Prenatal Physio

A Women’s Health Physio plays a big role in your pregnancy journey. During early pregnancy, our job is to assess your pelvic floor (including bladder, bowel and sexual function) and to create a program specific to you to help improve the function of your pelvic floor. We also identify any risk factors you may have for urinary incontinence, faecal incontinence, prolapse, and obstetric anal sphincter injury and help you mitigate those throughout your pregnancy. We can also assist with birth choices if requested. Towards the end of your pregnancy, our role is to help prepare you for your birth. The most meaningful way we can do this is by teaching you or your partner how to perform perineal massage – we can demonstrate this on you so you know exactly how it should feel. We also teach you how to ‘push’ your baby out, specifically looking at what your pelvic floor and perineum are doing, and guiding you to improve your technique. It’s never too late in your pregnancy to come in for an appointment, one physio session is better than none. If you are still in your first or second trimester, the Pregnancy and Birth Preparation Packages are a great option to cover everything you need.

Other things we can assist with during pregnancy include advice around exercise (what to avoid, what to watch out for and how to modify) as well as any pregnancy-related aches or pains – back pain, hip pain, pelvic girdle pain, abdominal or rib pain.