Women's Health
Services
Pregnancy &
birth preparation
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Pregnancy is a time of huge physical change and demand on the body. It is common for women to experience sickness, pain or discomfort and pelvic floor dysfunction which can significantly impact your ability to participate in daily activities including exercise. Despite these challenges, pregnancy is an important time to try and prepare your body to birth and recover from birth. It’s about empowering yourself with knowledge; particularly of the amazing ability of the female body to labour and birth.
Physiotherapy can guide you through pelvic floor muscle coordination and relaxation techniques, perineal massage, birthing positions, and strategies for pushing. This preparation helps reduce the risk of pelvic floor trauma and sets the foundation for smoother postpartum recovery.
Incontinence & Urgency
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Incontinence is the involuntary leakage of urine, commonly during coughing, sneezing or exercise. Urinary urgency is the sudden and overwhelming urge to urinate without warning. The same can occur for the bowel causing faecal incontinence or urgency. These symptoms affect many women after pregnancy, birth, or later in life but are not something you have to put up with.
Pelvic floor physiotherapy provides effective, evidence-based treatment for incontinence and urgency. Through targeted pelvic floor training, bladder and bowel retraining, and tailored lifestyle advice, physiotherapy helps restore bladder and bowel control and improve quality of life.
Postpartum recovery
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The postnatal period is an important time of healing amongst the immense life change of having a newborn baby and all of the challenges that come with that! Following pregnancy and birth, women may experience changes such as pelvic floor weakness, incontinence or urgency, prolapse, abdominal separation, vulval discomfort, or muscle and joint aches and pains.
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A post-partum women's health physiotherapy assessment is important for every woman who has given birth (whether you’ve had a vaginal or caesarean birth) regardless of the presence of symptoms or not. It is a time to debrief your birth, assess your recovery, support safe return to exercise, address pelvic floor and abdominal function, and guide you through rebuilding strength for long term pelvic and musculoskeletal health.
Persistent pelvic pain
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Endometriosis and persistent pelvic pain are more than painful periods. They can be debilitating and are often associated with bladder pain or dysfunction, bowel dysfunction, pain with intercourse, fatigue and can significantly impact quality of life.
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Physiotherapy provides strategies to reduce pelvic floor overactivity, improve pelvic floor function and manage pain. Through individualised exercise and education, physiotherapy can help reduce symptoms and support better quality of life alongside your wider care team.
Prolapse & pessary fitting
Pelvic organ prolapse occurs when the bladder, uterus, or bowel shifts down in the pelvis, pressing into the vaginal walls due to weakened pelvic floor support. This can cause symptoms such as heaviness, dragging, or difficulty emptying the bladder or bowel.
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Pelvic health physiotherapy provides assessment and guidance on pelvic floor strengthening, lifestyle modifications and strategies to reduce pressure on the pelvic floor.
A vaginal pessary is a silicone device inserted into the vagina to support prolapse. This is an option for many women with prolapse but requires individualised fitting.
Post-menopause care
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Menopause brings hormonal changes that can affect pelvic floor strength, bladder control, vaginal tissue health, and overall wellbeing. Some women notice new or worsening symptoms such as dryness, discomfort, prolapse or urinary leakage.
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Pelvic health physiotherapy supports women through this transition by providing education and lifestyle advice as well as addressing pelvic floor strength, bladder and bowel function, and musculoskeletal health. Physiotherapy can help improve and maintain pelvic health, confidence, and comfort in post-menopausal years.