Postpartum Care

Just like other types of physical therapy, we assess and treat issues with muscles, nerves, connective tissue, and joints. In the specialty of pelvic health, we just do this to help you with concerns in your pelvic region (generally from your abdomen to your thighs) that can cause pain or issues with bladder, bowel, and sexual function. We still take a head to toe approach so that we can identify root cause issues, but can also more directly assess and treat your pelvic floor which is a group of muscles at the base of your pelvis.

Whenever you feel ready! Because there is a huge gap in our traditional healthcare system around follow ups after birth, we love to provide support as soon as possible. Our assessments and treatments may vary based on the overall timeframe, but sometimes guidance during the early days and weeks can be powerful in helping you feel your best. If you want a touch point but aren’t ready to come to the clinic, we can do virtual visits as well. And if you’re wondering if you’ve missed the window for support after birth, there’s no such thing! We really believe it is never too early or too late to start pelvic floor physical therapy and work toward your goals!

Nope! We love staying on top of things to make sure you are well equipped with the knowledge and tools to stay comfortable and symptom free. Your body has undergone a huge change through pregnancy and birth, and we want to make sure you stay symptom free as you get back to any and all activities you choose!

Nope! Washington is a direct-access state for physical therapy services so you can see us without jumping through the hoops of seeing a physician first. Our therapists are well trained in screening for issues that would warrant a follow up with a physician and will make sure you are in the right place too. Some insurance providers do require a referral, so if you are worried about reimbursement for our services, you can call to check with them.

We do offer internal pelvic floor exams and often find it valuable to to get specific information about how your pelvic floor muscles are functioning. However, if for any reason at all you’d prefer not to, we have plenty of tools to still be able to get you results with a purely external approach. Postpartum, we generally wait until about 6 weeks from birth or once you’ve gotten clearance from your birth provider.

Your initial evaluation starts even before you walk in the door the first time. We send comprehensive paperwork for you to complete prior to your appointment so that your therapist can begin to get a picture of what you may be needing and plan a tailored evaluation. Then, on your first visit, we like to hear your story and chat about anything that is too hard to capture in the paperwork alone. From there, we complete an external and/or internal examination (internal work is never mandatory) to continue gathering information and work with you to build a plan of care to make sure you are comfortable and ready for what’s ahead!

Your treatment is always individualized to your specific needs as we do not believe in a cookie-cutter approach! Often, treatment will include a combination of manual therapy, education, and/or movement strategies that will target your specific concern. Each of our sessions is about an hour long, and within that time we check in to see how you are doing or if there is anything specific you want to discuss, do the actual interventions that we have planned for that day, and then make sure you are clear in what to be doing between appointments and where you are in your overall plan of care.

It is vastly different! First of all, depending on the state of your pelvic floor, kegels have the potential to make things worse. Especially in the context of preparing your body for birth, we need to make sure there is a good balance between strength and flexibility. Secondly, even if we determine you need to improve your pelvic floor strength, we want to make sure your strength is actually functional for your life. Finally, we feel strongly that we have to zoom out from just the pelvic floor to make sure other areas aren’t driving your problem. Our bodies work all together, so we can’t expect isolating one part is going to get you your best results!

Ultimately, you can wear whatever you feel most comfortable in, but sometimes it can be helpful to wear something you can move around in if exercise is a part of our plan together or we need to access certain parts of your body. We always have options available if you aren’t able to come in specific clothing and we decide it would be helpful to have you change.

Of course! Trusted partners and children are always welcome as we want you to have the fewest barriers to care possible. You may be able to better focus and relax during your appointment if you come solo, but we can always adjust our sessions as needed and sometimes it can be helpful to see how you are actually caring for your child if that could be a contributing factor to your symptoms.

It shouldn’t be! We stay in regular communication about how you are feeling with certain assessments or treatments an will let you know exactly what to expect. The majority of things we do should not be painful, and we can always modify or change course as needed.