The Pelvic Health Podcast: Recent Episodes

Lori Forner

Podcast for professionals, as well as the general public, on all things related to pelvic health. Interviews with leading experts. Hosted by physiotherapist Lori Forner, BScH, MPhtySt, PhD candidate

Pelvic pain care doesn’t just involve patients learning to feel safe, it demands clinicians feel regulated too.

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr Thea Bowler, a gynaecologist and fertility specialist with advanced training in pelvic pain, pain management, and laparoscopic surgery. Thea combines evidence-based medicine with a compassionate, whole-person approach, helping patients and practitioners understand that true healing begins with safety and awareness of the nervous system.

Alongside her is Paula Hindle, a physiotherapist and educator known for her integrative, nervous-system-informed approach to pelvic health. Paula blends movement, breath, and body connection with trauma-informed care, helping women (and the clinicians who treat them) move from protection into trust and ease.

Together, this powerhouse duo from Vera Wellness discuss the nervous system’s role in pelvic pain, and how their new resource supports both patients and practitioners. We explore what it means for clinicians to regulate themselves, how that helps prevent burnout, and why our own state directly influences patient outcomes. Unfortunately we are missing the wonderful Dr. Peta Wright, who is part of this brilliant team and founder of Vera.

This conversation is for anyone treating or living with pelvic pain — and for every practitioner who needs the reminder that you can’t pour from an empty cup.

Vera Education Links here

On this episode of The Pelvic Health Podcast we were joined by Dr Laura Whitburn, Senior Lecturer and researcher at La Trobe University, to explore The Meaning of Labour Pain and the groundbreaking research behind it. Dr Whitburn’s work reframes labour pain—showing that the way women interpret and give meaning to pain during childbirth plays a pivotal role in their experience and coping, and that pain perceived as purposeful and productive is often associated with greater resilience and more positive outcomes. Drawing on qualitative studies and contemporary pain science, she highlights how social context, mindset, and supportive care can shape women’s pain experiences in labour. Tune in to hear her insights on how this research can empower women and inform more woman-centred approaches to childbirth.

Enjoy!! And find her research here: Dr Laura Whitburn

Part 2 is finally ready for everyone to listen to - or watch on YouTube!

If you haven't listened to or watched Part 1, head back catch up, this is our continued conversation. Jo, Tam and myself dive further into my PhD studies - looking at pelvic floor symptoms between women doing CrossFit and women only running, objectively assessing pelvic floor support in supine versus standing, and more of the ins and outs of a PhD.

We also discuss some more benefits of transperineal ultrasound in the clinic. For more info on learning this:

Lori's online courses HERE

Tam's wonderful PELVIC HEALTH COMMUNITY

Jo: The Physiotherapy Clinic

Lori's PhD THESIS!!!!

Enjoy!

🎙️ NEW EPISODE ALERT! 🎙️

We're thrilled to share our conversation with Alison Deslandes, specialist sonographer and endometriosis researcher, who's breaking down the game-changing role of ultrasound in endometriosis detection. If you are missing out on the current action at the World Congress on Endo, catch her here and stalk her on insta.

✨ In this episode, we dive into:

How specialized ultrasound is revolutionizing endo diagnosis
Australia's new Medicare rebate for endometriosis investigations (finally!)
Why seeking out specialist ultrasound clinics makes all the difference for accurate assessment

For too long, women have been told their pain is "normal" or that nothing shows up on standard scans. Alison explains why specialized training and dedicated endo ultrasound clinics are crucial for getting the answers women deserve.

This is essential listening for anyone navigating an endo diagnosis, supporting someone who is, or working in women's health. Knowledge is power, and proper diagnosis is the first step toward better care.

Link in bio to listen now! 🎧

Find Ali:

https://aliultrasound.com.au/

https://www.instagram.com/aliultrasound/

https://imagendo.org.au/

EndometriosisAwareness #WomensHealth #Ultrasound #MedicareRebate #EndoWarrior #PodcastEpisode #HealthAdvocacy #SpecialistCare #DiagnosisMatters #Australia

In Part 1 of this special series, Jo and Tam flip the script and interview the newly Dr. Lori Forner about her PhD research on exercise-based heavy lifting, pelvic organ support, and the use of transperineal ultrasound in physiotherapy.

We explore her research, specifically exercise-based heavy lifting and pelvic organ support in Part 1 where the next episode (Part 2) discusses the use of transperineal ultrasound in physiotherapy and her research exploring assessment positions.

💡 Grounded in evidence, clinically relevant, and just the beginning...

🎥 And we’re now on YouTube! You can watch this episode there too!

Don't forget about the upcoming PB Conference in Sydney, June 13, 2025. Check it out HERE and register!

We are back for 2024 (better late than never) with an interesting talk about female genital cutting (previously known as FGM - female genital mutilation) with Dr Greg Jenkins.

Today’s episode is a tough but important episode. We discuss female genital cutting previously known as female genital mutilation in Australia. We have had the absolute privilege of talking to Dr Greg Jenkins, who was an OBGYN at Auburn hospital when they were first confronted with women in labour who had immigrated from countries where this cultural tradition continues. They looked around for pregnancy and birth guidelines for this population of women but couldn’t find any, so went about creating them, with some exceptional outcomes for these women.

Dr Jenkins currently heads up Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Westmead Public hospital in Sydney, and works privately at Norwest Private hospital in Sydney. We are very grateful for his time. https://ranzcog.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Female-Genital-Mutilation-FGM.pdf

We had a brilliant chat with Dr Stephanie Pirotta about PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) and the role of lifestyle interventions to manage the chronic illness. This episode was meant to be aired before the PB Endo Conference, where Dr Pirotta presented a wonderful talk, however Lori's life was crazy and she just couldn't pull it together and get it out there in time. Apologies! But this episode is such a great listen. Dr Stephanie Pirotta is an accredited Dietician, Nutritionist and Researcher - She has a PhD in PCOS and doing post-doctoral work at Monash University in the space of diet, PCOS, endometriosis and fertility. Stephanie is the founder of Womanly Nutrition and Dietetics in Melbourne. Enjoy! Check out her research here: Publications

Today’s episode discusses the deeply sensitive topic of stillbirth. We understand that discussing this subject can be distressing or triggering for those who have experienced loss, are currently dealing with pregnancy complications, or are currently pregnant.

In this episode, we chat with a long-time physiotherapy colleague and friend of Lori's, Heidi Mules. She shares her personal story about the birth of her daughter Sophie, risks for stillbirth, better communication during and after pregnancy, and healing.

You can read more about Heidi's story here

Please use the following resources to help you and others:

Sands - miscarriage, stillbirth and newborn death support

Still Aware - prevention-focused charity

CRE Safer Baby Bundle - for clinicians

Precious Wings - memory boxes

Born Ready

What is the vagus nerve? What is the polyvagal theory? Why should we care? Isn't it controversial? The one and only, Michelle Lyons, will answer these questions and sooooo much more on this episode (think: behaviour change for patients, how do we as clinicians avoid burnout, etc).

For those of you who have been listening to this podcast, you will be very familiar with previous episodes on menopause and endometriosis. You will also be familiar with her generosity - and keeping in line with that, she is giving listeners a 20% discount on her online courses until the end of August 2023 - use the code "Phpodcast" !!!

Michelle's Website and PODCAST

The Pelvic Health Community - JOIN US NOW!

PB Endo Conference 2023

In The Clinic today with Jo: palpating and cueing EUS (external urethral sphincter).

Don't forget about the upcoming Brisbane Endo conference in October - tickets selling faaaaaast:

PB Endo conference!!!!

And of course checking out The Pelvic Health Community!!!!:

https://the-pelvic-health-community.mn.co/share/M6n01bTZgpvV9J1s?utm_source=manual

The paper Jo is discussing:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30870081/

For extra knowledge in this area, you can learn from us here...

Online:

2D Transperineal Ultrasound in Females: A tool for pelvic floor physios

Face-to-face:

2D Transperineal Ultrasound Skills Workshop 2D Transperineal Ultrasound in Females: A tool for pelvic floor physios

This episode welcomes back to the pod, the wonderful Dr. Jennifer Kruger, who was on the podcast in 2018 discussing the vaginal pressure profile and the early work behind JunoFem and the FemFit – the focus on today’s episode.

She is a wealth of knowledge, has a PhD in Sport and Exercise Science, 15 years of clinical experience in nursing and midwifery, and now the CEO and Co-founder of JunoFem – a medtech company on a mission to free women from the stigma of urinary incontinence.

Listen in as we discuss some of her research that led her to design the FemFit in addition to how it works and what it does. A revolutionary little device that is unlike any other.

Links to some things we discuss:

The Pelvic Health Community

Getting the FemFit here from Fiona!

PB Endometriosis Conference in Brisbane

ICS Conference in the T-dot 2023 - join us!!!!

We are adding some new information to The Pelvic Health Podcast. Our expert interviews will continue but in between them, we will now have some shorter episodes on useful clinical ideas for assessment and treatment.

Today it's the ever-growing interest in transperineal ultrasound and I (Lori) share some tips.

PB Endo conference!!!!

For extra knowledge in this area, you can learn from us here...

Online:

2D Transperineal Ultrasound in Females: A tool for pelvic floor physios

Face-to-face:

2D Transperineal Ultrasound Skills Workshop2D Transperineal Ultrasound in Females: A tool for pelvic floor physios

THE Taryn Hallam (physiotherapist, educator and WHTA founder) joins the podcast in this episode to bust some big myths about pelvic floor dysfunction.

Myths she addresses include:

The Oxford scale as a measure of PFM strength
Levator ani muscle function as a major factor in stress urinary incontinence
Detrusor overactivity and overactive bladder as the same thing
Caffeine as a major bladder irritant
Relaxin as the cause of ligament laxity in pregnancy
Are crunches bad for the pelvic floor?

And more!

For those of you who don't know Taryn Hallam, she is one of the most brilliant women we know. Not only does she run the most comprehensive education on the pelvic floor in Australia through WHTA, she now travels world-wide and online to share this. The annual research updates are insanely popular and not to be missed. (No, this is not an ad or paid).

Hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did.

Pelvic floor physiotherapist, and recently awarded Order of Australia Medal, Sue Croft is joining us today to talk about longevity in physiotherapy profession. Given her extensive experience and contribution in this field for over 30 years, who better to talk to about avoiding burnout from our clinical and educational loads.

Sue then turns the mic on me (Lori) to discuss my chosen professional pathway of a PhD, which leads to some great conversations.

Hope you enjoy our chat and below are some resources we discuss:

Sue's books: Pelvic Floor Recovery: Physiotherapy for Gynaecological Repair Surgery, Pelvic Floor Essentials

Sue's blog: a must read!

WHTA courses

The Physiotherapy Clinic Education - which will be changing names soon

The brilliant Nat McConachie

APA course for pelvic health

Join us for the fantastic insight into Dr. Rachel Worman's work trying to disentangle the great web of confusion around pelvic floor muscle tone.

Rachel has taken a deep dive into all the research looking into high tone/overactive/hypertonic pelvic floor muscles and its relationship with symptoms, and produced for us all a systematic review. She has been working with the team at the University of Queensland, including Ryan Stafford and Paul Hodges, and recently produced this epic piece of brilliance:"Evidence for pelvic floor muscle increased tone/overactivity in pelvic health conditions?: a systematic review” Rachel is a fellow MSK and pelvic health clinician and researcher. She too has been trying to understand the difference in “types of tone” in the pelvic floor muscles and how this relates to symptoms. Rachel has a Bachelor or Science, Biopsychology, Masters in Physical Therapy, Doctorate in Physical Therapist and current PhD Candidate at the University of Queensland. We hope this episode helps you get some clarity around pelvic floor muscle activity and tone and how we can better describe, measure, and treat those with issues surrounding greater or increased tone. Thanks for listening. Lori, Tam and Jo

This is our special holiday episode on vulnerability. One of our fav podcasts, The Imperfects @theimperfectspodcast, do a great segment called “Vulnerabili-tea” and we jumped on this and decided to call ours “Vulva-bility”.

