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– Hello, everyone. My name is Alison Ribeiro, and I am one of the pelvic health physiotherapists at Oona in the Newmarket location, and I am here to answer a question that we received from our Ask An Expert Campaign.
So the question was, “How long after giving birth should I attend a pelvic physio appointment, and if so, is that appointment virtual or in person?”
That is a fantastic question, and what we often recommend is that you wait for at least six weeks after delivery to come in for a pelvic health assessment. And that is regardless of whether it, the method of delivery. So whether it was vaginal or cesarean section, give yourself six weeks of healing time.
Okay? At that session, in that appointment, what we will go through is we’ll do a full, comprehensive assessment. Regardless of whether you’ve seen a pelvic physio before. So we will assess your movement patterns, your core, we will look at the pelvic floor as well specifically, and then help to determine the most appropriate exercises, to help you move forward in your road to recovery.
Now, if you are experiencing issues prior to that, you are more than welcome to come in, we just will not do any internal examination until after six weeks, okay?
We do want to make sure those tissues have a chance to heal. It is completely up to you if you would like to wait, and have your final appointment with your OB or midwife, your primary care practitioner for your pregnancy, to come in and see us, but you do not have to wait for that appointment. You are more than welcome to come see us prior to your final appointment with them if it happens to be delayed for one reason or another.
Okay? Now, with respect to whether this appointment will be in person or virtual, that is 100% up to you and your comfort level. Of course, if it is a virtual session, there won’t be any hands-on assessment or treatment at that time, however, we still can absolutely assess movement patterns, and walk you through how to assess your own core, and help to give you some strategies to help move you forward in your recovery.
That being said, the pelvic side of things, that will have to be a little bit more of a guessing game, right? Because we’re not able to most really accurately assess and determine the tension or relaxation or strength of your pelvic floor with a virtual session. So, yes, there are absolutely things that we can do virtually to help you move along your path in recovery, however, the most accurate and kind of gold standard of assessment that would mostly likely be an in-person session. But, again, if you’re not comfortable with that, that’s absolutely fine. So I hope that this helped to answer your question. Please reach out if you have any further questions, we are more than happy to help. Take care, see you later.
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Alison Ribero is a Physiotherapist here at Oona specialising in Pelvic and Orthopaedic care. She completed her Honour’s Bachelor of Kinesiology at McMaster University and her Master’s of Science in Physical Therapy at the University of Toronto. Alison is a firm believer in holistic care and the benefits of involving the health care team in each patient’s recovery.
