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Hi! All the mummies-to-be out there! You must be super excited about the most beautiful phase of your life. Isn’t that so? This beautiful part of your life comes with its share of struggles. You’ll be undergoing cramps, pain, swelling, vomiting, etc. While you must visit your healthcare practitioner on a daily or weekly basis to keep track of your pregnancy, you must also visit a physiotherapist to get some relief from the not-so-welcome signs and symptoms of your pregnancy.
However, here, a question should come to your mind – Is physiotherapy safe during pregnancy or not? To answer that question, physiotherapy is a part of medical science that studies the movement of every human being, and is a solution to many physical pregnancy problems.
So, what are the benefits of physiotherapy during pregnancy?
Physiotherapy Helps in Dealing with the Changes in Your Pregnant Body
From the first trimester of your pregnancy to the last, you’ll be undergoing several unimaginable bodily changes. Thanks to your soaring hormones, you’ll notice these changes in yourself. Your physiotherapist can help in easing the changes and strengthening the core.
Reducing Pain
Lower back pain and hip or pelvic pain are the most common symptoms of pregnancy. Moreover, as the baby develops and the centre of gravity shifts, you’re more likely to feel pain and strain in the upper and lower back parts of your body. That’s when physiotherapy comes into play. While getting physiotherapy done, your physiotherapist would use different types of prenatal massages to deal with your pain. He or she would also give some physical exercises to relax your muscles, joints, bones, and ligaments and keep them much more relaxed.
Boosting the Strength of the Pelvic Floor Muscles
With the progression of your pregnancy, you’d adapt your body to give birth to your baby. The pressure of the developing baby goes down the pelvic floor and makes it heavy. The reason your centre of gravity shifts, and the kidney works more, is to make you visit the washroom more often. Getting physiotherapy done can help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles.
Keeping You Ready for Labour
The pregnancy journey from the first trimester to the last is not all that hunky-dory. You’re, after all, nurturing another life inside you, and you’ll need a lot of strength to naturally induce labour and give birth to a baby. Your physiotherapist may advise you on finding a comfortable position while you’re in labour. In case you feel uncomfortable in a position you’re in, you might very well change your direction. That said, you can practice wide-ranging pelvic floor exercises to keep you ready for your labour, and meditation.
Physiotherapy Can Help You Come Back to Normal Activities After the Delivery of Your Baby
Just like your physiotherapist assisted you during your pregnancy, your physiotherapist will guide you after you’ve delivered your baby. Well! You can visit the physiotherapist 6 to 8 weeks after the delivery of the baby. The pelvic floor hasn’t been able to regain strength after childbirth, and pain isn’t completely undeniable. So, during the physiotherapy sessions, the physiotherapist would help you understand everything that is happening with your pelvic floor and help you plan a few postnatal exercises to reduce the pain.
So, if you’re one of those expecting a child, try to get the help of physiotherapy from the first trimester. Physiotherapy in the first trimester mostly focuses on your sitting and standing posture as well as some of your pre-existing musculoskeletal difficulties. By the time you hit the second trimester, with physiotherapy, you will improve your mobility and flexibility and strengthen the spine.
However, the moment you enter the third trimester of your pregnancy, breathing exercises and relaxation techniques in physiotherapy can help.