Tonight’s show focused on pelvic floor health- a particularly
important subject for those who have given birth. Our first guest tonight was
Tonya Saah. Tonya, a local homeschooling mother of two, shared her story of dealing
with cystocele (herniated bladder) and uterine prolapse with us. She shared
with us how her midwife and her knowledge of her body helped her to deal with
her fear and pain, and shared her story of healing with us. She first shared
her frustrations in trying to get medical care, and how she dealt with these difficulties of seeking
help, and then her decision to avoid surgical care in favor of an internal vaginal support device (or pessary)
and pelvic floor exercises. Finally, Tonya discussed the difficulties of
dealing with her new body, and accepting the changes in what she is able to do.
Our next
guests were Dr. Lennox Hoyte and Jessica McKinney. Dr. Hoyte is a fellowship
trained specialist in Urogynecology and Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive
Surgery. He has specialized in treating women with prolapse, bladder and bowel
incontinence, overactive bladder, childbirth related pelvic floor injury, and
complications related to vaginal mesh surgeries. Jessica McKinney is the
co-found and director of The Center for Women’s Health at Marathon Physical
Therapy & Sports Medicine, as well as the Executive Director of Women’s
Action Initiative, which is adopting the Share Mayflowers as its flagship
project. Dr. Hoyte began with a basic
discussion of anatomy- providing us with a brief 101 on the pelvic floor and its
purpose. He also presented some complications that individuals can face because
of issues with the pelvic floor, such as incontinence, pain, and urinary
frequency.
Next, Jessica
and Dr. Hoyte discussed some steps that women can take to protect their pelvic
floor, including properly performed exercises and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Jessica gave
us some tips for performing a healthy pelvic floor exercises, including doing a
wider variety of exercises than just Kegels, especially exercises focused on
relaxing the pelvic floor muscle. She also suggested some concrete advice for
going about pelvic floor exercises. Jessica also discussed the transverse abdominis,
which is the pelvic floor and respiratory diaphragm, which Jessica states are hardwired to work together-
a phenomenon which can be utilized to strengthen our pelvic floor, and the
importance of developing a greater understanding of these muscle groups.
Share Mayflowers
will be addressing “very serious pelvic health topics affected women and girls
at every life stage” throught the month of May. Visit their website in the link
for more info!
Hab It Pelvic Floor Exercises
Website for Dr. Lennox Hoyte
Hab It Pelvic Floor Exercises
Website for Dr. Lennox Hoyte
TONIGHT’S RIGHT: Every woman has the right to unrestricted access
to all available records about her pregnancy, labor, birth, postpartum care and
infant; to obtain a full copy of these records; and to receive help in
understanding them, if necessary. To learn more about your rights, please visit
ChildbirthConnection.org.
BIRTH IN THE NEWS:
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