The postnatal period is an important time for your body. Your body undergoes many changes during pregnancy and continues to change in the weeks and months after the delivery. Addressing any issues that occur at this time is important to ensure a full recovery and optimal health, enabling you to experience the joys of motherhood and prevent problems later in life.
What is a Mummy MOT?
The Mummy MOT is a specialist post-natal assessment recommended for all women following delivery – whether 6 weeks or many years after. Already part of every new mother’s standard post-natal rehabilitation in France, trained specialists assesses the strength and function of the tummy and pelvic floor muscles to help prevent long-term childbirth related complaints using a restorative exercise programme to regain stability and optimal function.
What does the Mummy MOT include?
- 1-hour post-natal assessment with a Specialist Post-natal Health Physiotherapist
- In depth check of posture, pelvic floor strength and tummy gap
- Assessment of any physical problems arising from pregnancy and birth
- A bespoke post-natal recovery programme devised especially for you, your lifestyle and fitness goals. This includes specific and safe post-natal exercises to improve stability, posture and core strength.
Who needs a Mummy MOT??
After having a baby, half of all women have a weakness in either their tummy or pelvic floor area – over a third suffer with chronic pelvic pain. This creates instability and poor core strength resulting in altered transfer load, back pain, pelvic pain, bladder and bowel weakness.
Childbirth can lead to pelvic floor trauma and dysfunction which can cause bladder and bowel issues and/or pain. Bladder symptoms may include urinary frequency, difficulty controlling the bladder or bowels leading to urgency, frequency and/or incontinence. Some experience difficulty in fully emptying their bladder or bowels. Pain can range from discomfort on urination/defeacation, including chronic pelvic pain, pudendal nerve injury (the nerve which supplies your bladder and pelvic floor), painful scar tissue from perineal tears or episiotomy or pain with sexual intercourse.
Abdominal muscle separation (Diastasis Recti) often occurs during in the third trimester of pregnancy. It is caused by an over-stretch of the abdominal muscles resulting in a separation that can occur between the left and right sides. Diastasis recti may make it harder for you to regain your tummy tone and return to your safe exercise. An abdominal assessment to determine if your muscles are stretched or separated will determine which exercises are suitable for you. A progressive exercise program can promote full recovery and restored care strength.
A Mummy MOT helps women avoid these distressing and often embarrassing symptoms. A pelvic floor assessment is important to establish the cause of these symptoms. The assessment by a specialist physiotherapist of the tummy gap and pelvic floor will enable the creation of a bespoke post-natal recovery programme plan devised especially for the woman, her lifestyle and fitness goals, including specific and safe post-natal exercises to regain stability and optimum function.
Following your assessment appropriate treatment can be provided which may include:
- Relaxation and breathing techniques.
- Pelvic floor re-training and strengthening exercises.
- Specific exercises to reduce and restore abdominal strength and tummy gap.
- Provision of pelvic floor educators/muscle stimulators to improve your activation and power of your pelvic floor contraction.
- Internal manual therapy techniques to relax the pelvic floor muscles, including trigger point release.
- Myo-fascial stretches, scar tissue massage or neural mobilisations.
- Myo-fascial release of the connective tissue of the abdomen, hips and pelvis which support the pelvic floor.
- Provision of vaginal dilators, pelvic floor educators or muscle stimulators to assist in the release and relaxation of pelvic muscles.
- Advice on toileting and lifestyle changes.
- Provision of general exercise to achieve core strength and recovery.
Who does the Mummy MOT?
Louise is certified and specifically trained to complete the ‘Mummy MOT’ assessment and subsequent treatment and management. She is a listed practitioner on the Mummy MOT Register (see themummymot.com).
Louise is incredibly passionate about raising awareness about Pelvic Health and loves any opportunities to educate and/or inform Mums (and Mum-to-be’s) and other health professionals.