The Pelvic Health Podcast

Reviving your sex life after childbirth with Kathe Wallace

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 Howardhttp://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.
 
 

How sharing stories around the world will change women's wellbeing with Jenny Wickford and Delena Caagbay

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
 
 
 

Incontinence for non-pelvic health physios with Dr. Sarah Haag

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

Return to running post-pregnancy guidelines with Tom Goom, Grainne Donnelly and Emma Brockwell

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

Tips on searching for journal articles

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 
 

Pelvic girdle pain with Prof Peter O'Sullivan from the Archive

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

Part 2 Levator avulsion with Prof Peter Dietz

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! :))

Levator ani avulsion with Prof Hans Peter Dietz Part 1

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

Double Unders, Running and SUI with Julie Wiebe

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/
 

Gold Coast Pelvic Health Physio Symposium

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
 

Hormones, exercise and bone health with Dr Jacky Forsyth

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
 

Functional Constipation with Dr Chris Gillespie and Allison Bryant

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

Domestic and family violence support with Darcia Ondrovcik

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 732USA: The National Domestic Violence Hotline www.thehotline.org 1 800 799 7233Canada: www.endingviolencecanada.org 
Other links from this episode:
Beauty In Strength  www.beautyinstrength.com.auRUBY (through the PCYC) www.pcyc.org.au/youth-and-community/personal-and-leadership-development/ruby/Allison Baden-Clay Foundation www.allisonbadenclayfoundation.org.au
 

Sexual recovery for men after prostate cancer surgery with Victoria Cullen

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

Measuring vaginal pressures with Dr. Jennifer Kruger

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
 
 

Physiotherapy for Gynaecological and Colorectal Surgery with Sue Croft

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!