Jo, Tam, and I take you on a vulnerability episode where we answer the following questions:

If you could tell your younger self some advice, what would it be?What do you want to give, create, be, feel, or share?What things in your past have shaped the way you see things now or go about your life?

We also share our own issues with our pelvic floor and how it has shaped some of our clinical work.

I loved this episode. It was fun and insightful and lovely to share.

Please note, they’re a couple swear words so warning before you listen with your kids.

Links:

Lori's online intro transperineal ultrasound course is here

Brisbane transperineal ultrasound workshops here (with Lori)

Sydney transperineal ultrasound workshops here (with The Physiotherapy Clinic)

Put the date in your calendar: Oct 27, 2023 for the PB Endo conference in Brisbane

Pelvic floor physiotherapist, National level weightlifter, and PhD candidate, Christina Prevett, is here to discuss her recently published journal article titled "Impact of heavy resistance training on pregnancy and postpartum health outcomes", authored by Christina Prevet, Miranda L. Kimber, Lori Forner, Marlize de Vivo, and Margie H. Davenport.

LINK TO READ PAPER HERE: https://rdcu.be/cY0e2

This episode she dives into the paper, heavy weightlifting during pregnancy, what is and should be a "valsalva" for weightlifting, and much more.

Join us for a great conversation on a much needed topic.

For more on Christina:

https://thebarbellmamas.com/

https://www.staveoff.ca/about/

https://twitter.com/c_prevett?lang=en

https://www.instagram.com/christina_prevett/?hl=en

We are incredibly honoured and privileged to have had the opportunity to chat with Eloise Wellings, who generously shares her incredible story of triumphs and set-backs. Eloise’s story has examples of all health issues facing female athletes, from eating disorders, menstrual dysfunction and RED-s, to pregnancy and exercise and returning to sport post partum. Eloise Wellings is one of Australia’s most inspiring female athletes. She has been running since she was 10 years old, followed her dreams and competed for Australia in 2 Olympic Games in middle distance running. Eloise has also competed in multiple Commonwealth Games, most recently placing 4th in the marathon in Birmingham. You can learn more about Eloise on her website https://www.eloisewellings.com.au

Eloise has also become a sound mentor for younger runners, and as part of helping them thrive has teamed up with mental skills coach Rory Darkins in their very own podcast “Whats right within” - we highly recommend the episode on How to Optimise Stress and Recovery. To impress you even more, and keep everything in perspective, Eloise is co-founder of the Love Mercy Foundation. The foundation exists to empower communities in Northern Uganda to overcome poverty. We hope you enjoy listening to this podcast as much as we did interviewing Eloise. For those who would like more information on the modules the AIS have produced to help women understand RED-s, and much much more, Here is the link https://www.ais.gov.au/fphi/education

You will love listening to Jodie Dakic, an amazing physiotherapy clinician and researcher. Her clinical experience in elite sport is inspiring, not to mention she has almost finished her PHD investigating pelvic floor symptoms, sport and exercise.

Jodie lectures at Monash University in the department of physiotherapy, she co-directs the curriculum of physiotherapy program and women's and men's pelvic health stream. Jodie spent 14 years with Women’s Tennis Association, travelling around the world with the elite athletes, currently they are lucky to have her as a research consultant. Jodie has also worked with Australian junior softball team and the Victoria softball teams. Jodie now works clinically fusing her sports and pelvic health knowledge. Jodie has combined her extensive clinical experience in elite female sport and pelvic health physiotherapy, to devise her research questions regarding the impact of pelvic health conditions on women participating in sport and exercise. Jodie shares her insights from her extensive research in this area. Statistics we all need to know! Jodie is on a mission to solve the pelvic health problems limiting females exercising. Links to research https://www.jospt.org/doi/full/10.2519/jospt.2021.10200 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S144024402100147X

Amelia "Millie" Mardon is a full time PHD student at The University of South Australia working to improve our understanding of persistent pelvic pain. Millie and her amazing colleagues have published a systematic review of the efficacy of self management strategies for females with endometriosis, and more recently a systematic review on the treatment recommendations for the management of persistent pelvic pain. She shares with us the insights she has learnt from her research, and how we can benefit from these as clinicians. She has a vision to write an “Explain Pain” style book for women with persistent pelvic pain - which we wait for excitedly. We loved talking to Millie and we hope you enjoy the show. Jo, Tam, and Lori Other links: "The accessibility of physiotherapy for adolescents with persistent pelvic pain: a qualitative study", Mardon et al PDF "Persistent pelvic pain – what do the guidelines recommend?" Blog with Millie Mardon and Hayley Leake (who should know who she is if you live in Australia 🤣) Pain Adelaide - link not working for 2022 yet! So this one is 2019 Thanks to our episode sponsor, the lovely team at Empowered Motherhood Program

Dr Margie Davenport is an Associate Professor at The University of Alberta where her areas of research including investigating the maternal-fetal transmission of chronic disease and exploring the role of exercise in pregnancy as a preventative strategy in the development of chronic disease. Margie and her team are sure shaking up our thoughts on type and intensity of exercise in pregnancy and reframing our mindset from "can exercise in pregnancy be harmful?" to - "Not participating in exercise in pregnancy IS harmful".

Todays’ episode, she joins us to discuss the new exercises guidelines in pregnancy and how they were developed. In addition, Margie shares with us the findings of her new qualitative research on the experiences of pregnancy and motherhood for Elite Female Athletes. We had a great time talking to Margie and we hope you enjoy the episode. Thank you to our episode sponsor: Empowered Motherhood Program You can learn more about Margie and links we discuss:

The Get Active Questionnaire for Pregnancy https://csep.ca/2021/05/27/get-active-questionnaire-for-pregnancy/ - (For fellow nerds, this is how it was developed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35442812/) Margie's research (Google scholar link) Website: www.exerciseandpregnancy.ca Facebook: Program for Pregnancy and Postpartum Health Twitter: @ExercisePreg Instagram: @exerciseandpregnancy YouTube: Program for Pregnancy and Postpartum Health

Dr Rachel Harris is a Sport & Medicine Physician, Chief Medical Officer for the Australian Paralympic Team for the Tokyo games, and Chief Medical Officer for the Australian Water Polo Team. She is also the Project Lead for the AIS Female athlete performance and health, menstrual cycle and hormonal contraception project. Oh and an Olympian.

Today's episode she joins Jo, Tam and I to discuss the upcoming Women In Sport Congress in Melbourne at the MCG on Aug 17-19, 2022 - a conference not to be missed, with free childcare, sponsored by Brukner & Khan (yep, THE Brukner and Khan from Clinical Sports Medicine. The book that got us all through ;) Rachel shares her background, details about the conference, details about the AIS female pelvic health initiative, and some more cool projects on the way. For those of you who can get to the MCG, be there.

Rachel's Twitter Account

Yes it's still me, Lori, and yes it's still The Pelvic Health Podcast but I have new friends to hang out with and interview with and chat with and we will have so much more fun to come. Listen up, enjoy the fresh voices, and laugh with us while you get to know a little bit more about us all ❤️

Steph Paplinskie is a prenatal and postpartum fitness specialist, strength and conditioning coach, PhD candidate in the Exercise and Pregnancy Lab at Western University and international lecturer. Her research investigates the effects of physical activity and exercise training interventions on pregnant and postpartum women. She also runs her own business StrongHer Fitness and is passionate about sharing the science of pregnancy with moms around the world through Precision Pregnancy. Please fill out (if you are eligible) and share this link for her current study "Postpartum Physical Activity, Pelvic Floor Dysfunction, and Depressive Symptoms (PADDS) Study" https://uwo.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4GZaX8iDAQKkN81 Enjoy our chat about her research on exercise adherence in postpartum mothers. And a big thank you to this episode's sponsor (and my favourite resource for pregnant and postnatal/postpartum patients): The Empowered Motherhood Program

Today’s episode for is for all you pelvic pain nerds out there. I bring you a brilliant discussion I had with pelvic floor physio, Katie Kelly, on the concepts of graded motor imagery for pelvic pain.

Katie Kelly is a pelvic floor physiotherapist from New Brunswick, Canada. She graduated from the MSc PT program at Dalhousie University in 2010 and has been working with pelvic floor patients for over a decade. She opened her private physiotherapy practice in 2017, and co-opened ReConnect Health Centre, a women’s focused multidisciplinary health clinic in June 2020. Katie is a guest lecturer at Dalhousie University’s School of Physiotherapy where she lectures on the topics of pregnancy and pelvic floor physiotherapy. Katie is an active contributing author to the Canadian Physiotherapy Association’s Women’s Health Division Newsletter. She has a passion for Cesarean section rehabilitation education, recently presented on this topic for the Canadian Physiotherapy Association and teaches a professional course on the subject. Katie has developed a relationship with Mount Allison University’s Sexual Health Lab where she contributes to research involving genital pain conditions. Recently, Katie has launched The Vulvar Image Collection; a resource of vulvar images used in research and education. You can find Katie in the community supporting the role of physiotherapy in pelvic health conditions, or on social media advocating for pelvic floor physiotherapy awareness.

Website: www.katiekellypt.ca, www.reconnecthealth.ca

Facebook: Katie Kelly Physiotherapy

Instagram: @ptkatiekelly

Tiktok: @katiekellypt

Website for The Vulva Image Collection: https://embodiaapp.com/courses/1211-resource-package-the-vulvar-image-collection-katie-kelly-pt

Promo code: pelvichealthpodcast25 Good until August 1, 2022

GMI http://www.gradedmotorimagery.com

Joelene Murdoch, who is a MSK and women’s health physiotherapist and one of the directors of The Physiotherapy Clinic, joins the podcast to talk about an upcoming conference you are all invited to called Paving the Best way Forward for the Female Athlete taking place in Sydney on May 13, 2022. This conference is for anyone interested in in female athletes, sports physicians, physios, S&C coaches, AEPs, coaches and more. There is the potential for online access at a later date - listen up and stay tuned. Hope to see you there!

Details HERE

Emma Brockwell is a pelvic health physiotherapist, an advocate, an educator, a runner, a podcast host, a mum, and an author. She is brilliant and up to date with evidence around the pelvic floor, yet she still struggled at first to find answers to unexplained symptoms...of perimenopause.

In today's episode, Emma so kindly shares her journey of early onset perimenopause, what she discovered in the research, and what has helped her.

Web: https://www.physiomum.co.uk

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/physiomumuk/

"Why Did No One Tell Me?" Book https://www.physiomum.co.uk/my-book

Runnung Guidelines https://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2019/05/20/ready-steadygo-ensuring-postnatal-women-are-run-ready/

At Your Cervix Podcast https://www.physiomum.co.uk/podcast

PelvicRoar

Active Pregnancy Foundation

Preparing for the perimenopause and menopause

Balance app https://www.balanceapp.com

Welcome to this international party episode of The Pelvic Health Podcast.

Movers & Mentors is a new book by physiotherapists Tim Reynolds and Bryan Guzski featuring the thoughts and advice from leaders in physiotherapy and movement science - a book in which I was asked to contribute to along with absolutely brilliant names, including both Julie Wiebe and Sandy Hilton.

Tim Reynolds asked to interview me about some of my answers to very cool questions in this book and I thought it would be more fun to have Julie and Sandy join, and decided to make it even more international and exciting by inviting another brilliant physio representing the Pelvic Obstetric & Gynaecological Physiotherapy group - Biljana Kennaway.

