Post natal AssessmenT

The comprehensive check that all women should have access to after having a baby

every women following a vaginal or cesarean delivery should have access to a post natal check with a womens physiotherapist.

  • Advised from 6-8 weeks post natal but can be done at any stage thereafter

  • Completely different to your 6 week GP check

  • Focused on your recovery and any symptoms or concerns you have

  • You do not have to have any symptoms or concerns to get an assessment - a general check is a great idea to reduce the risk of issues now or later in life

  • Allows us to guide you in areas that may need to be worked on for daily living or returning to higher levels of exercise

  • Goal orientated and individualised

  • The assessment is comprehensive and ongoing so may require 1-2 sessions to assess the whole body as outlined below

  • We discuss the results of our assessments and devise a plan together, on the steps required to get you from where you are now, to your desired goal safely

what is assessed

  • A discussion around your pregnancy, delivery, lifestyle, health

  • Posture assessment

  • Spine mobility

  • Hip mobility

  • Ribcage and diaphragm

  • Abdominal muscles - checking for Abdominal separation / DRAM

  • Pelvic floor muscle assessment - strength, mobility, contraction technique

  • Scars - cesarean, episiotomy or perineal tears

  • Hip and abdominal muscle function

  • Any other physical problems related to your pregnancy and birth

Common issues post natally

While some of these issues may be very common, they are also treatable and shouldn’t be ignored:

  • Bladder incontinence

  • Bowel incontinence

  • Urgency or frequency

  • Prolapse

  • Diastasis Recti (DRAM) / abdominal separation

  • Decreased abdominal muscle strength

  • Decreased pelvic floor muscle strength

  • Painful or tight scars

  • Pelvic pain

  • Back pain

  • Coccyx pain

  • Wrist pain

  • Neck/shoulder pain

post natal rehab

Starting with the basics we need to make sure you can:

  • Move your diaphragm and ribcage well

  • Contract and relax your pelvic floor well

  • Connect to your abdominal muscles well

  • From here we then progress mobility, strength, endurance and power in all areas

Depending on your goals we need to individualise your rehab plan to match to your goals:

For example, someone who wants to return to running / weight lifting:

  • The current guidelines recommend that we wait 12 weeks prior to recommencing impact / lifting heavy to allow for natural healing time

  • In the mean time, we progressively load your body safely, ensuring good technique to reduce the pressure on healing abdominals and pelvic floor muscles

  • Once ready we can assess your biomechanics and perform specific readiness tests to guide your return to what you love doing!