What is perineal massage? Perineal massage is a manual technique that you can perform in order to help promote pelvic floor muscle relaxation during birth. This can reduce the risk of perineal tear or the higher grade tears such as 3rd or 4th degree. This manual release technique addresses the skin and deep tissues around the opening of the vagina by helping prepare you to relax into a lengthening sensation. Through utilization of perineal massage, we hope to reduce the risk of perineal tearing and improve the possibility of pelvic pain following birth.  Download our free perineal massage ..read more

Each month for our newsletter, the Lady Blurb, we'll share answers to some pelvic health questions you've submitted. The questions below were taken directly from you! To submit a question for next month, comment below or email us at contact@ladybirdpt.com. Sign up for The Lady Blurb! **The answers to these questions are not meant to be used as medical advice. These answers are not meant to take the place of a skilled physical therapist or discussion with your medical provider. If you are experiencing concerning symptoms, please contact your physician.** This month, we’re answering: Can holdin ..read more

My name is Jen Craver and I’ve loved running for a long time. I started running in middle school, when my friends joined our school’s track team and I tagged along. I ran with school teams during high school and very casually during college and in my early 20’s. When my husband and I moved to Austin in 2015, I joined a running group as a way to meet people in the city. I found some of the best friends in that group, and a large part of my social life has revolved around running ever since.  Checking out the bump post run, December 2018 I found out I was pregnant in August 2018. At that t ..read more

This International Women’s Day, I wish you all: A safe place to feel all the hard feelings that come with a holiday like this in a time like ours. A supportive community to hold you up when the weight of what’s happening in our country and around the world feels too heavy. The strength to continue fighting for the world you want for both yourself and the next generation. But most of all, I wish you hope. International Women's Day, celebrated annually on March 8, celebrates the Women's Rights Movement. This holiday, first celebrated in 1909, focuses our attention on issues like ..read more

Coughing stresses your pelvic floor and that’s OK. I’ve fielded so many emails from patients these past few weeks who are really worried that their cough fueled by a cold, the flu, RSV or COVID is going to worsen their pelvic floor condition. Here’s the thing - a respiratory virus will stress your pelvic floor, and that’s OK. It’s common for folks to notice a worsening of symptoms like urinary incontinence and heaviness in the pelvis during a respiratory virus, but that doesn’t mean that whatever existing impairment is getting worse. Once you recover, your pelvic floor should as well. What we ..read more

Forming good habits is a lifelong journey. Forming good habits for your pelvic floor? Even more so. In honor of New Years, we’re listing our 9 pelvic health New Years Resolutions to attain optimal pelvic health in 2024 and explaining why each of these habits help support your pelvis. Want to know why pelvic floor physical therapists are obsessed with water, squatty pottys and lube? Want to learn how to modify your habits to take care of your bladder, bowels and sexual function in 2024? Keep reading! 2024 Pelvic Health New Years Resolutions To Achieve Optimal Pelvic Health Next Year 1. Drink mo ..read more

Each month for our newsletter, the Lady Blurb, we'll share answers to some pelvic health questions you've submitted. The questions below were taken directly from you! To submit a question for next month, comment below or email us at contact@ladybirdpt.com. Sign up for The Lady Blurb! **The answers to these questions are not meant to be used as medical advice. These answers are not meant to take the place of a skilled physical therapist or discussion with your medical provider. If you are experiencing concerning symptoms, please contact your physician.** This month, we’re answering: Am I suppo ..read more

Despite popular belief, running isn’t inherently bad for your knees or your pelvic floor. With that said, the way you run can significantly alter the amount of stress placed on your pelvic floor muscles. In this piece, we’ll dive into whether running is good or bad for your pelvic floor, how your pelvic floor is impacted by running, exercises and drills you can incorporate into training to support your pelvic health and ways to modify running form to protect yourself while you run. Is running good or bad for my pelvic floor? Running itself is neither good or bad for your pelvic floor, but the ..read more

Each month for our newsletter, the Lady Blurb, we'll share answers to some pelvic health questions you've submitted. The questions below were taken directly from you! To submit a question for next month, comment below or email us at contact@ladybirdpt.com. Sign up for The Lady Blurb! **The answers to these questions are not meant to be used as medical advice. These answers are not meant to take the place of a skilled physical therapist or discussion with your medical provider. If you are experiencing concerning symptoms, please contact your physician.** This month, we’re answering: How can I ..read more

A few times a week, we get a call from a patient who is having a hard time getting a referral from their provider for physical therapy during pregnancy. They’re often confused by why they need a referral, why they’re struggling to get a referral, and why an out of network clinic requires a referral. In this blog post, we’re going to answer all of these questions and guide you through three steps you can take to get the care you need during pregnancy if your provider is hesitant to refer to pelvic floor physical therapy. What is a referral? First things first, it’s important to understand what ..read more