4 Benefits to working with a team during pregnancy & postpartum

A month ago I made the big decision to register for Ironman Canada 2023. This was not an easy decision to make. Training for and competing in any big race/event is a big decision and huge commitment. And as I’ve started putting the puzzle pieces in place to make this goal become a reality, I’ve seen so many parallels to preparing for pregnancy, labor, birth and postpartum.

The first parallel - creating a team to support me in this mission.

Setting big goals and working towards them isn’t new to me. But this time I don’t want to tackle this huge event on my own. I’ve tackled half ironman and marathon training on my own. I’ve prepared for two pregnancies and births on my own. The difference here is that for the races, I new I could work with a team, I just thought I knew enough to be able to do it on my own. (You may be shocked to hear this, but I didn’t.) Whereas for labor, birth and postpartum, I didn’t even know there were professionals I could access to be on my team. I had my birth care provider and that was it and in hindsight, I could have benefited from the support of a team here too.

Today I want to share 4 benefits to working with a team during pregnancy and postpartum.

1. They are experts in their fields- Nobody can know everything about everything but each of us can be experts and great sources of information in particular fields. For example:

   • You are the expert on you, your body, your needs and what you are experiencing.

   • A pregnancy and postpartum coach is an expert in supporting you to move your body throughout the time.

   • A birth care provider, OB, Doctor, Midwife, is an expert at ensuring the safety of you and your baby.

   • A pelvic health physiotherapist is an expert on the pelvis and pelvic floor and the changes that happen during these chapters.

   • A mental health professional is an expert on your thoughts and what happens between your ears.

   • A doula is an expert in supporting you and making sure your needs are taken care of.

   • A dietician is an expert in ensuring your nutrition needs are being met.

   • A lactation consultant is an expert in all things breastfeeding.

   This is by no means an exhaustive list of professionals you may wish to assemble for your team but you can see how one person doesn’t cover all of your bases and each professional can play an important role during this chapter.

2. Your team wants you to succeed- When you work with a team, they are all rooting for you and it is their job to make sure that you feel supported, get your needs met and succeed in your endeavour. Why not surround yourself with people who are constantly cheering you on?

3. They can help take the guess work out of preparation - The internet, social media and google are full of information. So full that it can be hard to know where to look and how to tell if what you’re looking at is even accurate. When you have a team of professionals supporting you, they can be your first call when you have questions. They will provide you with accurate, up to date, information and options and help you to make the best decision for you

4. Accountability - Sometimes in order to be prepared or do our best, we have to do the hard things and put in some work. I don’t know about you, but if i’m left to my own devices those hard things are the first things to go or get skipped over. When you have a team they hold you accountable to make sure you are doing the hard things so you can show up and do your best when it’s time.

Given that everyone is different, each person’s team will look different. I personally like information and want to know everything, but I like to learn it from a trusted source. I also know that in order for me to feel calm and prepared, education and information is important. And in learning, it allows me to feel empowered and capable, which is exactly how I want to feel going into race day and how I wish I would have felt going into labor.

Kelsey, a pelvic health physiotherapist and co-creator of Birth Prep 2.0, and I believe that a team and learning from multiple perspectives is important when you’re preparing for labor, birth and postpartum, which is why we have included guest speakers and birth stories in our course. You get the opportunity to not only learn from us but also a Registered Psychologist, Registered Dietician, Lactation Consultant, Birth Doula, Anesthesiologist and Spinning Babies professional. Click Here to join us for our next session which starts October 5.

5 Ways a Pelvic Health Physiotherapist can Help you Prepare for Birth

Guest Post: Kelsey Bonafiglia (née Valentine), PT, M.Sc.PT

When I was pregnant with my children nobody talked about pelvic health. It wasn’t until a year after my second was born that I learned about how a pelvic health physiotherapist can help you recover postpartum and I would say it was a year after that that I learned all the magical ways a pelvic health physiotherapist can help you prepare for labor and birth. I honestly think that had I known about pelvic physio, I would have had a much different birth experience with both of my children.

