Abdominal binders and compression garments after having a baby can be a nice option, especially if you are needing extra support for pain control or just overall comfort. Many women, especially after having a C-section, are told to utilize an abdominal binder, but abdominal binders and/or compression garments can also be an option after a vaginal birth as well. In this blog post, I will discuss what an abdominal binder is, the different types of abdominal binders out there, what factors may indicate the need for using one, how to properly place and use one and the option for a compression bloomer as well! I also would like to briefly discuss the differences between a waist trainer and an abdominal binder, as this seems to be a common misunderstanding when comparing the two products. Let’s dive in!

The first trimester can be a bit brutal when it comes to incorporating movement, or…well, EVERYTHING really! It is infamous for “morning sickness”, which, let’s be real, is often an “all-day-sickness”. And if that doesn’t get you, then the insurmountable fatigue that often comes along with that first trimester likely will. We know that movement is important throughout pregnancy, for both mom AND baby, but how do we incorporate movement into our daily routine when our energy tank is at an all-time low and we may hurl at any moment?? Really not a good combination, but…that’s exactly what I plan to help you with in this blog post! This blog post is going to focus on tips and tricks to help you combat fatigue and nausea that can rear their ugly heads during that first trimester of pregnancy as well as understand the WHY behind all of these unpleasant symptoms.

If you have ever struggled with any sort of pelvic floor issue and all you were told is to, “Just do Kegels!”, then this blog post is for you! In the past, knowledge and awareness of pelvic floor treatment options were fairly limited - both in the general public and in the professional community. Even today, this is still an area that lacks in full awareness, which is why the standard treatment for pelvic floor conditions became the one and only thing people DID know about - the Kegel. Unfortunately, ‘just doing Kegels’ is NOT always the right thing to do and almost always should not be done initially or in isolation. In this blog post, we are going to uncover why pelvic floor strength is important, what a Kegel is and when they may be appropriate to perform, potential risks of doing too many Kegels, and some alternative options for strengthening the pelvic floor that may actually be BETTER than Kegels!

Exercising during pregnancy can be a confusing topic, and one that leads to MANY questions. Many women feel concerned about exercising during pregnancy due to the risk of injury, not just of themselves, but of their baby as well! This can be a legit fear for some soon to be mama’s, but I’m here to help reduce the confusion and give you some research-based information to help point you in the right direction for exercising while pregnant! In this blog post, I am going to cover what the typical recommendation is, what the benefits to exercise is during pregnancy, what type of exercise you should be doing, things to look out for with modifying or stopping certain exercises while pregnant, and specific instances where you should NOT be exercising or ensure you have the permission from your physician first.

I can’t even begin to explain the amount of women post-birth who have mentioned that it would’ve been nice to know and be a little more prepared for the things that could potentially happen during the birth experience. They felt that it would’ve reduced the amount of shock and just general feeling of being left in the dark about these things that they had never even known were potential, or even worse, likely to happen during the birth experience! I feel that it is part of my responsibility as a healthcare provider to educate and empower women, so this blog post is dedicated to do just that. Tearing is a very real possibility during the birth experience; however, in this blog post I’m going to share three tips that are research backed ways to help prevent tearing during birth.

If you’re preparing to give birth any time in the near future, you’re going to want to save this blog post! As a pelvic floor physical therapist, I know some things about the postpartum time period, and let me tell you, all 5 of these postpartum products are one’s you are going to want to have with you. This blog post covers my TOP 5 favorite postpartum products (plus 2 BONUS C-section specific product recommendations), a few links, and a little information on what you’re going to need them for while in your postpartum initial recovery phase.

Diastasis Recti is the separation of the two sides of our rectus abdominis muscle (think 6-pack abs muscle) that often occurs with pregnancy - as baby grows, your body grows and stretches as well. The distance between the two sides (width) is known as the inter-rectus distance (IRD), and is how we measure if you have an actual DR or if you just have normal separation, as some separation is to be expected and a normal part of pregnancy.

Does the term “deep core” have you a little stumped on what exactly that even means? Or maybe you have some idea on what it is referring to, but are struggling to find the significance between the deep core and postpartum healing. This blog post is going to go in-depth about the anatomy of the deep core, where it’s located, what exactly it does and why we need to know about all of this for optimal postpartum healing! Read all the way to the bottom for my two-cents on kegels and why they aren’t the “fix all” of the pelvic floor.