I hope you all enjoy!!!!

Find the book HERE

Bios via link on the names above :)

Bios:

Bryan Guzski PT, DPT, OCS, MBA, CSCS (couldn't party with us for this episode) is an outpatient orthopaedic physical therapist practicing in Rochester, NY working primarily with patients with spine related issues and persistent pain. Bryan earned his Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Ithaca College in 2014, completed an orthopaedic residency program through Cayuga Medical Center in 2015 and received his Orthopaedic Clinical Specialist certification, and earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Simon Business School at the University of Rochester in 2021.

Tim Reynolds PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Anatomy & Physiology at Ithaca College and a part-time physical therapist practicing at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca, NY where he predominately treats patients with spine or lower extremity impairments. Tim earned his Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Ithaca College in 2014 and completed both his orthopaedic residency and spine fellowship through Cayuga Medical Center, and currently helps mentor and teach in both of these programs as well.

Movers & Mentors: Leaders in Movement Science Share Tips, Tactics, and Stories

I reached out to Lyz Evans and Kimmy Smith to to tell me about the Empowered Motherhood Program because I have watched them work tirelessly to create such a comprehensive and brilliant program and I think everyone needs to know about it. And a side note, this is NOT a paid advertisement. I just believe in this and wish I had their collective brains :).

Lyz Evans is a co-founder of the Empowered Motherhood Program, an APA titled Womens and Pelvic Health Physiotherapist, with over 17 years experience in both the public and private sector. She is the founder of Women in Focus Physiotherapy in Sydney, and spent over 10 years working at the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney in Maternity, Oncology and Gynaecology.

Lyz completed her Womens Health Masters through Curtin University in 2017, and as apart of her Masters has published clinical research in the International Urogynecology Journal reporting on the multifaceted longer term impacts to a woman of sustaining an Obstetric Anal Sphincter injury.

She is also a busy mum to three young children and has an unwavering passion for armouring women with quality information to enable them to make better choices for their health.

Kimmy Smith is the co-founder of the Empowered Motherhood Program. She is a pregnancy and postnatal exercise specialist, maternal health advocate and a proud Mum to three little girls. Kimmy was a former professional athlete and corporate lawyer. She played at the elite level for over 10 years, representing the NSW Swifts and was a member of the Australia Diamonds Squad. Drawing from her experience as a professional athlete, Kimmy is passionate about supporting women to feel strong during their pregnancy and to return to exercise in a safe and positive way after birth.

Health care professionals listening to The Pelvic Health Podcast can use the link to access:

Two Week Free Trial for Health Care Professionals.
Links to our Find a Physio page where they can list their clinic and reach our members.
EMP Member Pathway
List of Included Content.
Testimonails from Women’s Health Physiotherapists using the program.

https://www.empoweredmother.com.au/the-EMP-for-Health-Professionals

Other links:

WHTA - Women's Health Training Associates

ICS 2021 Melbourne (online)

To address long hospital waitlists and improve patient access to care for pelvic floor conditions such as #incontinence and #prolapse , physiotherapy-led pelvic health clinics were introduced as a new model of care for gynaecology, urogynaecology and colorectal patients. Two physiotherapists involved in the evolution of this model of care are Jenny Nucifora and Janelle Greitschus (bios below). In this episode, they explain how this model was developed, the research supporting it's positive impact, and the role and pathway for advance practice physiotherapists in this setting.

Bios:

Jenny Nucifora is the Clinical Lead Physiotherapist in the Physiotherapy Led Pelvic Health Clinic at Gold Coast Health. This part time primary contact role within the urogynaecology team Clinic, was established in December 2016, to provide timely conservative management interventions as part of a strategy to reduce the urogynaecology waiting lists. Jenny continues to work part time in her private practice, Focus On Women Physiotherapy, at Benowa, Gold Coast, Queensland. She has been a Women’s Health physiotherapist for more than 25 years. Her research interests are in improving care of women with urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, and the development of women’s health physiotherapists.

Janelle Greitschus is a clinical lead physiotherapist in the Pelvic Health Clinic at the QEII Jubilee Hospital, Metro South, Brisbane. This is a part time primary contact role associated with the Gynaecology, Urogynaecology, Urology and Colorectal Departments of this hospital. This clinic was established in 2016 and is designed to reduce the waiting lists of those clinical specialties by providing conservative care for patients with pelvic floor dysfunction prior to them seeing a medical specialist. Conditions included are: urinary or faecal incontinence, urogenital or rectal prolapse, obstructed defaecation or constipation. This provides a streamlined model of care following evidence based practice.

Janelle continues to work at Results Physiotherapy Private practice part-time, treating patients with pelvic floor dysfunction.

Janelle has a sessional teaching role at the Griffith University, Gold Coast and Nathan campuses teaching continence and Womens health physiotherapy in the Undergraduate and Masters of Physiotherapy programmes.

Janelle has been involved in teaching the Assessment and Treatment of the Pelvic Floor Course offered by the APA since the late 1990s until the recent introduction of the Womens, Men’s and Pelvic Health level 1 and 2 courses. She has been part of the successful research grant application “To assess the success and acceptability of a physiotherapy management program to treat urinary incontinence in indigenous women in a community based indigenous health service.”

Research:

Jenny - ResearchGate, email: jennifer.nucifora@health.qld.gov.au

Do patients discharged from the physiotherapy-led pelvic health

clinic re-present to the urogynaecology service? May 2021

Outcomes of a physiotherapy-led pelvic health clinic.

Patient Perceptions of a Group-Based Lifestyle Intervention for Overweight Women with Urinary Incontinence: A Qualitative Descriptive Study

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a very common condition involving urinary urgency, with or without incontinence, plus frequency and nocturia. In this episode, urogynaecologist Dr. Kerac Falk joins me to discuss general information on overactive bladder (OAB) with a focus on the medical treatment options - particularly involving recent research he has worked on as part of a team regarding very common anticholinergic medication for OAB and evidence of potential dementia risk.

Dr. Kerac Falk is a urogynecologist (Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgeon), and recently accepted an Assistant Professor of Urogynecology position at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. He has been involved in researching recurrent UTIs, biofilm, fluid dynamics and our focus for today’s episode was based on his research as part of a founding member of the "Fellows OAB Taskforce for Treatment accessibility” advocacy group.

Dr. Falk will be starting to see patients at his new practice in August 2021. You can find him through his new website (keracfalkmd.com) and a professional Instagram (@keracfalkMD) and Twitter (@KeracFalkMD).

Recent OAB publications include:

Menhaji K, Cardenas-Trowers OO, Chang OH, Hall EF, Ringel NE, Falk K. Anticholinergic Prescribing Pattern Changes of Urogynecology Providers in Response to Evidence of Potential Dementia Risk. Int. Urogynecol.J. Accepted for publication 1/2021, available online 3/2021, pending print.
Escobar C, Falk K, Mehta S, et al. Rethinking Second-Line Therapy for Overactive Bladder to Improve Patient Access to Treatment. Obstet. Gynecol. 2021 Mar;137:1-8.
Johnson TM, Goode PS, Hammontree L, Markland AD, Vaughan CP, Ouslander JG, Falk K, McGwin G, Burgio KL. An Exploratory Analysis of Tamsulosin for Overactive Bladder (OAB) in Men With Varying Voiding Symptom Burden. Urology. 2021 Jan 20:S0090-4295(21)00085-6.
Bennett AT, Ringel NE, Menhaji K, Brown OE, Hall EF, Cardenas-Trowers OO, Falk K, Jeney SES, Barnes H, Escobar C, Tellechea LM, Sappenfield EC, Mehta S, Chang OH. "First, Do No Harm"-Trainees' Observation of Risk Reduction in the Treatment of Overactive Bladder. Female Pelvic Med Reconstr Surg. 2021 Jan 1;27(1):2-4.

Enjoy and thanks again to Always Discreet for sponsoring this episode!

The International Continence Society Podcast is coming!

On behalf of the ICS Institute of Physiotherapy, I had the pleasure of interviewing Professor Paul Hodges for Episode 1 on Balancing Mobility and Stability within the #pelvicfloor and am excited to be able to share some of it here first. This episode on The Pelvic Health Podcast is only half of our discussion - you can catch the entire episode as of June 1 (2021) on the new ICS Podcast through their website and all major podcast platforms like iTunes and Spotify. The ICS Podcast series line-up is not to be missed and aims to highlight the amazing speakers in pelvic health that will be presenting at this year’s ICS Virtual Conference on October 14-17.

So sit back and get ready to be floored by only some of the wisdom of Prof Paul Hodges on concepts and research on pelvic floor muscle stiffness, movement, pain, strength and so much more. Don't forget to look for the new ICS Podcast in June to listen to the rest of this episode and so much more!

Thank you to Always Discreet for sponsoring this episode of The Pelvic Health Podcast.

Liz Lush is a Brisbane physiotherapist and clinical lead at Mummy and Co Physiotherapy and Fitness, childbirth educator and tutor for physiotherapy students, and a mother of 4 children. Today she shares her journey (21 days post surgery at the time of recording this) for her large #diastasis or often called #DRA or #DRAM. For previous episodes covering more on DRA research and practical exercise tips, check out the previous episodes (click on the links) with Dr David Larson in July 2020 and physiotherapist Lashonda Jones in Sept 2020

In addition to treating women with DRA for years, Liz not only had a large DRA, she had a ventral hernia, and discusses the different kinds of surgeries and how her journey led her to make the surgical decision. She has such an interesting perspective as both a clinician and a patient.

Follow her visual journey on Instagram at MummyandCoPhysio

Listen and enjoy and a big thanks to Always Discreet for sponsoring this episode of The Pelvic Health Podcast. Head to Always Discreet to learn more about bladder leak tips, management and incredible bladder leakage protection!

Please rate and leave a review on the Apple Podcast app so more people can find it and share on any social media platform, or just with your mates.

Today is an extra special episode! We have physiotherapist Cath Willis back (go find the episode on breast health from April 2018) to talk about #bladder leakage, or technically known as urinary incontinence. She breaks down the types and causes for urinary #incontinence, what physiotherapists look for as part of assessment and ways we can help treat this, as well as understanding the importance bladder leak protection products such as Always Discreet.

Not only is Cath a wealth of clinical knowledge in her roles as a pelvic health physiotherapist for Queensland Health and Movements Solutions Physiotherapy in Brisbane, she was our previous Chair of the APA's Women's, Men's and Pelvic Health National Group, is the New Chair of the APA's National Advisory Council, and teaches the undergraduate Gender Health subject to physiotherapy students at Australian Catholic University in Brisbane.

On that note, I want to say a very big thank you to Always Discreet as this entire episode has been made possible by their support.

For more than 30 years across the world,Always has been helping women with their menstruation needs thanks to its comprehensive line of period pads and liners. The brand gained global accolades for some of its previous topical campaigns, including“Like A Girl” and“End Period Poverty.”

As a brand, Always’ purpose has been to empower and help females everywhere live life to their fullest potential. Not only have they created a superior line-up of bladder leak protection products called Always Discreet, they have helped to educate women around the globe about the help from doctors and physiotherapists available for bladder leakage rather than just telling women to use their products and ignore it.

But, what makes the Always Discreet range so great?

It’s specifically designed for incredible protection from bladder leaks (vs. menstruation needs)
It features breakthrough technology via a super-absorbent core that turns liquid into gel and locks in odours
Its products on the range are surprisingly thin and discreet, helping you feel more comfortable and confident going about your everyday life

Now sit back and enjoy!

Anita Lambert is a Registered Pelvic Health & Orthopaedic Physiotherapist with a focus on #prenatal, #birth prep and #postpartum care, as well as the co-host of the To Birth & Beyond podcast. She’s one of the few #physiotherapists in Canada to have completed physiodoula training which blends physiotherapy expertise with birth doula support and now assists this professional course taught in Canada.

