It doesn't matter how old or young you are,
we all reach a point where our
bodies just start to change,
especially for those who have had a child.
So tonight we are once again talking
about pelvic floor pain because it's
a very common medical issue that
goes overlooked for a lot of people.
So I wanted to share real stories of women
who have given birth because Women's Health,
it's not talked about enough.
So you're about to meet a mom
who is an occupational therapist.
She suffered from pelvic pain
during her pregnancy and wants women
to know that this is treatable.
And you don't have to suffer in
pain or be embarrassed.
Been a practicing occupational therapist
for 15 years, and the majority of that
time was spent in skilled nursing.
And then after having my own children,
then I made the switch to Women's Health,
to public health.
It kind of fell into my lap, really.
In a way. I had been interested in
postpartum care and birthing and Women's
Health since the birth of my daughter,
my first child. And just realizing
the void in care that I experienced,
not feeling like my needs had really
been met and not even being sure like,
what those needs were and not knowing,
you know, just it just feels
like totally vague and formless.
And you know,
you had a baby and now everyone cares
about the baby and you're like,
Oh yeah, you're there too, right?
It doesn't feel like the same level of
care that you get when you're pregnant.
It's present after birth.
At least it didn't for me.
So I definitely had some pain
during pregnancy.
I had pubic synthesis disorder,
which is when the front of your
pelvis shifts a little bit,
which can be very uncomfortable.
It can make walking painful,
standing on one leg painful.
So you trying to put on your pants,
trying to put on your shoes,
you just get this like sharp
pain in the front of your pelvis.
So I had that in both pregnancies and
didn't know that that's it's normal,
but it's something that.
Definitely treatable and you
don't have to suffer with.
And I just thought,
oh,
pregnancy aches and pains like
this is normal.
I completely wish that I had gone to
a public floor therapist to figure
out the pain issues during pregnancy.
I think sometimes the emotional impact
of Labor and delivery is something
that we kind of underestimate.
Every birth is different so that
you can't really ever anticipate
what's going to happen.
There's an emotional component to it
and a psychological component to it.
That I think can sometimes be
undervalued or under addressed as well.
I think is really important too,
that everybody understands.
There's no gold medal for having
a baby a certain way, right?
You have a baby vaginally.
You have a baby by C-section.
You have it with medication.
Without medication,
there's no easy way to have a baby.
And there's no best way to have a baby
except what's best for an individual person.
Everybody has different life
experiences coming into it and
therefore they have different needs.
And I think it's important that we,
you know, hold space where all those.
Different options and not,
you know,
make this image of what's the right way
to have a baby or what's a perfect birth.
You just have to,
you know,
do the best you can and then
have a little grace for yourself
that whatever it was,
you did it and you made it through.
And I do want to say a quick thank
you to the moms that I spoke with.
Hopefully other moms see this and
know that they're not alone either.
But if you do feel like you
have a pelvic floor disorder,
make sure that you contact your
healthcare provider so you can
get the healthcare that you need.
Now tomorrow we will continue
our Women's Health series and
you'll hear from Hinge health.
They are a Healthcare Group that is
really focused on offering access to
pelvic floor therapy care specifically.
And I sat down with them because recently
they launched a digital program that
focused specifically on this type of.
Treatment.
So I wanted to talk about pelvic floor
therapy because this is not a fringe issue.
It impacts one in four women,
one in four women.
So you probably know someone
who's suffering from this.
Hinge health says on average it
takes a woman 6 1/2 years to seek
care because they are led to believe
that what they're feeling is normal.
So we'll have more coming up tomorrow.