How can physical therapy benefit me after delivery?

You conquered both pregnancy and delivery! High five, friend!

Wouldn’t it be nice to say that after delivery and a good six weeks of recovery, our bodies bounced back to normal? Unfortunately, the truth is there is a “new normal.” It takes time for the muscles of the entire body to come back to their new normal resting position.

Many people can return to physical activity after pregnancy without issues, but the orthopedic issues that may have occurred during pregnancy don’t always resolve after delivery. Sometimes, you have more aches after delivering than you did during pregnancy from the new stress of carrying and feeding baby in poor postures, adding stress to the shoulders, neck, and back. Often, some gentle stretches and exercises can resolve most of your discomfort. Pelvic health therapy after pregnancy isn’t just for the pelvis. It’s for the whole body, and its goal is to restore alignment and efficient movements to each person, so they can return to their normal activities.

For the vast majority of women, there can be lasting consequences if you don’t retrain muscles to function in proper alignment and positions again. Worse yet, symptoms might only begin to arise much later in life. You need to focus on developing the correct recruitment and activation patterns so you don’t reinforce dysfunctional movement and stability patterns that your body slowly developed through the nine-month progression of postural changes — aka pregnancy.

Even people in the postpartum period who aren’t experiencing symptoms benefit from a couple sessions of pelvic health physical therapy. As we age, our muscle fibers decrease in quality as well as quantity. You might not have any symptoms at the moment, but as the muscles age, symptoms can begin to appear. Countries that offer pelvic health services as a standard of practice to postpartum women have a decreased rate of incontinence, prolapse, and many other pelvic floor issues throughout their citizens’ lifespan.