Postnatal Physiotherapy

Having a baby transforms your life completely, but the physical demands of pregnancy and childbirth can leave new mothers navigating persistent aches and pains, urinary leakage, or core weakness. Postnatal physiotherapy is a specialist branch of healthcare dedicated to evaluating and restoring your body’s function after delivery.

While general physiotherapy addresses broader musculoskeletal injuries, specialist postnatal and pelvic health physiotherapy focuses specifically on the complex recovery of the pelvic floor, abdominal wall, and altered posture. Choosing a women’s health practice such as Recover Physio, with physiotherapists who have specialised postnatal and pelvic health training, ensures your rehabilitation is safe, targeted and tailored to your individual needs and birth experience.

Every childbirth experience is unique, and physical symptoms can manifest in various ways. We treat a wide range of post-partum issues, including:

• Diastasis Recti (DRAM): The physical separation of the rectus abdominis muscles that occurs during every pregnancy, leaving your core feeling weak or unstable postnatally.
• Musculoskeletal and Postural Conditions: Lower back pain, pelvic girdle pain, thoracic stiffness, and neck strain resulting from feeding posture or carrying your baby.
• Scar Tissue Restriction: Tightness, discomfort, or hypersensitivity following a caesarean section, episiotomy, or perineal tearing.
• Pelvic Floor Dysfunction: Weakness or increased tension in the pelvic floor muscles.
• Urinary incontinence: Leakage when coughing, sneezing or exercising, or a sudden, urgent need to get to the bathroom. 
• Overactive bladder: A frequent and urgent need to urinate during the day or night, sometimes accompanied by difficulty delaying the need to get to the bathroom.
• Pelvic organ prolapse: A feeling of heaviness, pressure or a bulge in the vagina, which can occur when the pelvic organs are not adequately supported by the pelvic floor.
• Core weakness post C-Section: Core weakness post C-section: Reduced abdominal strength following a caesarean section  requires  support to safely rebuild deep abdominal strength and restore core function.
• Wrist and Thumb Strain: Conditions such as De Quervain’s tenosynovitis caused by repetitive lifting and holding of infants.

Knowing when to seek support is key to an efficient recovery.

Postnatal physiotherapy can begin soon after birth, with appropriate assessment, advice and gentle exercises tailored to your individual recovery. Pelvic floor exercises and gentle abdominal activation can often be introduced early, progressing gradually as your body heals and your symptoms allow.

We recommend seeking a postnatal physiotherapist promptly if you experience any of the following symptoms:

• Urinary incontinence when coughing, sneezing, or lifting
• A sudden or strong urge to urinate, with a feeling that you need to rush to the bathroom, sometimes accompanied by leakage.
• Waking during the night to urinate more than once.
• A feeling of drag, pressure, or heaviness in the vagina
• Back, hip, or pubic bone pain
• Painful sexual intercourse

Planning ahead during pregnancy is a great way to safeguard your post-partum health. Read our Antenatal Physiotherapy guide to learn more.

Your first appointment at Recover Physio is designed to be comprehensive, collaborative, and entirely focused on your individual needs.

We begin with a detailed discussion regarding your medical history and childbirth experience. We will review your delivery method, whether vaginal, instrumental, or caesarean, and discuss labour duration, perineal tears, episiotomy, or surgical complications. Your therapist will ask about current symptoms such as pelvic pain, bladder leakage, and pelvic heaviness. 

With your consent, we will carry out a physical assessment of your posture, abdominal wall separation, the strength and function of the muscles supporting your pelvis, and your pelvic floor muscles.

Once your assessment is complete, your therapist will create a personalised recovery plan tailored to your goals, whether that means carrying your infant without back pain or confidently returning to the activities you enjoy.

Your treatment plan will combine hands-on therapy such as soft tissue release or scar tissue massage with a tailored home exercise program. We establish safe exercise timelines, ensuring your core and pelvic floor are adequately conditioned before you gradually progress to exercise. Above all, we provide practical self-management strategies so you feel confident in your daily movement.