an avulsion tear? Pelvic floor avulsion tears happen when a portion of the pelvic floor muscles tear away from the bone during childbirth. Yikes! So what can you do about a pelvic floor avulsion tear?
Breastfeeding with Tubular Breasts
Jen Torborg, pelvic floor physical therapist, opens up about her breastfeeding journey and why tubular breast deformity led her to formula feed.
Postpartum Hormonal Changes and Your Pelvic Floor
Jen Torborg shares her postpartum journey, including the “huge hormonal and identity shift unlike anything I’ve ever known.”
Sunflower Lecithin for Plugged Milk Ducts
We often don’t see the struggle behind the scenes with breastfeeding or pumping, and one of my biggest challenges was plugged milk ducts I had more than 20 plugged ducts. Here are some tips (my top tip being sunflower lecithin supplements) that worked for me!
Best Nursing and Pumping Bras Ranked By a Pelvic PT
My favorite bras for pumping and nursing with some accessories, too