Today I am so excited to welcome Kelsey Bonafiglia (née Valentine), a pelvic health physiotherapist and my partner in crime in Birth Prep 2.0, to share 5 ways pelvic health physiotherapists can help you prepare for birth.

Here’s what Kelsey wants you to know:

Many people know that seeing a pelvic health physiotherapist can be beneficial after your baby is born to help with bladder leakage, but did you know that there are several reasons that it may be beneficial to see a pelvic health physiotherapist DURING your pregnancy to help you prepare for your labour and delivery?

Here we go…

1. Reduced risk of more severe tearing during birth

2. Reduced risk of requiring an episiotomy

3. Reduced risk of perineal pain postpartum

4. Provide Pain management strategies for labour and delivery

5. Give feedback with pushing technique to ensure you’re not tightening your pelvic floor muscles

Not to mention, education, education, EDUCATION!

If this is all feeling a little bit overwhelming, we talk about these topics and so much more during our course, Birth Prep 2.0!

To learn more about Kelsey and to work with her, check out her instagram profile.

4 ways to use fitness to help you prepare mentally and physically for labor and birth

Giving birth is a physical event - so physical in fact that it has often been likened to running a marathon. When people sign up for a marathon they train for it, but how do you train for an event that might be longer than 24 hours?

Truth? You don’t. You can’t and you don’t need to. You educate yourself on what is happening in your body, you surround yourself with a support team, you learn how to leverage your body to help you birth your baby, you prepare mentally, you control what you can and you let the rest go. While we’re talking about this - these are all things we cover in Birth Prep 2.0. And in Strong Mom to Be, we give you opportunities to not only stay strong and move your body in ways that feel good, but we practice everything you learn in Birth Prep 2.0 too.

So today, I’ve got 4 ways you can use fitness to help you prepare mentally and physically for labor and birth.

1. Learn about your tendencies when things get hard. Often when we experience pain or discomfort, our natural reaction is to tense up. We clench our jaw, squeeze our hands and often our pelvic floor gets tight. During a vaginal birth, your baby is going to pass through your pelvic floor and it can make it easier on your uterus and baby if your pelvic floor is relaxed. So during a workout when we’re holding a plank or a squat or in the middle of a set and things get hard, we can start to learn what our initial reaction is and if it is too much tension, we can practice letting go of the tension that isn’t serving us and focus on sending that tension to places in our body that will help is in that moment.

2. Practice positive affirmations. We know labor and birth are hard. We know they are physical events. We also know they are mentally challenging events too. Fitness can give us an opportunity to develop our mental toughness. Many birthing people find positive affirmations helpful. Why not practice them throughout your pregnancy and in situations when we are challenged mentally and physically? When we are faced with a challenging set in our workout we can start to tune into the thoughts we have and the phrases we tell ourselves and practice different positive affirmations we think might work for us during labor and birth.

3. Learn how to relax your pelvic floor in different birth positions. This may come as a surprise but your uterus pushes your baby out and your pelvic floor just needs to get out of the way. And it just so happens it’s easier for your pelvic floor to get out of the way if it’s relaxed. Many people don’t know what this feels like or even how to accomplish this. This is why it can be beneficial to learn this during pregnancy and practice it in different birthing positions so it’s second nature when the time comes.

4. Tap into your breath. Much of pregnancy, labor and birth are out of your control but your breath is something you can control. It’s something that is constant and something you can focus on when things get hard. We can practice this during sets, through each movement and during rest periods. And by practicing this throughout pregnancy you are able to take advantage of this super tool during labor and birth.

There you have it, 4 quick ways you can prepare mentally and physically for labour and birth in Strong Mom to Be, an online, prenatal, strength and conditioning class that runs live, Saturday mornings at 10am EST. Grab a class pass or a membership to practice these tips and so much more. Head to LegitFit to create an account and register.