Provider Spotlight: Functional Phyzio and Performance Therapy

My absolutely favorite part of working in the field of maternal health is connecting to other like minded professionals. I think it makes Carolina Birth and Wellness a better doula agency, it makes me a better a doula, and hopefully it helps our clients! Different professionals who have similar goals of advancing care during the pre-conception, birth, and the postpartum period further build up the options for clients.

When I connected with Dr. Norah Whitten of Functional Phyzio and Performance Therapy, I knew she was someone that our clients needed to meet!

Her interest in athletes as well as pregnant and postpartum folks, I knew she would offer an important perspective when it comes to care for our clients! With her background as an athlete and mom, she is able to bring her PT knowledge to her clients to allow them to lead active and healthy lifestyles, without pain.

PLUS as an added bonus, we are teaming up with Dr. Norah to host Emotional and Physical Prep for Birth and Postpartum on August 21st at 11am! We will be discussing various ways to prepare both your mind and body!

SO, let’s get into the fun of meeting Dr. Norah Whitten!

What made you first interested in women's health, specifically physical therapy?

I always knew I wanted to pursue a career in the health and fitness field. I loved learning about the body and how all the parts work together. I also knew I didn’t want a desk job so physical therapy seemed like the perfect fit. I more specifically became interested in women’s health after I had already been practicing because I started to see a gap in care between the orthopedic and pelvic floor PT worlds. The pelvic floor does not function separately from the rest of the body so it shouldn’t be treated that way. I also really felt like there was a gap in pregnancy and postpartum care, especially in regards to continuing with higher level exercise like running and crossfit workouts during pregnancy and then how to return to these types of exercise during the postpartum period.

What is something that you wish everyone knew as they enter into the pregnancy and postpartum stage of life as related to physical therapy?

It’s not all about kegals! The pelvic floor muscles are just like any other muscle in that they need to not only contract but relax as well! The pelvic floor muscles need to lengthen and “get out of the way” for birth so working on stretching is super important. In the postpartum period it’s also not always necessary to be doing lots and lots of kegals to retrain the pelvic floor. While initially they may need to be done, the pelvic floor works with the body during breathing and functional movements like squats, deadlifts, carries ect. So training the whole body and incorporating breathing into our movements is also going to be important for pelvic floor function.

What are some ways that you can help prepare someone prenatally for giving birth?

There are a few things we can work on! Pelvic floor stretches are a great way to get the muscles to lengthen and open the pelvis. These include things like sitting in a deep squat, happy baby pose or child’s pose. I also like incorporate deep diaphragmatic breaths to really encourage the pelvic floor muscles to relax. We can also review labor and pushing positions to encourage a more open pelvis and potentially decrease brith related injuries. Many women don’t know that they don’t have to lie on their back with their knees up (although they certainly can if they want!) we also can perform or teach patients to perform a perineal massage which helps to stretch and prepare the tissues for birth. While we can’t prevent everything, some studies have shown starting to perform perineal massage at 36 weeks 3-4x per week can decrease the risk of perineal tears.

Ideally, when would you like to see a client in the postpartum period?

If the client is not having any issues such as leaking or incontinence, prolapse, pain ect. then I usually like to seem them around 4-6 weeks. Many women think they are in the clear after 6 weeks and that is not the case! There are definitely things that they can and should start working on prior to 6 weeks like breathing and posture exercises so seeing a PT early on can help provide the needed guidance to make sure each mamma is doing what’s right for her body! It’s also not advised to just jump right back into life and exercise full force at 6 weeks so it’s important to progress slowly and build up strength in the correct way. If someone is having any of the issues mentioned above, they can come in sooner around 2-3 weeks to start addressing these.

When you are not with clients, where can we find you?

Usually working out with my husband and my son who tags along with us to the gym (although he’s 1 so he doesn’t have much of a choice at this point!) Outside of the gym I love finding a good tv show to get hooked on as well as taking long walks around the neighborhood!