New Mamas Benefit From Seeing A Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist

Pelvic floor physical therapists strongly recommend that new mamas see a pelvic floor physical therapist after attending their six-week postpartum visit with their OBs. Many women are often cleared to return to their pre-pregnancy workouts after that appointment despite the fact that often the health, strength, and function of the pelvic floor and abdominal wall were not assessed. Without specific instruction on how to jump back into exercise, new mamas are more inclined to worsen postpartum pelvic-floor related problems such as urinary incontinence, pelvic pain, diastasis rectus abdominis, organ prolapse, pelvic pain, painful sex, and/or back, hip, sacrum, or coccyx pain.

Postpartum Abdominal Wall and Pelvic Floor Muscle Dysfunction: Related Complications, Physical Therapy, and Safe Return to Exercise

Part I: Abdominal Wall and Pelvic Floor Muscle Dysfunction and Related Complications

Abdominal wall and pelvic floor muscle dysfunction is common in pregnancy as well as in the postpartum stage. However, once a mom is postpartum, she is always postpartum and abdominal and pelvic floor problems can continue for years. As many women can attest to, problems with these muscles can cause pelvic girdle and low back pain, pelvic organ prolapse, urinary and fecal incontinence, and rectus diastasis abdominis. This raises the questions, “What can go wrong with our abdominal wall and pelvic floor muscles during pregnancy and after delivery?” “How does the new mom safely return to exercise and fitness after childbirth?”

To have a better understanding of postpartum barriers for safely returning to exercise, let’s first review our anatomy. The top picture is looking at our belly while the bottom picture shows a side view:

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