Postnatal Physiotherapy
Our Expert Women’s Health Physiotherapist can treat women with musculoskeletal pain and injury during and after pregnancy
Postnatal Physiotherapy Melbourne
At Northwest Physiotherapy Group, our Women’s Health Physiotherapist has undergone specific training to treat women who are experiencing musculoskeletal pain and injury. We offer both postnatal physiotherapy and prenatal physiotherapy.
We have a complete Women’s Health Physiotherapy service.
We pride ourselves on providing a safe and welcoming environment for you. We want to really understand where you are coming from and help you achieve the health goals that are important to you.
With detailed knowledge of every step of your journey, your pregnancy physio can help you resolve niggling pains and conditions so they don’t become persistent problems. The last thing you want is to be struggling with pain and injury once your baby arrives!
Nicole is our Women’s Health Postnatal Physio. Book an appointment with her below.
What is Postnatal Physiotherapy?
Postnatal physiotherapy is a type of specialized healthcare that helps women recover after giving birth. It involves exercises and therapies designed to address the physical changes and challenges that can occur in a woman’s body following pregnancy and childbirth.
After having a baby, a woman’s body goes through significant changes. These changes can include weakened abdominal muscles, pelvic floor issues, back pain, and posture problems. Postnatal physiotherapy aims to support and rehabilitate women during this period.
Postnatal physiotherapists, or pregnancy physios, work with new moms to:
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Strengthen Muscles: They help new moms regain strength in their abdominal and pelvic floor muscles, which can become weaker during pregnancy and childbirth. This helps improve core stability and overall strength.
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Improve Posture: Pregnancy can alter a woman’s posture, leading to discomfort and pain. Postnatal physiotherapy helps correct posture issues and alleviate pain.
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Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation: Many women experience pelvic floor problems after giving birth, such as incontinence (leakage of urine) or pelvic organ prolapse. Postnatal physiotherapy includes exercises to strengthen and restore the pelvic floor muscles.
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Pain Relief: Postnatal physios can provide techniques and exercises to relieve common post-birth discomforts like back pain and neck pain.
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Safe Return to Exercise: They guide women on when and how to safely resume physical activities and exercise routines after childbirth, ensuring that it’s done without causing harm.
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Breastfeeding and Feeding Posture: They offer advice on maintaining good posture while breastfeeding or bottle-feeding to prevent strain and discomfort.
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Education and Support: Pregnancy physios educate new moms about their bodies and offer emotional support during the postpartum period.
Why see a Pregnancy Physiotherapist?
There are so many body changes that women go through during pregnancy, both small and large.
- Did you know your ribs cage can widen? That your feet can get flatter and wider?
- Did you know the blood flow around the body slows down and you can get more swelling?
- Did you know that the level of estrogen produced in a woman’s body during pregnancy is the equivalent of the estrogen she will produce across her entire life?
- Did you know that exercising appropriately during pregnancy can make your labour shorter and reduce the risk of complications?
These are just some of the anatomical, hormonal, and physiological changes women go through in the antenatal period, which is why it’s important to see a physio who can support you through the expected body changes, as well as know when to refer on if there are any complications.
What Conditions Can Be Treated With Pregnancy Physiotherapy?
- Safe exercise during pregnancy
- Pelvic pain (including pubic pain and coccyx pain)
- Low back pain and sciatica
- Hip pain
- Upper back and rib pain
- Neck pain
- Hand and wrist pain, including carpal tunnel syndrome
- Round ligament pain
- Foot and arch pain, including tarsal tunnel syndrome (tingling/pain/numbness in foot)
- Abdominal wall separation postnatally (DRAM) and doming
- Postnatal safe return to sport and exercise
- Pain with breastfeeding (including breast mastitis)
- Posture advice for breastfeeding, pushing the pram, holding your baby, etc
Further reading: Physiotherapy Advice for After the Birth of Your Baby
What Treatment Does a Pregnancy Physiotherapist Use?
- Hands on treatment to release muscle trigger point, mobilise stiff joints, and resolve pain
- Neural glide treatment to reduce nerve irritation in the system – this can help alleviate muscle guarding, muscle spasm, and improve the response to treatment
- Targeted exercise to address muscle imbalances and weaknesses to prevent recurrence injury
- Posture correction to address poor postures that may be aggravating pain
- Advice and fitting for pregnancy belly belts and compression clothes
- Updates to your medical team to keep them in the loop with your health
We use a holistic whole body approach to systematically identify the cause of your problem and solve it. We aim for long-term solutions to pain, not band-aid fixes. At the end of the day, the health of you and your baby are our priority.
If you want to learn more, book in to see our Pregnancy Physio today.
How to book an appointment for pregnancy physiotherapy in essendon
The way we treat musculoskeletal injuries is different from other Melbourne pregnancy physiotherapists. With our unique approach, we can get you back on track quickly!
Call our postnatal physiotherapy Essendon clinic on (03) 9370 5654
With our experience, knowledge, networks and systems, we can achieve a fast and durable result for you.
Conditions Treated with Musculoskeletal Physio
lower back pain
neck pain
headaches and migraines
shoulder pain and rotator cuff tendinopathy
hip pain and gluteal tendinopathy
knee pain and ACL injuries
ankle pain and ligament sprains
elbow pain and tennis elbow
nerve-related conditions like sciatica and radiculopathy
post surgical rehab
groin pain treatment
hip soreness running
hip labrum tear treatment
tennis elbow essendon
hamstring tear
knee pain from running
pulled hamstring
hip labrum tear
golf elbow