She joins me today to talk about preparation around stage 2 in labour - what happens in the body, how can we help with breath and #pelvicfloor, where do physiotherapists play a role.

Links for today:

www.holistichealthphysio.com www.bumptobirthcourse.com www.tobirthandbeyond.com IG: @holistichealthphysio FB: @holistichealthphysio More of Anita's bio:

Anita is passionate about helping #pregnant physiotherapy clients connect more with their body including their pelvic floor plus keep you active and comfortable during pregnancy while you prepare for birth which will give you a head start on your postpartum recovery. She enjoys helping postpartum clients navigate their recovery and return to activities they love including exercise, sports and dance without pain and pelvic floor symptoms.

Anita created her Bump to Birth online course which guides you step by step to prepare you, your pelvic floor and core for birth and co hosts the To Birth & Beyond podcast to share this information to help people around the world.

Growing up as a ballet dancer and athlete, Anita was always fascinated with how the body moved and healed. Her love for sport led her to become the team therapist for the McMaster University women’s rugby and basketball teams.

She completed her clinicial Pilates rehab training during her final physiotherapy clinical placement in Brisbane, Australia alongside working with semi-professional ballet dancers. She brought this knowledge back to Toronto to start off her physiotherapy career including becoming an on-site physiotherapist for Canada’s Ballet Jorgen and Past President of Healthy Dancer Canada, an organization that fosters and facilitates communication and collaboration among the dance community, health professionals and researchers.

Outside of work, you can find Anita practicing yoga or Pilates, strength training or enjoying the outdoors and spending quality time with her husband and energetic 4 year old daughter and 2 year old son.

Queensland Health Clinical Guidelines for Perineal Care https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-10/severe_perineal_tears_clinical_care_standard_-_consultation_draft_251019.pdf

Upcoming courses/lectures discussed:

Smart Education PowerTalk : "Strength training and the female pelvic floor: what we all need to know IUGA International Symposium on A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Prevention and Management of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction Listen and enjoy and a big thanks to Always Discreet for sponsoring this episode of The Pelvic Health Podcast. Head to Always Discreet to learn more about bladder leak tips, management and incredible bladder leakage protection!

What better way to start off 2021 with Associate Professor Dr. Kirsty Elliott-Sale discussing the #menstrual cycle and how sex #hormones may affect #exercise performance in the general female population.

Dr. Elliott-Sale is the Head of the Musculoskeletal Physiology Research Group at Nottingham Trent University in England and lectures in the areas of Exercise Physiology, particularly in Female Physiology, Endocrinology, Performance, and Health. She has more than 20 years of experience working with females, elite female athletes and maternal populations including expertise in regards to the design and implementation of exercise-based interventions.

Since the completion of her PhD, which examined the effects of female reproductive hormones on muscle strength, her research has concentrated on various aspects of health and athletic performance in female populations.

In this episode we cover:

the stages of the menstrual cycle – simplified so we all understand! (CLICK HERE AND HERE FOR MENSTRUAL CYCLE PHOTOS TO FOLLOW ALONG)
if hormonal changes influence athletic performance
whether the research supports females training according to their menstrual cycle
How oral contraceptives change the picture

She also recently recorded a brilliant podcast episode with BJSM so do not miss it – it’s a great compliment to this one!

Her Twitter account @ElliottSale

Open Access Papers:

McNulty, K.L., Elliott-Sale, K.J., Dolan, E. et al. The Effects of Menstrual Cycle Phase on Exercise Performance in Eumenorrheic Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Med 50, 1813–1827 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01319-3
Elliott-Sale, K.J., McNulty, K.L., Ansdell, P. et al. The Effects of Oral Contraceptives on Exercise Performance in Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Sports Med 50, 1785–1812 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01317-5

Listen and enjoy and a big thanks to Always Discreet for sponsoring this episode of The Pelvic Health Podcast. Head to Always Discreet to learn more about bladder leak tips, management and incredible bladder leakage protection!

So many gynaecological cancer survivors, particularly younger females, are left with a poor sexual quality of life and not many are asking about this or helping provide tools to help. Out of the 3 million women living with gynaecological cancers, up to 70% live with temporary or permanent sexual difficulties.

Our guest today, Melaine Roussin, is working to change all of this. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer at age 31. As part of her recovery, she left corporate life to study and work in health and is now working on her PhD which focuses on the sexual quality of life (SQoL) for young gynae cancer survivors (YGCS). In this episode, she shares her journey and how she plans to use her research to help those affected, in addition to Girls Rocking Cancer - a cancer support community and blog at www.girlsrockingcancer.com. (Instagram + Facebook) where they celebrate women’s stories and bodies after cancer.

Other links:

melanie.roussin@research.usc.edu.au

Recruiting participants: She is currently recruiting women living in Australia who were aged 18-45 and pre or perimenopausal at their gyn cancer diagnosis for 1-on-1 interviews with her on Zoom. Study link: https://uniofsunshinecoast.syd1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0UsbscK6D9g1DzT

Listen and enjoy and a big thanks to Always Discreet for sponsoring this episode of The Pelvic Health Podcast. Head to Always Discreet to learn more about bladder leak tips, management and incredible bladder leakage protection!

We know holding our breath can influence pressure onto the #pelvicfloor, but did you ever think about how this happens, or why, or that our vocal cords can influence this pressure?

Physical therapist and academic, Aliza Rudavsky, joins me to discuss her research in this area and some very cool facts about how the #glottis works and how this can influence the pelvic floor.

Bio from her website:

A native of Pittsburgh, Aliza grew up as a dancer. She studied modern dance in college and performed professionally for several years before going to graduate school for her Doctorate in Physical Therapy at the University of Washington in Seattle. As a physical therapist, Aliza has specialized training in pelvic floor dysfunction and women's health PT through the Herman and Wallace Institute. She trained as a dance PT through the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries and the Australian Ballet. She also has unique training in physical therapy for voice dysfunction and treats both performing artists and other occupational voice users.

Aliza completed her PhD in 2018 through the University of Copenhagen (in collaboration with Monash and Latrobe Universities in Melbourne, Australia) under the supervision of Dr. Jill Cook. Her research involved studying tendon development in adolescent ballet dancers. She has published this research in several sports journals as well as the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science.

Currently, Aliza is an assistant professor at Penn State University where she has a split appointment in the department of Kinesiology and the School of Theatre. In Kinesiology she teaches the athletic training students and does research, and in the School of Theatre she runs an on-site PT clinic for the musical theatre and acting students. Her current research involves connecting the pelvic floor to the vocal folds to study how they coordinate to regulate pressures in the trunk. This research is currently funded by the Foundation for PT Research-Pelvic Health Research.

Aliza is the mother of two delightful young boys with a third baby on the way. She enjoys biking, hiking and exploring central PA with her family.

Listen and enjoy and a big thanks to Always Discreet for sponsoring this episode of The Pelvic Health Podcast. Head to Always Discreet to learn more about bladder leak tips, management and incredible bladder leakage protection!

APA Titled Sports and Exercise #Physiotherapist, Indianna Franke, who also holds a Grad. Cert in #PelvicFloor Physiotherapy, joins the podcast today to talk about sex in the context of low back pain.

As low back pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal types of pain, and sex is part of life but often becomes difficult when you have #backpain, why aren't all of us as professionals asking our patients about this? We ask about pain with bending, lifting, #exercise, #sports, and other daily activities, but often we are too embarrassed or ill-equipped to talk about how to help our patients when they are quite possibly having #back #pain during #sex.

Thank you to @alwaysdiscreet for sponsoring this episode

Below are some useful links from our chat. Enjoy! Indianna Franke OMGYes Sidorkewicz & McGill 2015. Documenting female spine motion during coitus with a commentary on the implications for the low back pain patient

Tone Dahl-Michelsen, David A. Nicholls & Karen Synne Groven Approaching intimacy, sexuality and ethics in the professional training of physiotherapy students in Norway

Michael E. Metz & Barry W. McCarthy The “Good-Enough Sex” model for couple sexual satisfaction

This episode will blow your mind! I admit the word "hypnotherapy" really threw me but you have to listen - especially if you are a #pain #science nerd, have #pelvicpain, or treat those with pelvic pain. Sheren Gaulbert has extensive knowledge in the pain science field and brings a very large piece to this puzzle.

Sheren Gaulbert was diagnosed with unprovoked vulvodynia in 1999 after a lifetime of intermittent pain and comorbid conditions. With frequent episodes of fainting as the pain worsened, and mobility affected, she stopped working altogether.

10 years on from diagnosis and unsuccessfully trialling different treatments, she stumbled across self-hypnosis and later Quest Cognitive Hypnotherapy (QCH), starting her on her journey toward freedom. Her curiosity to find out why it was working and how she could help others, led her to seek out further training for a better grounding in pain neurophysiology, and to understand best practice models from current, up-to-date treatment methodologies and pain science.

Sheren has a specialist interest in female and male pelvic pain and is now a Trustee of the Vulval Pain Society, She hosts VPS webinars with specialist vulval pain clinicians, and you will find a selection on YouTube.

Sheren is currently working on the Pelvic Pain Toolkit, which includes short information videos, with Pain Toolkit founder Pete Moore. This will be released later in 2020.

Sheren also runs CPD courses for health professionals and one-to-one mentoring for clinicians ready to learn from different modalities to provide better care. She encourages a multidisciplinary approach to pain management (and for some complete relief), and an effective treatment plan which treats the individual – the whole complex person, considering their values, beliefs, expectations, cognitive evaluations, contextual, cultural factors and more.

She is also founder of the Break Through Pain Programme: a tailored, collaborative and action-orientated approach which utilises the Cognitive Hypnotherapy framework to help each unique individual experiencing persistent pain, start living a better quality of life, more comfortably doing more of the things that give them joy.

Sheren’s Website: https://the-ultimate-you.com/
Sheren’s Free Resource for clinicians and patients - 7 Keys to Reducing Pain: http://the-ultimate-you.com/7KeysReducePain
Vulval Pain Society: http://www.vulvalpainsociety.org/
Vulval Pain Society YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTubeVPS
Pain Toolkit (Pelvic Pain Toolkit coming soon, this is the website for the general one): https://www.paintoolkit.org/

It's time to talk about the practical side of abdominal separation, or DRA - diastasis rectus abdominis, after discussing the lack of research on a recent episode. How should we assess it? What kind of exercises should we try? What if we can't physically see a physiotherapist because of location or isolation? Who better than Lashonda Jones. Lashonda is a licensed physical therapist, certified personal trainer & pre/postnatal corrective #exercise specialist. She's has 14 years of exercise in outpatient orthopedics with a more recent transition into women's health once she became a mom of two. She loves educating & empowering women on Postpartum rehab, fitness & Diastasis Recti healing journeys. After working hard to heal her own #Diastasis & seeing the lack of education moms were given about their postpartum healing she developed an online program that allows women to work 1 on 1 with her online to receive the individualized education & exercises they need to heal

Education: Masters Physical Therapy Bachelor's Exercise Sports Science Sports Medicine concentration NSCA Certified Personal Trainer Certified Pre & Post natal exercise specialist Program: http://coreelevationfitness.com/diastasis-recti-repair-program/ Instagram: instagram.com/ptrainershonda Listen and enjoy and a big thanks to Always Discreet for sponsoring this episode of The Pelvic Health Podcast. Head to Always Discreet to learn more about bladder leak tips, management and incredible bladder leakage protection!

