Women’s Health

Befit Physiotherapy has two fully equipped Physiotherapy Clinics run by experienced physiotherapists, conveniently located in Carlingford and Norwest.

We help women stay active and exercise safely through every stage of their pregnancy as well as assist with recovery from pregnancy and childbirth.

Our exercise-based rehabilitation programs are individualised and suitable for beginner to advanced athletes. We apply clinical and research findings that support specific assessments to identify the source of the problem and use best corrective exercises to maximise recovery and healing.

The whole-body assessment approach focuses on breathing, intra-abdominal pressure management, and entire kinetic chain to identify how the kinetic chain interacts with pelvic floor and core function, passive and dynamic posture, abdominal activation and doming, cross-body activation, myofascial slings, and movement in multiple planes. We help women:

• Begin a new exercise program safely during all stages of pregnancy
• Provide safe modification to existing exercise program during all stages of pregnancy to enable active pregnancy
• Manage gestational diabetes
• Safely commence and progress exercise post-partum
• Safe return to exercise or sport (running, jumping and other plyometric exercises) after pregnancy
• Treat pelvic floor and core dysfunctions

During pregnancy, the body goes through range of changes to accommodate development of the fetus. Some of the pre and post pregnancy changes that may result in musculoskeletal, pelvic floor and core dysfunction include:

Anatomical and Postural changes:

Some of the many causes include:

• The pelvis and lumbar spinal curve change with growing belly as the centre of gravity shifts.
• Ribs, thoracic spine, and diaphragm adapt to the growing belly that consequentially also alters breathing and core muscle engagement.
• Enlarged uterus that can cause elongation of the abdominal muscles and separation of the linea alba (midline fascia connecting abdominal muscles on either side).
• Growing belly weight and vaginal birth creates pressure on pelvic floor muscles and may lead to range of pelvic floor dysfunctions.
• Shoulder and neck posture changes with breastfeeding and can cause neck pain and headaches.

Hormonal changes:

• Symphysis pubic and sacroiliac joint are particularly affected as the ligaments become lax to allow for the birth of the baby. This is due to altered levels of relaxin, oestrogen, and progesterone during pregnancy.
• Increased connective tissue (ligaments) pliability also leads to reduced joint stability and increases risk of sprains.

Cardiovascular and respiratory changes:

• Increased demand on the cardiorespiratory systems to support fetal development.

These changes can be cause of a range of issues women experience during pregnancy and after birth. Equipped with deep understanding of physiological and anatomical processes of the body during pregnancy and postpartum, we offer evidence informed targeted approach and give women the care they deserve.

Some of the pelvic floor and core issues we treat are listed below :

• Diastasis of Rectus Abdominis
• Stress urinary incontinence (leaking when coughing or sneezing)
• Pelvic organ prolapse
• Leaking
• Hernias
• Sacroiliac joint pain
• Pubic symphysis joint pain