During pregnancy your pelvic floor is very important, especially leading up to birth. Whether you are planning a natural birth or c-section. Doing some simple exercises can help tighten your pelvic floor muscles to help avoid the symptoms associated with a 'weak pelvic floor ..read more

The amount of weight put on during pregnancy varies per person but there are guidelines as to how much weight is acceptable to put on during pregnancy ..read more

Pregnancy can be a joyful time but unfortunately can bring some unwanted aches & pains. Osteopaths work closely along pregnant mother's to guide them through the process and alleviate those unwanted pains. These aches and pains can be from mechanical causes like the growing baby putting strains on muscles, joints & ligaments and/or from all the hormonal changes that occur with pregnancy. Osteopaths also like to work along side expectant mother's before these issues arise to try to prevent them occurring in the first place ..read more

Growing a tiny human is tough work. Let alone if it is baby number 2 or 3 and as you are chasing other toddlers, plus working and general day to day life. It is quite common in the first trimester to be very tired. Generally this eases, along with morning sickness as you start trimester 2. Around 28 weeks your midwife or obstetrician will order some blood tests to test your ferritin/iron stores, along with other things. This is because at 28 weeks your baby draws the most iron from you, leaving you tired and depleted ..read more

During normal digestion, food travels down the esophagus (the tube between your mouth and stomach), through a muscular valve called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), and into the stomach. The LES is part of the doorway between your esophagus and your stomach ..read more

Typically your iron levels & stores are tested at around 28 weeks and possibly at the beginning of pregnancy and at the 36 weeks blood tests. As explained in the previous blog, they are retested at 28 weeks due to this stage of pregnancy is when your little one, steals the most iron from you to grow. However if your midwife or obstetrician deems necessary, you may have additional blood tests at different stages of pregnancy if low iron is suspected ..read more

Sleep is a vital part of our day. Whether you are pregnant, a new mum or not, sleep is essential. Quality sleep is our time overnight for our parasympathetic nervous system to do its job of ‘rest and repair’. Yet for many of us, a solid 8hours of uninterrupted, quality sleep in not happening. Whether its struggling to fall asleep, waking up wide awake at 1am, going to the bathroom multiple times, or you are uncomfortable during sleep, all these factors effect the quality of your sleep ..read more

Have you got aches, pains and uncomfortable niggles? Unfortunately pregnancy can be a time of bodily discomfort, with new and not-so-nice things to deal with. Pregnancy osteopath Sarah Boughtwood (sarahboughtwoodosteopath.co.nz) shares some of the more common aches and pains in pregnancy, and what you can do to help yourself ..read more

One of the most common complaints Osteopaths treat postnatally is mid back/bra line region pain. This is due to a few factors. First being the increased size of the breast tissue. This added weight on the front of the chest pulls on the back, neck and anterior/front of your neck muscles and spinal joints ..read more

For most women, by the third trimester it becomes hard to get comfortable at night. This is due to the bigger belly size and the strain it places on your muscles, joints and ligaments. Therefore it is very common by the third trimester that you end up sleeping with a mountain of pillows. I recommend the following area’s to put pillows to get the best nights sleep ..read more