Physiotherapist and coach, Candice Lamb, and I are back to talk about what first sessions, weeks and first few months might look like when returning to CrossFit-brand training and high-intensity exercise after having a baby. This episode, as a continuation from our last one on CrossFit in Pregnancy, focuses on women who were doing this activity before and during their pregnancy - not women who are new to this activity after having a baby. Pelvic health considerations and modifications for certain specific exercises, much needed discussion around bracing (which will continue in episodes to come), returning to intensity, and more.

Enjoy, subscribe and keep moving :)

Big thanks to this episode's sponsor Always Discreet. Learn more about bladder leak tips, management and incredible bladder leak protection by checking out Always Discreet.

DRA, the separation of the abdominal muscles most often associated in women with pregnancy, is very close to my heart and I am so excited to bring you this AMAZING conversation on the research on #exercise for #diastasisrecti with David Larson @dmlarson31 dmlarson@asu.edu

Aside from discussing what research we do have , the drawbacks of this limited data, and the physiology behind the effects of adequate load on connective tissue, he talks about his research into patient satisfaction with exercise programs. Just because as professionals we think someone is better, doesn't mean they feel that way.

Bio from Arizona State University website: (see below for reference list)

David is a Lecturer and Coordinator for CHS100/300 in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University. David earned a Doctoral degree in Health Science from A. T. Still University, Masters degree in Kinesiology from A. T. Still University, and a Bachelors degree Kinesiology from Arizona State University. His research is primarily focused on conservative treatment modalities such as abdominal strength training for the postpartum condition diastasis recti. David is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), a Certified Pre- and Postnatal Coach (CPPC), and Certified Level 2 Nutrition Coach through Precision Nutrition (PN2). He specializes in pre- and post-natal training, youth athletic performance, and strength and conditioning and has over 10 years of experience in the fitness and sport performance industry.

Reference list:

Acharry, N., & Kutty, R. K. (2015). Abdominal exercise with bracing, a therapeutic efficacy in reducing diastasis-recti among postpartal females. International Journal of Physiotherapy and Research, 3(2), 999-1005. doi:10.16965/ijpr.2015.122

Awad, M. A., Mahmoud, A. M., El-Ghazaly, H. M., & Tawfeek, R. M. (2017). Effect of Kinesio Taping on Diastasis Recti. Med. J. Cairo Univ., 85(6), 2289-2296.

Benjamin, D., Van de Water, A., & Peiris, C. (2014). Effects of exercise on diastasis of the rectus abdominis muscle in the antenatal and postnatal periods: a systematic review. Physiotherapy, 100(1), 1-8. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physio.2013.08.005

Bo, K., Hilde, G., Tennfjord, M. K., Sperstad, J. B., & Engh, M. E. (2017). Pelvic floor muscle function, pelvic floor dysfunction and diastasis recti abdominis: Prospective cohort study. Neurourol Urodyn, 36(3), 716-721. doi:10.1002/nau.23005

Boissonnault, J. S., & Blaschak, M. J. (1988). Incidence of diastasis recti abdominis during the childbearing year. Phys Ther, 68(7), 1082-1086.

Chiarello, C. M., McAuley, J. A., & Hartigan, E. H. (2016). Immediate Effect of Active Abdominal Contraction on Inter-recti Distance. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther, 46(3), 177-183. doi:10.2519/jospt.2016.6102

da Mota, P. G. F., Pascoal, A. G. B. A., Carita, A. I. A. D., & Bø, K. (2015). Prevalence and risk factors of diastasis recti abdominis from late pregnancy to 6 months postpartum, and relationship with lumbo-pelvic pain. Manual therapy, 20(1), 200-205.

El-Kosery, S. M., El-Aziz, A. A., & Farouk, A. (2007). Abdominal muscles exercise program and/or electrical stimulation in postnatal diastasis recti. Bull. Fac. Ph. Th. Cairo Univ, 12(2).

El-Mekawy, H. S., Eldeeb, A. M., El-Lythy, M. A., & El-Begawy, A. F. (2013). Effect of Abdominal Exercises versus Abdominal Supporting Belt on Post-Partum Abdominal Efficiency and Rectus Separation. International Journal of Medical and Health Sciences, 7(1), 75-79.

Gallus, K. M., Golberg, K. F., & Field, R. (2016). Functional Improvement Following Diastasis Rectus Abdominus Repair in an Active Duty Navy Female. Military Medicine, 181(8), e952-e954. doi:10.7205/MILMED-D-15-00387

Gluppe, S. L., Hilde, G., Tennfjord, M. K., Engh, M. E., & Bo, K. (2018). Effect of a Postpartum Training Program on the Prevalence of Diastasis Recti Abdominis in Postpartum Primiparous Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Phys Ther, 98(4), 260-268. doi:10.1093/ptj/pzy008

Gluppe, S. L., Hilde, G., Tennfjord, M. K., Engh, M. E., & Bø, K. (2018). Effect of a Postpartum Training Program on the Prevalence of Diastasis Recti Abdominis in Postpartum Primiparous Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial [Article]. Physical Therapy, 98(4), 260-268. doi:10.1093/ptj/pzy008. (Accession No. 128847946)

Grgic, J., Schoenfeld, B. J., & Latella, C. (2019). Resistance training frequency and skeletal muscle hypertrophy: A review of available evidence. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 22(3), 361-370. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2018.09.223

Gunnarsson, U., Stark, B., Dahlstrand, U., & Strigård, K. (2015). Correlation between Abdominal Rectus Diastasis Width and Abdominal Muscle Strength. Digestive Surgery, 32(2), 112-116. doi:10.1159/000371859

Gürşen, C., İnanoğlu, D., Kaya, S., Akbayrak, T., & Baltacı, G. (2016). Effects of exercise and Kinesio taping on abdominal recovery in women with cesarean section: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Archives of gynecology and obstetrics, 293(3), 557-565. doi:10.1007/s00404-015-3862-3

Hills, N. F., Graham, R. B., & McLean, L. (2018). Comparison of Trunk Muscle Function Between Women With and Without Diastasis Recti Abdominis at 1 Year Postpartum. Phys Ther, 98(10), 891-901. doi:10.1093/ptj/pzy083

Kamel, D. M., & Yousif, A. M. (2017). Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation and Strength Recovery of Postnatal Diastasis Recti Abdominis Muscles [Article]. Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine, 41(3), 465-474. doi:10.5535/arm.2017.41.3.465. (Accession No. 124103784)

Keeler, J., Albrecht, M., Eberhardt, L., Horn, L., Donnelly, C., & Lowe, D. (2012). Diastasis recti abdominis: a survey of women's health specialists for current physical therapy clinical practice for postpartum women. Journal of women’s health physical therapy, 36(3), 131-142.

Keshwani, N., Mathur, S., & McLean, L. (2018). Relationship Between Interrectus Distance and Symptom Severity in Women With Diastasis Recti Abdominis in the Early Postpartum Period. Physical Therapy, 98(3), 182-190. doi:10.1093/ptj/pzx117

Khandale, S. R., & Hande, D. (2016). Effects of abdominal exercises on reduction of diastasis recti in postnatal women. IJHSR, 6(6), 182-191.

Lee, D., & Hodges, P. W. (2016). Behavior of the linea alba during a curl-up task in diastasis rectus abdominis: an observational study. journal of orthopaedic & sports physical therapy, 46(7), 580-589.

Lee, H., Kim, I.-G., Sung, C., & Kim, J.-S. (2017). The Effect of 12-Week Resistance Training on Muscular Strength and Body Composition in Untrained Young Women: Implications of Exercise Frequency. Journal of Exercise Physiology Online, 20, 88+.

Liaw, L. J., Hsu, M. J., Liao, C. F., Liu, M. F., & Hsu, A. T. (2011). The relationships between inter-recti distance measured by ultrasound imaging and abdominal muscle function in postpartum women: a 6-month follow-up study. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther, 41(6), 435-443. doi:10.2519/jospt.2011.3507

Litos, K. (2014). Progressive therapeutic exercise program for successful treatment of a postpartum woman with a severe diastasis recti abdominis. Journal of Women’s Health Physical Therapy, 38(2), 58-73. doi:10.1097/JWH.0000000000000013

Michalska, A., Rokita, W., Wolder, D., Pogorzelska, J., & Kaczmarczyk, K. (2018). Diastasis recti abdominis - a review of treatment methods. Ginekol Pol, 89(2), 97-101. doi:10.5603/GP.a2018.0016

Mota, P., Pascoal, A., Carita, A., & Bø, K. (2015). Inter-recti distance at rest, during abdominal crunch and drawing in exercises during pregnancy and postpartum. Physiotherapy, 101, e1050-e1051.

Newman-Beinart, N. A., Norton, S., Dowling, D., Gavriloff, D., Vari, C., Weinman, J. A., & Godfrey, E. L. (2017). The development and initial psychometric evaluation of a measure assessing adherence to prescribed exercise: the Exercise Adherence Rating Scale (EARS). Physiotherapy, 103(2), 180-185. doi:10.1016/j.physio.2016.11.001

Parker, M. A., Millar, L. A., & Dugan, S. A. (2009). Diastasis rectus abdominis and lumbo-pelvic pain and dysfunction-are they related? Journal of Women’s Health Physical Therapy, 33(2), 15-22.

Thabet, A., & Alshehri, M. A. (2019). Efficacy of Deep Core Stability Exercise Program in Postpartum Women with Diastasis Recti Abdominis: A Randomised Controlled Trial (Vol. 19).

Tuttle, L. J., Fasching, J., Keller, A., Patel, M., Saville, C., Schlaff, R., . . . Gombatto, S. P. (2018). Noninvasive Treatment of Postpartum Diastasis Recti Abdominis: A Pilot Study. Journal of Women’s Health Physical Therapy, 42(2), 65-75. doi:10.1097/JWH.0000000000000101

Walton, L. M., Costa, A., LaVanture, D., McIlrath, S., & Stebbins, B. (2016). The effects of a 6 week dynamic core stability plank exercise program compared to a traditional supine core stability strengthening program on diastasis recti abdominis closure, pain, Oswestry disability index (ODI) and pelvic floor disability index scores (PFDI). Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, 3(1), 3. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7243/2055-2386-3-3

Youssef, A. M., Sabbour, A. A., & Kamel, R. M. (2003). Muscle Activity in Upper and Lower Portions of Rectus Abdominis During Abdominal Exercises in Postnatal Women Having Diastasis Recti. Bull. Fac. Ph. Th. Cairo Univ, 8(1).

Listen and enjoy and a big thanks to Always Discreet for sponsoring this episode of The Pelvic Health Podcast. Head to Always Discreet to learn more about bladder leak tips, management and incredible bladder leakage protection!

Fiona Rogers is baaackkk! I bugged her to join me to talk about using electrical stimulation for the #pelvicfloor because I do not know enough about it (my brain can only hold so much information!). I have watched her dive deep into the research behind this for years and develop her course "Electrical Stimulation for Pelvic Health: An advanced course for health professionals" - which is now online! Click on the name of that course to find out more.

Listening to her has made me excited to use this option more for those who may need it, and understand so much more about parameters AND why all probes will not work for all women!

Listen and enjoy and a big thanks to Always Discreet for sponsoring this episode of The Pelvic Health Podcast. Head to Always Discreet to learn more about bladder leak tips, management and incredible bladder leakage protection!

Please rate and leave a review on the Apple Podcast app so more people can find it!

debunkingdesire aims to educate women, their partners, health care providers, and the media about low sexual #desire in #women.

Who better to talk to about this than Dr. Lori Brotto, not just because she has THE best name but because she has a brilliant mind and has worked in this area for years. In this episode, Dr. Brotto discusses sexual desire, this #debunkingdesire campaign as well as some of her work in #sexual #pain, such as provoked vestibulodynia (#PVD).

