Why should I consider Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy prior to pregnancy?

Pelvic floor physical therapy can help you prepare your body for pregnancy by focusing on education, strengthening and optimizing health and wellness in order to prepare the body to carry a pregnancy.

Preparing for pregnancy is deeper than “just being ready.” It involves a mom’s nutrient availability, her mental and hormone health and her physical readiness.

A woman must be able to provide the baby with everything the baby needs and the baby has big plans to steal it from mom, sometimes even deplete the stores mom has. The placenta is wired to take what it needs from mommy, which can contribute to symptoms a mother feels throughout pregnancy as well as into her postpartum phase.

A woman must be in a well state that her body registers as emotionally well, with the proper balance of hormones to successfully cue the body to produce an egg that is capable of fertilization. This directly means, in this fast-paced world, you will need to listen to what your body needs, rest, relaxation, time off-line and away, mindfulness... whatever it may be, this is your permission to do it!

Lastly, a woman must be physically ready. The physical demands of a pregnancy include carrying a progressively growing baby as her energy stores reduce, empowering herself through a short or lengthy labor as well as the grand finale of delivery. This is where a specialized pelvic floor physical therapist can help develop a strengthening program individualized to you.

It is important to note, the stronger a woman can go into a pregnancy, the stronger she will be throughout. The stronger momma is through pregnancy, the more she will set herself up for strength postpartum and avoid, or minimize, experiencing many postpartum issues such as incontinence.