Have you ever considered that there may be different ways to push during labor? And not only that, but that there are also four different stages of labor? If this is your first pregnancy, you may not have had a lot of discussion and detail in regards to labor, contractions and the act of pushing. This blog post is going to review the four stages of labor as well as discuss two different types of pushing and the potential positives and negatives of each.

Did you even know that you had options?? If you choose a hospital setting for your birth experience you will have some choice flexibility. This blog post is going to compare the differences between receiving an epidural versus a low dose epidural, as well as an unmedicated birth experience. After reading this blog, you will understand what each one means and the pro’s and con’s of each option!

You may NEVER think about your pelvic floor…until something goes wrong with it. This is where pelvic floor physical therapy comes into play. I would like to say that it would be ideal if everyone had pelvic floor physical therapy preventatively…but that might be asking for too much at this time. More typically, pelvic floor PT is utilized when the pelvic floor starts to act up and it no longer is doing its job as effectively as you might like. This blog post is going to dive into all things pelvic floor physical therapy and give you some insight into what it is and why you may need it!

One of the pieces of that may be lacking in the type of birthing experience you want, is just simply knowing what your options even are. If your birthing position options are never really discussed with you by your medical providers, how would you know what to try when the time comes and then be able to advocate for yourself, if needed?? So, let’s talk about it! This blog post will help to bring awareness to your birthing position options (epidural or no epidural) and provide examples of what that can look like for you!

Here I come…one big step up onto my soap box for this topic, you ready?? A C-Section is a major abdominal surgery and should be rehabbed!

I cannot emphasize this enough, and I won’t stop talking about it because those C-section mamas DESERVE it. They deserve treatment. They deserve care. They deserve education, and awareness, and ALL THE THINGS that a standard surgery (not resulting in a baby) automatically includes. So we are going to take some time and give some acknowledgement to our C-Section mama’s and use this blog post to discuss the things we can do to help with optimal healing.

This blog post is going to give you all the tips for optimizing your 6-week check up as well as give you ideas for questions to ask your provider! Make sure to scroll to the bottom for a free printable guide to navigating this very important part of your early postpartum.

Is it possible that breastfeeding your baby can actually impact your pelvic floor?? And the answer is…complicated!

Learning how to relax your pelvic floor can really be the key to unlocking many pelvic floor symptoms! Check out this blog to learn what the common symptoms are for a tight pelvic floor, what things can contribute to a tight pelvic floor, tips to start working on improving pelvic tension as well as exercises to try to relax your pelvic floor.

Fertility can be a really tough and emotionally-charged conversation. I’ve walked through my own fertility struggles and I’ve had the honor of walking through similar struggles with a lot of other women.

I didn’t set out to specialize in pelvic floor much less fertility wellness when I became a physical therapist. But as I was going through my own journey with fertility, I did what a lot of women do and started to research like crazy. My education and professional training told me that there were things I could do for and with my body that just might help increase success, but I didn’t know specifics yet.

Then, I found Mercier Therapy. For me, Mercier Therapy made so much sense! When I discovered it, I was immediately captured by how well researched it was, the positive statistics attached to it, and the fact that it was completely natural.

As a woman, having your period has never been that appealing. It’s really more of a hassle and nuisance rather than deemed as something beautiful. I mean, who wants to deal with pads, cups, or tampons EVERY. SINGLE. MONTH.

But what if I told you that your cycle is actually a pretty damn cool thing. Trust me, I used to not think such crazy thoughts…but the more you learn about the ins and outs of a menstrual cycle, the more you see how amazing it is that our bodies do this and what it is trying to tell you when something isn’t quite “right”.

Not having a cycle all together can lead to more serious issues such as osteoporosis and even cancer. I will dive deeper into this subject but for now we will get to the point of exercise.

The only similarity between dry needling and acupuncture is that we use the same kind of needles for both treatment options. While both options can be used for pain relief or discomfort, they both have very different schools of thought. Dry Needling was developed in the 1980’s and is based on western medicine. It focuses on trigger point referral patterns and anatomical structures of the body. Acupuncture is an eastern medicine technique that has been around for a long time and is focused on meridian lines and energy flows.

What even is the mommy pooch?? I honestly dislike this term because it insinuates that there is a “problem” with how you look. The first thing I want momma’s to know is that your body is AMAZING. And the fact that it just grew a human is an absolute miracle. Your body has stretched and changed and made room for the little one to grow healthy and strong preparing for this world. So your “mommy pooch” is nothing to be ashamed of.