Dr. Lori Brotto is a Professor in the UBC Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and a Registered Psychologist. She is the Executive Director of the Women's Health Research Institute at BC Women’s Hospital. Dr. Brotto holds a Canada Research Chair in Women's Sexual Health. She is the director of the UBC Sexual Health Laboratory where research primarily focuses on advancing the science of psychological and mindfulness-based interventions for women’s sexual health. Dr. Brotto is an Associate Editor for the Archives of Sexual Behavior, has over 150 peer-reviewed publications, is passionate about knowledge translation, and as such, is frequently featured in the media on sexual health topics. Her book, Better Sex Through Mindfulness: How Women Can Cultivate Desire (Greystone Publishing) is a knowledge translation of her research over the past 15 years demonstrating the benefits of mindfulness for women’s sexual concerns and genital pain.

*Click on links above and below for more information!

Australian Booktopia for Better Sex Through Mindfunless

I love to highlight the people in the research trenches and asked Tom Astill to chat with me about the research he has been working on with Jane Chalmers and Rocco Caveleri regarding a new questionnaire directed at assessing the impact pelvic pain has on men, called The Male Pelvic Pain Impact Questionnaire (links below). The focus of this episode was this assessment questionnaire, but as usual, I took him off course and ventured into in a few other places. I hope you enjoy!

A bit more about Tom:

Originally born in England, Tom moved to Australia 15 years ago. Initially he studied audio engineering and worked in various fields of technical support and training before meeting his wife and embarking on a physiotherapy degree.

He is a newly graduated physiotherapist. As part of his undergrad he conducted an honours project where they developed a questionnaire to assess the impact of chronic pelvic pain in men. This project has sparked a passion for research, chronic pain, and men’s health. He is currently deciding on PhD topics in those areas and working on expanding his clinical skills to support his future research. He enjoys reading, cooking, and spending time with his twin daughters Kate and Lily.

Links:

mPPIQ preprint on Research Gate

Abstract presentation through the Australian Pain Society

Tayla Lamerton, a PhD candidate at The University of Queensland, joins the podcast to discuss her research exploring urinary incontinence in young to middle age women who are overweight and obese, as well as some other cool studies she has up her sleeve.

I love highlighting the work of up and coming researchers and Tayla Lamerton is a name you should keep in mind. She is in her last year as a PHD Candidate at the University of Queensland, Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences. Prior to commencing her PhD, she graduated with a Masters in Psychology from the University of Otago, NZ. She also trained as a group fitness instructor in 2013 and is now a Level 1 CrossFit trainer. Her research interests focus on understanding female pelvic floor health in young women. Specifically, how weight and physical activity are related to urinary incontinence in this demographic, and exploring methods to improve management and return or adhere to regular physical activity.

Papers:

Lamerton, T. J., Torquati, L., & Brown, W. J. (2018). Overweight and obesity as major, modifiable risk factors for urinary incontinence in young to mid-aged women: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity Reviews, 19(12), 1735–1745. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12756

Haakstad, L. A. H., Gjestvang, C., Lamerton, T., & Bø, K. (2020). Urinary incontinence in a fitness club setting-is it a workout problem? International Urogynecology Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-020-04253-0

Gráinne Donnelly is back and we completely nerd out in this episode on all things transperineal ultrasound in assessing and treating pelvic floor dysfunction in women. From 2D to 4D, scope of practice and all the fun measures you can do. Enjoy our excitement that we just cannot contain. #nerds

If you missed her last episode, head back to April 2019 to listen to her, Tom Goom and Emma Brockwell discuss their guidelines on return to running in postnatal women.

Guidelines for reprocessing ultrasound transducers 2017

Bio from her website - Absolute Physio:

Gráinne is an Advanced Physiotherapist in pelvic health. She graduated from the University of Ulster in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physiotherapy. She specialised in Pelvic, Obstetric and Gynaecological physiotherapy in 2010 undertaking extensive post-graduate training and completing the Postgraduate Certificate in Continence Practice at the University of Bradford in 2018. Gráinne is currently completing a Masters in Advancing Healthcare at the University of Ulster and is aiming to complete this in 2020.

Alongside her private practice, she continues to work part-time in the NHS where she is the team lead for the pelvic health physiotherapy service across her local health trust.

Gráinne became particularly interested in the assessment and treatment of Diastasis Recti due to its prevalence and associated implications with her clients. She also teaches health and fitness professionals about the assessment and management of Diastasis Recti.

Gráinne co-authored the internationally recognised "Returning to running postnatal - guidelines for medical, health and fitness professionals managing this population" as well as publishing her conference presentation "Diastasis Rectus Abdominis - physiotherapy management" from the 2018 Pelvic, Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy Conference. Gráinne regularly presents at conferences around the UK and Ireland on topics related to pelvic health and well-being. She uses real-time ultrasound for pelvic health and is involved in training courses for physiotherapists.

Grainne is the Chair for the Pelvic Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy Northern Ireland specialist interest group as well as a member of the Ulster Gynae Urology Society committee.

Gráinne is also a fully certified PINC and STEEL cancer rehabilitation physiotherapist and co-founded a non-profit service in N. Ireland called SPARK Cancer Rehabilitation. She also co-founded WHITE Circle, an educational pelvic health platform to empower women to safeguard their pelvic health.

Dr. Holly Herman has been a physical therapist (physiotherapist) for more than 45 years and it was with absolute delight to talk to her about her passion in treating musculoskeletal and pelvic health concerns, including surgical procedures and subsequent rehabilitation, in the transgender non binary non conforming community.

In addition to maintaining a full time private practice in Cambridge, MA, she lectures and presents courses world-wide on Pelvic Floor, Women and Men’s Health, Pregnancy and Postpartum, Orthopedics, Geriatrics and Sexual Medicine.

Holly is 1 of 2 PT’s in the world certified as a Sexuality Counselor by the American Association for Sexual Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT), and one of 4 PT’s in the world certified as a Women’s Health Sexuality Fellow by the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH).

Holly co-founded the Herman & Wallace Pelvic Rehabilitation Institute in 2005. Though she is no longer associated with the institute, Holly brings her own courses to the US, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Chile, Canada, Portugal, Brazil, UAE Saudi Arabia and Australia through HWHMeducation.

For her full bio, check out her website HERE.

This episode dives into the latest research that is currently underway in Canada to help women suffering with postnatal/postpartum depression. Madison Lackie has recently completed her MSc in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences at the University of British Columbia (through the Faculty of Medicine, Department of OB/GYN) after receiving her BScH from Queen’s University in Life Sciences.

Her Masters research, that she so kindly shares with us in this episode, is the first phase of a larger project which aims to create a web-enabled intervention that delivers psychosocial skills and education to assist in treating postpartum/postnatal depression (PPD/PND). Resources: Canada – Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) – https://cmha.ca/ Canada (British Columbia) – Pacific Postpartum Support Society – http://postpartum.org/ Australia – Beyond Blue – https://www.beyondblue.org.au/ Australia – Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia – https://www.panda.org.au/ International – Postpartum Progress – https://postpartumprogress.com/ International – Postpartum Support International - https://www.postpartum.net/

Reproductive Mental Health at BC Women's Hospital Twitter & Instagram: @womensresearch @ubcshl (Dr. Lori Brotto's lab) http://whri.org/ (research institute website)

Dr. Merv Travers is a Senior Research Scholar working in the area of low back pain, tendon pain and exercise rehabilitation at the School of Physiotherapy, The University of Notre Dame Australia.

In today's episode, Merv discusses what exactly strength training is, why it’s important for all of our bodies and how physiotherapists can get their patients started and progressing. And of course my son, Rylan, had to compete with his sister in podcast recording (and special blooper takes at the end). Check out the reference list below Merv kindly put together for us!

More about Merv...he completed his PhD at Curtin University where he also maintains an Adjunct Research Fellow role. His teaching areas include anatomy and exercise rehabilitation. He has a Masters of Manipulative Therapy and is a qualified strength & conditioning coach (Australian Strength and Conditioning Association – Level 2).

Merv’s clinical background includes working in professional rugby union and he provides clinical consultation for complex musculoskeletal conditions at Star Physio, WA.

Merv guest lectures nationally and internationally on the topics of strength and conditioning for physiotherapists and tendinopathy rehabilitation, as well as runs an international strength conditioning course for physiotherapists.

Optimise Rehab - courses for Strength and Conditioning courses for physios

Some key references pertaining to some of this things we spoke about:

Public Health and strength training:

Steele, J., Fisher, J., Skivington, M., Dunn, C., Arnold, J., Tew, G., . . . Winett, R. (2017). A higher effort-based paradigm in physical activity and exercise for public health: making the case for a greater emphasis on resistance training. BMC Public Health, 17(1), 300.

Dankel, S. J., Loenneke, J. P., & Loprinzi, P. D. (2016). Determining the Importance of Meeting Muscle-Strengthening Activity Guidelines: Is the Behavior or the Outcome of the Behavior (Strength) a More Important Determinant of All-Cause Mortality? Mayo Clin Proc, 91(2), 166-174.

Strain, T., Fitzsimons, C., Kelly, P., & Mutrie, N. (2016). The forgotten guidelines: cross-sectional analysis of participation in muscle strengthening and balance & co-ordination activities by adults and older adults in Scotland. BMC Public Health, 16(1), 1108.

Physio knowledge of guidelines:

Lowe, A., Littlewood, C., McLean, S., & Kilner, K. (2017). Physiotherapy and physical activity: a cross-sectional survey exploring physical activity promotion, knowledge of physical activity guidelines and the physical activity habits of UK physiotherapists. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 3(1)

Lifting with a neutral spine:

Saraceni, N., Kent, P., Ng, L., Campbell, A., Straker, L., & O'Sullivan, P. (2019). To Flex or Not to Flex? Is There a Relationship Between Lumbar Spine Flexion During Lifting and Low Back Pain? A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther, 1-50

Achilles tendon pain and loading:

Murphy, M., Travers, M., Gibson, W., Chivers, P., Debenham, J., Docking, S., & Rio, E. (2018). Rate of Improvement of Pain and Function in Mid-Portion Achilles Tendinopathy with Loading Protocols: A Systematic Review and Longitudinal Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine.

Placebo and Exercise:

Crum, A. J., & Langer, E. J. (2007). Mind-set matters: exercise and the placebo effect. Psychol Sci, 18(2), 165-171.

Minimum strength dosage:

Androulakis-Korakakis, P., Fisher, J. P., & Steele, J. (2019). The Minimum Effective Training Dose Required to Increase 1RM Strength in Resistance-Trained Men: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine.

Jilly Bond is back to blow our minds and wrap up 2019! This time Jilly shares her brilliant mind on #interstitialcystitis #bladderpainsyndrome (IC/BPS) - what is it, how the nervous system is involved, how this affects pelvic floor muscles and what treatment helps and why...and we can't stress enough why trigger points are not involved (also why they are not actually a thing!).

If you haven't checked out her vlogs, blogs and info...check it out HERE and subscribe to her mailing list!

Thanks for listening and have a happy holiday season! Catch you in 2020 - don't miss first episode with Dr Merv Travers talking all about the basics of Strength Training!

Patron Support link for The Pelvic Health Podcast

Australian #physiotherapist, Claire Osterstock, joins the podcast to talk all about one of my favourite #vaginal #lubricants, in which she created, called Olive & Bee. Claire shares her insights about what it takes to turn an idea into a product and get it on the market, as well as what it took for her to become successful in the process. This episode has some very cool science-y and fun facts about #lube that I never knew.

The beautiful and brilliant Michelle Lyons is back to talk about #menopause - you should remember her from her episode on #endometriosis back in July 2017, if not...go and listen to that as well!

