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.

5 tips, to find motivation to workout, for the busy mom

Whether you’re postpartum trying to figure out new mom life, a seasoned veteran with a million and one things on the go, newly pregnant and feeling the exhaustion and nausea, busy from the holiday hustle, trying to settle into a new routine after returning to work or feeling the slump from the cold and dark that has made its way into our world, I’ve got 5 tips to help you find a little time to move your body, get a little solo time and get those endorphins flowing.

1. Do 5 minutes: Set your timer for 5 minutes and just move. Maybe push play on a workout. Maybe choose your favorite strength movement and do 4x8 of that. Maybe turn on some music and dance. Maybe go for a walk around the block. The goal is to move until that timer goes off. Once you hear that buzzer stop and ask yourself how you feel. If you want to keep going, do another 5 or 10 minutes in the same manner. If you’ve had enough, cool. You’re done with no judgement because 5 minutes count.

2. Skip the warm-up: Make it easy! Nobody says you have to do a warm-up if you don’t want to. You have the freedom to skip it if that removes a barrier for you. And while we’re at it, feel free to skip the cool down too.

3. Stop, drop and go: Let’s remove even more barriers. Workout clothes, shoes, bras - they’re all optional. There are no rules saying you must be in a certain attire to move your body. If it works for you to set your clothes out or change into workout clothes, that’s awesome. If it’s a chore to change and the thought of changing is something you dread, remove that step and just move.

4. Enjoy it: It is so much easier to make time for something that brings you joy, especially when things get busy or hard or you are lacking motivation. If you think you “should” be running or lifting weights or doing a hiit workout but you actually dread that thing - don’t do it. Release those shoulds and move in a way that you enjoy.

5. Accountability can be a game changer: Find a friend to message or to meet up with, drag your partner along, join a class, register for a class, participate in the Christmas Cheer Up (Check out my instagram post for more about this). Nobody is internally motivated all the time. Sometimes a little external motivation is the little boost we need.

And if all else fails it might just be a sign that maybe in this season you need a little rest and that is also A-OK.

Give these tips a try and let me know which ones work for you. Sometimes we just need a little momentum to get us going or a little shift in routines and/or mindset. And if you ever want accountability, send me a message. I love hearing how you’re doing and celebrating the amazing things you’re doing and achieving. We are Stronger Together!

Jamie

Cherry Smoothie

I am loving all things cherries right now. They are on repeat on my oatmeal in the morning and in this delicious smoothie that I have multiple times a week.

Cherry Smoothie

Ingredients

1 cup frozen cherries

1/4 avocado

1 TBSP chia seeds

1 TBSP flax seeds

1 date

1 scoop collagen powder (optional)

1-2 cups coconut water

Directions

• Place ingredients into blender

• Blend until smooth

• Enjoy

Enjoy!