Is Prenatal Physical Therapy Right for You? 

Preparing for childbirth is an incredible journey, often filled with excitement, anticipation, and perhaps a few questions about how your body will adapt. While you're likely focused on prenatal classes and nursery planning, consider adding another expert partner to your preparation team: a pelvic floor physical therapist. Seeing a prenatal physical therapist prior to labor and delivery offers unique benefits that can help you feel more comfortable, confident, and prepared for birth and beyond.

Many women experience musculoskeletal discomforts during pregnancy, such as low back pain (LBP) and pelvic girdle pain (PGP), with prevalence rates ranging from 50% to 71% for LBP and 20% to 65% for PGP. While these pains are common, they are not a symptom of pregnancy that must be endured. Physical therapy is a highly sought-after treatment for these conditions, offering exercises and education that can help manage and even minimize pain, improving your function and reducing disability. Conditions like sacroiliac joint dysfunction, carpal tunnel syndrome, and sciatica can also be addressed, with tailored interventions to provide relief.

Beyond pain relief, physical therapy plays a crucial role in preparing your body for labor and delivery itself. A physical therapist can help you:

• Prepare your pelvic floor muscles (PFM). Strong evidence supports PFM exercises during pregnancy to reduce the risk of urinary incontinence both during pregnancy and postpartum. It is important to note that "kegels" are not the right solution for everyone and it's often more impactful to work on coordination of your pelvic floor muscles rather than just tightening them.

• Understand biomechanical strategies for positions that can facilitate fetal descent and optimize your pelvic dimensions during labor. This includes practicing positions and mobility techniques with your physical therapist and labor partner.

• Learn about perineal massage, which, when started around 35 weeks of gestation, can reduce the likelihood of perineal trauma like episiotomies and decrease ongoing perineal pain, particularly for first-time mothers. It can also help you tolerate the stretching and pressure sensations during birth.

This proactive approach not only benefits your comfort during pregnancy and delivery but also contributes to a smoother recovery postpartum. Many musculoskeletal conditions that develop during pregnancy can persist after birth, and knowledge of pelvic floor dysfunction risks is often low among pregnant women. By working with a prenatal physical therapist, you become more informed and empowered with knowledge, tools, and strategies for good body mechanics, constipation prevention, and managing intra-abdominal pressure—all vital for your long-term well-being.

In essence, prenatal physical therapy is an investment in your long-term well-being, equipping you with the physical resilience and knowledge to navigate childbirth and the postpartum period with greater ease and confidence. Ready to prepare for a more confident and comfortable birth? Drop me a message or give me a call to learn how prenatal physical therapy can support you throughout this transformative time.