This episode covers #menopause, #perimenopause, #exercise, #bonehealth, #tendonhealth, #hearthealth, #poo, #hormones, #nutrition, #alcohol, and much more. We may actually need to cover each of these in separate episodes with the amount of information she can discuss. Please share with friends, colleagues, family!

3rd Age Woman

Jenny Burrell, head and founder of Burrell Education, joins me to discuss the intricacies of successfully running your own business - spoiler: it starts with YOU! Jenny discusses the foundations you really need, which she expands on in the brilliant Burrell Education Business Hub Mentorship. If you run your own ship, listen in and consider trialing the mentorship program. No, I do not get paid nor is she sponsoring this episode!

Thanks to my lovely co-host for the intro/outro - who does NOT have her own accounts you can follow (but there was no stopping her on the mic) :)

Pelvic floor physiotherapist and CrossFit coach, Candice Lamb, joins me to discuss CrossFit during pregnancy. Should women who are pregnant continue to participate? What do you tell pregnant women who are doing CrossFit? Should they stop because of harm to pelvic floor and abdominal muscles? Regardless of our biased backgrounds, it's a great listen for everyone.

Bio:

Candice is a Physiotherapist working in Continence and Women’s Health in private practice as well as a CrossFit Coach and wannabe CrossFit athlete at CrossFit Contessa, an all female CrossFit gym on the Sunshine Coast.

She is incredibly passionate about the effect that exercise, in particular CrossFit, has on women both physically and mentally throughout their life stages. She loves educating fellow health professionals about the sport of fitness, to help them empower their patients to continue exercising (modified as needed of course) through whatever life throws at them – be it injury, pelvic floor dysfunction or pregnancy.

CrossFit Journal Pregnancy Scaling Guide

Check out my Instagram @pelvicwod for the infographic summary

Please subscribe, review, rate and share and consider becoming a patron :)

Physiotherapist, sex educator and counsellor, Dr. Uchenna "UC" Ossai, discusses sexuality and sexual health in physiotherapy. She talks about what exactly is sexuality, patient goals vs expectations, sexuality differences with masturbation, and more surrounding sex education for adults. Don't forget to check out all her social media, especially Bourbon Talez on IG - definitely worth the follow!

Instagram - @youseelogic Web - youseelogic.com

Links:

O.School

OMGYes

Dame products

Bio from YouSeeLogic.com:

Dr. Uchenna Ossai is a sex-positive pelvic health physical therapist, sex educator and counselor, and is on faculty for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Sexual Health Certificate Program. UC is only one of three licensed Physical Therapists in the world with an AASECT certification in sexuality counseling; as well as the only Black Physical Therapist with this specific designation. UC spends her days treating people with both sexual and pelvic floor dysfunction, and her evenings educating the masses on everything that has to do with “sexytime.” When it comes to sexual intelligence and great sex education, UC embraces always being unapologetically real, happily crunk, and deliciously kind

Dr. Chantale Dumoulin, who will be our keynote speaker for the upcoming physiotherapy conference APA Transform 2019 in October, is a physiotherapist and globally recognized researcher for her work in pelvic floor rehabilitation, specifically urinary incontinence. In this episode, she discusses her research, physiological changes to the female urinary continence system as we age, and what options we may use to prevent and treat urinary incontinence. Spoiler - Dance Like No One is Watching.

Lori :)

Bio from APA Transform Conference website:

Chantale is a Professor at the School of Rehabilitation, University of Montreal, where she developed – and currently directs – the only post-graduate university-based pelvic floor rehabilitation program for physiotherapists in Canada. Concurrently, she is a published researcher with the Centre de recherche de l’Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montreal; specializing in pelvic floor dysfunction. She is also the founder and director of the Centre’s ‘Incontinence and Aging Laboratory’, in addition to acting as the holder of the Canadian Research Chair on Urogynecological Health and Aging.

Chantale is the inventor of the Montreal Dynamometer, an instrument to measure pelvic floor muscle function. The main focus of her work is to better understand pelvic floor muscle dysfunctions to provide better treatment using conservative management approaches. Her research methodologies include measuring instrument development and psychometric assessment, RCTs and systematic review. Finally, she still is a practicing physiotherapist specialized in pelvic floor dysfunction, a key influence informing her patient-oriented research.

Lecturer, researcher and physiotherapy clinician, Dr. Monika Leitner, discusses her research on pelvic floor muscle activity and pelvic floor kinematics in continent and incontinent women during running. Julie Wiebe, who has been on the podcast before, was meant to join us but I gave her the wrong date and time (face palm)!

Monika Leitner, PT, is a lecturer, researcher and clinician. She graduated in physiotherapy in 1989 at the University Hospital Graz (Austria). Since then she has been working in Switzerland at medical centers, hospitals and in own physiotherapy clinic. She completed a Master in Advanced Studies in Health and Fitness and a Master of Science in Sports physiotherapy. She works as a lecturer in the bachelor physiotherapy program at the Bern University of Applied Sciences. She has finished her PhD on the pelvic floor at the Graduate School of Health Sciences of the Bern University. Her research work focusses on the dynamic function of the pelvic floor muscles, and she is devoted to contributing to women's health, particularly to the topic of physical activity and urinary continence. In her clinical work she is focusing on pelvic floor rehabilitation and musculoskeletal physiotherapy.

Links:

https://www.bfh.ch/de/ueber-die-bfh/personen/hj5uaeyu6dtt/

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Monika_Leitner

Lauren White, Sexologist, joins me in this episode to talk about libido and how as a sexologist she can help women who feel they have little to no libido. She talks about what sex therapy can involve and how she helps to empower women. I hope you enjoy this episode and please share!

Lauren White

Social Media: @laurenwhiteau (both Instagram and FB)

Permission

I am joined by the first author of one of my favourite research papers: The impact of acute and chronic strenuous exercise on pelvic floor muscle strength and support in healthy nulliparous women.

Dr Monique Middlekauff (Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Higher Education Teaching Specialist, and former volleyball athlete) joins me to discuss details of this study, including her amazing team Drs. Marlene Egger, Janet Shaw, and Ingrid Nygaard.

We talk about specifics of this study which looked at women doing CrossFit compared to women walking for exercise, the fun of her PhD and running this study, her online work, and her love and passion in helping people (you cannot miss the passion in her voice!).

Links (also highlighted in text above):

Instagram: @exerciseandsportscience

Fitness for Us Instagram:@fitnessforus_monique

Abs, Core & Pelvic Floor - online content with Natalie Hodson

Dr Susan Evans is a gynaecologist, pain medicine physician, researcher, educator and chairperson of the Pelvic Pain Foundation of Australia.

Today she shares some interesting, new findings from her latest research project on the language of pelvic pain in which she is working on with Eleanor Schofield and Professor Roly Sussex. She discusses the study, some findings thus far and implications for all clinicians in understanding pelvic pain.

Thank you to the episode's sponsor, Sue Croft - physiotherapist and author of Pelvic Floor Essentials and Pelvic Floor Recovery: Physiotherapy for Gynaecological and Colorectal Repair Surgery

Other links from our discussion today (also see underlined links above):

Qendo

Alyra Biotech - Dr. Evans' company (founder and director) to develop new treatments for pelvic pain

PPEP Talk

Body in Mind article on this study

Woofties - ABC radio

Nadine Brown, a physiotherapist with a special interest in pelvic health as well as a former competitive boxer, joins me to share her touching personal birth story. She talks so openly about the emotions she felt during pregnancy that didn't align with everyone else, the birth experience that did not go as planned, how she struggled physically and emotionally during that first year as a new mom, and how she has reached the stage of acceptance in her healing journey. Don't forget to look out for the infographic Nadine and I worked on to go with this podcast on tips to get through early motherhood at www.loriforner.com or @pelvicwod in Instagram.

If you know this topic is too difficult to listen to, please come back to listen when you feel ready. If you listen and feel triggered emotionally, or any of this story feels too close to home for you or a friend, please talk to someone.

Below are some links that may help:

PANDA - Perinatal anxiety and depression COPE - Centre of Perinatal Excellence PSI - Postpartum Support International Gidget Foundation

Beyond Blue

Blog by Nadine for Sue Croft

Pelvic floor physiotherapist and co-owner of Pelvic Floor Exercise, Fiona Rogers, comes back on the podcast to discuss the differences between vaginal dilators: which ones do we choose, for what condition might they be used for, and why are they different?

Head back to the very first episode and hear her talk about vaginal weights if you missed it!

Thank you so much to this episode's sponsor - Kenhub - see below for more details

Fore a 20% discount on all Kenhub Premium learning plans: khub.me/loriforner

For a 20% discount on illustration licenses - quote "Lori Forner" when emailing Kenhub to enquire at contact@kenhub.com

Fiona's E-stim course - might be sold out but she is running more!

Today we are talking to Kathe Wallace, physiotherapist, about how to go about returning to sex after having a vaginal birth, in which she discusses in her book, Reviving your Sex Life after Childbirth. We have spoken about this topic on the podcast previously surrounding the importance of sexual intimacy in relationships, however today we are focusing on why this topic is important after a vaginal birth from a physical as well as psychological perspective, what women can assess themselves, the importance of bringing partners into the process, and where/how physiotherapists can help.

Thank you to this episode's sponsor - Modibodi

Bio:

Kathe Wallace, PT, is an internationally recognized clinician, author and lecturer in women's health and pelvic floor dysfunction evaluation and treatment. Kathe has been a physical therapist since 1976 and focused on the pelvic floor since 1988. She is a lifetime member of the APTA.

Kathe volunteered in the early 1990’s to help the American Physical Therapy Association Section on Women’s Health (SOWH) establish pelvic floor continuing education seminars and instructed pelvic floor function, dysfunction and treatment seminars for the associations section through 2005. In 2006, she co-founded the professional continuing education company Herman & Wallace, Inc. developing a series of pelvic floor training seminars for physical therapists. She is no longer affiliated with the company and nowindependently continues to develop pelvic floor related seminars and resources for health care providersand their patients. She is currently focusing on private patient consulting, mentoring and developing professional training for physical therapists at The Pelvic Health Clinic in Seattle, WA, USA.

Kathe was honored to receive the Washington state Physical Therapy Association (PTWA) Clinical Excellence Award in 2006. She is the author of Reviving Your Sex Life after Childbirthand multiple patient education handouts to restore the pelvic floor. She also serves as a Clinical Instructor, Division of Physical Therapy, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, at the University of Washington. Her professional mission is to ignite and nurture knowledge regarding pelvic floor dysfunction to help women and men get the care they need.

Resources:

McDonald, E. A., & Brown, S. J. (2013). Does method of birth make a difference to when women resume sex after childbirth?. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 120(7), 823-830. https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1471-0528.12166

Stavdal, M. N., Skjævestad, M. L. L., & Dahl, B. (2019). First-time parentś experiences of proximity and intimacy after childbirth-a qualitative study. Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare. Not free access https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1877575618303355

Penny Simkin Childbirth trauma http://pattch.org/ USA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkVHUrhh_vY

Professional associations

https://www.aasect.org/

http://www.isswsh.org/

http://sexscience.org/

Heather Howard http://sexualrehab.com/Additional-Resources.html https://ergoerotics.com/

SEXOLOGY International blogs and resources https://sexologyinternational.com

Better Sex Podcast https://bettersexpodcast.com/

www.facebook.com/KatheWallacePTandAuthor.

Reviving Your Sex Life After Childbirth: Your Guide to Pain-free and Pleasurable Sex After the Baby

Physiotherapists Jenny Wickford and Delena Caagbay discuss the not-for-profit association, Noora Wellbeing, and how important it is for everyone to openly share their stories to help collaboration and education across the globe.

Please consider heading to Noora Wellbeing and sign up for their newsletters, share a story and join in on the discussions!!

