How my pelvic physiotherapist prepared me for childbirth

Boom! I had a baby. I felt like I was superhuman. I was so proud of myself and my body for carrying and delivering that sweet human.  It was unbelievable.  But time passed and the frustration crept in about how my body didn’t feel like it was returning back to normal.  Nothing was particularly horrible.  I seemed to have decent bladder control, unless I held it to the very last minute.  But certain things were painful to me. Things that I didn’t want to share with anyone because I was too embarrassed about it. I had read about pelvic floor physiotherapists and had friends that went to see them post baby. But, none of them had symptoms similar to mine.   

It took me a while to convince myself that my discomfort was significant enough to get checked out. But when I did, it brought me so much relief to talk to someone about how I was feeling “down there.”  It normalized what I was feeling so I didn’t feel like I just needed to accept it as my new normal.  That alone was such a positive and unexpected outcome of my experience.   

From that, I had a whole new perspective on how physios could help me prepare for birth.   Before having my second child, I took the time to see a pelvic floor physio to help me understand how to have control when I was in the pushing phase of labour.  I was equipped with different exercises to help me cue, engage, and strengthen the muscles used during delivery.  It was so worthwhile and absolutely made for a more in-control pushing phase for my second delivery.