Crossing Borders - book by Fatumo Osman and Jenny Wickford

Crossing Borders: living and learning together in a colourful world

Physiotherapist Dr. Sarah Haag joins me to talk about the important role all health professionals play in assessing and treating people with urinary incontinence. She discusses tips on how professionals can help in assessing, treating and when to acknowledge your limitations and refer on. We also have a tangent chat about abdominal separation (diastasis rectus abdominis).

Thank you so much to this episode's sponsor - Kenhub - see below for deals

For a 20% discount on on all Kenhub Premium learning plans: khub.me/loriforner

For a 20% discount on illustration licenses - quote "Lori Forner" when emailing Kenhub to enquire at contact@kenhub.com

Understanding and Treating Incontinence - book by Sarah Haag

Join these three amazing physios discuss the guidelines on returning to running after having a baby they developed in March 2019. Find out why 3 months postpartum is a better cut-off for consideration in returning to running and a summary of their key points. If you haven't read the guidelines, they are free and available HERE (guidelines)!

Check out Tom Goom at www.running-physio.com

Grainne Donnelly at www.absolute.physio

Emma Brockwell at www.physiomum.co.uk

Sandy Hilton and I discuss our top tips on how to effectively search for that journal article you are looking for. It takes time, can be confusing at times, can lead you down rabbit holes but there are ways to work it out...you just need to be persistent. Hope you enjoy.

Check out my Instagram @pelvicwod for the Infographic summarising these tips, as well as www.loriforner.com

Back from the archive - the best parts of a talk with Prof Peter O'Sullivan on pain, particularly pelvic girdle pain, and how our biases as professionals may impact on how we assess and treat persistent pain.

Peter's Youtube video on PGP

Prof Peter O'Sullivan

Be sure to listen to Part 1 - this is a continuation of our conversation on levator ani avulsion with urogynaecologist, Prof. Hans Peter Dietz.

A discussion on surgical management will be available to Patrons of the podcast. Consider pledging by clicking on the button "Be a patron" on the Podbean app for The Pelvic Health Podcast or click here and press the green button "Become a Patron".

Prof Dietz

Levator ani avulsion model (in which he uses to discuss some concepts but you can't "see" it on a podcast! :))

Urogynaecologist, Prof Hans Peter Dietz, joins the podcast to discuss a specific type of pelvic floor muscle damage sustained during childbirth, levator ani muscle avulsion injuries. This is Part 1, where we discuss what it is, how research and education has developed around this topic and I leave you on a cliff hanger regarding forceps delivery in obstetrics and will continue with Part 2.

Enjoy and thanks for listening!

Prof Dietz Bio

Physiotherapist Julie Wiebe and I have a very candid conversation about how impact activities like double unders (skipping) and running influence the pelvic floor and how we may use what research we have, as well as our clinical minds, to address these biomechanics on dysfunction like stress urinary incontinence.

If you would like to become a patron and support the podcast, head to Podbean.com or click the money-bag icon in the Podbean app. As a thank you, you get access to patron-only episodes and the one of latest ones discusses some more ideas surrounding double unders. Thanks for listening everyone!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28675537

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27794169

https://www.juliewiebept.com/about/

The Tweed Hospital Physiotherapy Dept brings the 7th annual physio symposium on June 22, 2019 and I am honoured to be invited to talk. Listen for more details and join the fun! Ticket purchase below. Only 80 tickets available.

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/womens-mens-and-pelvic-health-physiotherapy-symposium-tickets-55054469400?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

Associated Professor of exercise physiology at Staffordshire University, UK, Dr. Jacky Forsyth, is a prominent researcher and speaker in the area of women’s exercise and health. Her research is centred on the interactive effect of ovarian hormones, exercise, and bone - which is what we discuss today on this episode.

One of her research priorities is to promote, raise awareness, and advance understanding of the key influences that impact the exercising female. She is vice chair of the Women in Sport and Exercise Academic Network (WISEAN), the aim of which is ‘To grow, strengthen, and promote research on women in sport and exercise, with the ultimate goal of optimising women’s athletic success and their participation’. Jacky publishes regularly in peer-reviewed journals in her field.

WISEAN

Women in Sport and Exercise Conference 2019

The Exercising Female; Science and it's Application, 1st ed.

Published articles by Jacky

Dr. Chris Gillespie, colorectal surgeon, and physiotherapist Allison Bryant discuss what exactly is functional constipation, potential causes, assessment within the medical and allied health fields, as well as treatment options.

Links:

The Brisbane Functional Colorectal Conference

Dr. Chris Gillespie

Allison Bryant

Darcia Ondrovcik is a personal trainer, coach, world athlete, and domestic violence survivor and ambassador. In this episode, she shares her own story, including how she has used fitness to help her break free from domestic and family violence and how she has used this to help others.

If you, or someone you know, needs help, please reach out for help. The following links may be helpful, depending on where you are located. For those outside of these countries, please search online for help (most often you can clear the internet search history if necessary).

Australia: White Ribbon Australia www.whiteribbon.org.au 1 800 737 732 USA: The National Domestic Violence Hotline www.thehotline.org 1 800 799 7233 Canada: www.endingviolencecanada.org

Other links from this episode:

Beauty In Strength www.beautyinstrength.com.au RUBY (through the PCYC) www.pcyc.org.au/youth-and-community/personal-and-leadership-development/ruby/ Allison Baden-Clay Foundation www.allisonbadenclayfoundation.org.au

Victoria Cullen is a Sexual Function Specialist and joins me today to talk about her passion - helping men recover their sexual health after prostate cancer surgery. If you or a family member are looking into this surgery, if you have already had this surgery, or if you are a health professional working with these men, listen up! So much great information.

Find out more about her and her free webinars at:

https://www.atouchysubject.com

Dr. Jennifer Kruger is a senior research fellow at The Auckland Bioengineering Institute at The University of Auckland and has been studying various ways to measure intra-vaginal and intra-abdominal pressures (IAP) in order to help women continue to exercise whilst taking care of their pelvic floor. In this episode, she gives us insight into the development of the latest pressure transducer and how it will help women in the future, as well as her thoughts on IAP in exercise.

If you haven't read her research before, here is a Pubmed link to her amazing work:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Kruger%20J%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=23640001

Physiotherapist, Sue Croft, finally joins the podcast to discuss information around pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence surgeries, among other pelvic floor surgeries. Find out how a physiotherapy can help before thinking of surgery, how "watchful waiting" is a treatment option, how physiotherapy can help before you have surgery, immediately after and in the long term. We discuss returning to running after surgery, pessaries, and the latest edition of her new books, which can be found at www.pelvicfloorrecovery.com and her blog at https://suecroftphysiotherapistblog.com/

For her 18-page PDF she has put together, head over to www.loriforner.com and find the podcast episode!

Dr. Melanie Morin is a physiotherapist and top researcher from Quebec, Canada working with and researching women with pelvic floor dysfunction. She joins me today to talk about her latest project on the efficacy of multimodal physiotherapy treatement compared to overnight topical lidocaine in women suffering from provoked vestibulodynia - so essentially women experiencing painful sex, what physio can do and well it works. This was an amazing study (click on the underlined title above) and if you are not aware of her previous research, go look her up and enjoy the episode.

Prof. Don Wilson (Urogynaecologist and researcher) joins Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Dr. Kellie Tathem, and physiotherapist, Natalie McConochie, to discuss the pelvic floor dysfunction risk calculator UR-Choice. See bios , links and more info at www.loriforner.com

Associate Professor, Men's health physio, and businessman Craig Allingham joins the podcast to talk about improving communication with men to help them benefit from the evidence based treatment being recommended in physiotherapy, specifically for those recovering from prostate cancer. His website is www.craigallingham.com and his books can be found at www.prostaterecovermap.com

Paula Hindle, aka Yummy Mummy Physio, has an extensive background in exercise science as well as pelvic floor and women's health physiotherapy. In this episode, Paula discusses some of the controversies surrounding exercise in pregnant and postpartum women and how she works with personal trainers and gyms to infiltrate their minds :). Check her out at www.yummymummyphysio.com.au

Pelvic health physio and stand up comedian, Elaine Miller (better known as Gusset Grippers), discusses how she is using humour to increase global awareness and support of pelvic floor dysfunctions, including the new collaborative campaign called PelvicRoar. These smart women are going to change things!

To thank the patrons of the podcast, I review a study on Inter-rater reliability of the modified oxford scale and the Peritron in assessing pelvic floor muscle strength. If you are interested, download the Podbean app, find this podcast and click "be a patron" to donate to support the podcast and access these patron-only episodes.

Sandy and Bronnie join the podcast today to discuss graded exposure for musculoskeletal issues, including (of course) sexual pain. We discuss what it is, why it is useful and how we can go about implementing it in a variety of pain conditions.

Amy is an advocate for bringing women, clinicians and researchers together to support women affected by birth trauma. In this episode, we discuss the role the Australasian Birth Trauma Association is playing in supporting women with psychological and physical trauma, as well as briefly touch on ABTA’s other goals in advocacy and professional partnership.

Jodie Dunne, a sexologist (counsellor, coach, and educator) joins me to discuss the basics of self-touch and redefining our ideas about masturbation. This episode was sparked by my patients who have painful sex but is great for anyone with genitals.

Physiotherapist and PhD candidate, Delena Caagbay, joins us to discuss her research on pelvic organ prolapse in women in Nepal, interesting findings and the joys of a PhD journey.

Sarah Bradford, mom, personal trainer and founder of The Luna Method, shares her experience with IVF and how she now helps women through the mental and physical journey

Re-release of Cath Willis, who is here to discuss the role physiotherapists play in dysfunctions of the breast, including lactation. Enjoy

Brianna and April both join me today to discuss mindset around exercise, training and competition. This is for anyone who strives to do better than the day before. Often this comes at a price, especially when we push beyond the boundaries of our bodies.

Haley Shevener shares with us her motivating story of her journey on accepting pelvic organ prolapse and her return to fitness. Haley is a mom, pre and postnatal fitness professional, educator and supporter and I am so happy she could share her story

Girls Gone Strong's Coaching & Training Women Academy bring us this special episode today. Molly is back to teach us how we can all be coaches, the importance of a professional's role in body embracement and empowerment in childbearing women and more

Jilly Bond, unbelievably smart clinical specialist physio and creator of The Happy Bladder Course, discusses HOW the wand works for pelvic floor muscle tension and pain. Spoiler alert - it's not trigger points.

Dr. Melissa Farmer, a clinical psychologist and neuroscientist, joins Dr. Sandy Hilton and myself to discuss what is considered normal in intimacy, pain mechanisms involved when sex becomes painful and pain as an emotional memory.

Dr. Trish Neumann, PhD, FACP, is a Specialist Women's, Men's and Pelvic Health Physio. She joins me in discussing the role of pessaries in pelvic organ prolapse and physio management, the caution in use and promotion, as well as the new Uni course

Do you work with pre and postnatal women? Molly Galbraith from Girls Gone Strong joins Australian physiotherapists Marika Hart and Heba Shaheed to give us the down low on the upcoming launch of the Pre and Postnatal Coaching Certification program

Dr. Sandy Hilton discusses the basics of how to read a research paper, what is good and bad and where to find it. This is a must for any evidence-based professional in the health field.

Physiotherapist Michelle Lyons talks about the basics of endo, signs and symptoms, how it can be treated medically and the role physio plays in helping women with this condition

Dr. Judith Thompson joins me to discuss how she uses transabdominal ultrasound to help in her assessment of how the pelvic floor muscles work, how IAP may play a role, research on whether women should do sit-ups and what Curtin Uni offers

No, we are not talking weightlifting or powerlifting for the vagina. We are talking about small, discreet weights to help pelvic floor muscle strength, function and coordination. Join Fiona Rogers and myself (Lori) for a great chat on the dos and donts