1. HOW CAN TREATMENTS HELP YOU DURING PREGNANCY?

If you are reading this, you are probably pregnant, so first of all, congratulations!

You are about to experience a wonderful and sometimes complicated stage, so both you and your partner or the person you choose to accompany you during this time will need a lot of support and information. Our main advice is to surround yourselves with a team of healthcare professionals with whom you feel comfortable and who, under no circumstances, make you feel ill or different.

That is why, from specialized Physiotherapy, we can support you and help you feel more secure during pregnancy and in preparation for childbirth.

After assessing your posture and pelvic floor, we will design specific exercises for you to strengthen your internal musculature, address any discomfort you may have due to pregnancy, and if you wish, we will teach you and your partner how to perform perineal massage and exercises to practice at home.

2. WHAT WILL WE WORK ON DURING SESSIONS?

Every woman has her own physical and emotional needs, and we must adapt to them, not the other way around. Here we will show you a summary of everything that can be done; however, it is important to know that you may not need everything, and in that case, we will propose and agree on your sessions together.

From week 20 onwards, it usually consists of:

• An assessment of your posture, breathing, and pelvic floor, designing a specific exercise plan based on the results of this assessment.
• Treatment of discomfort related to pregnancy, such as lumbar or dorsal pain, cramps, pelvic pain, etc. As mentioned before, in this case, it is not necessary to wait until the last trimester; it is advisable to see your physiotherapist as soon as symptoms begin or even earlier if you know you have a predisposition to such disorders.

Many times we see each other at week 20 for a check-up, and if there are no pathologies or they are resolved quickly, we schedule another appointment at weeks 35, 37, and 38 (or 39).

At the same time, I encourage you to stay active and healthy in our GROUP CLASSES for specific exercise for pregnant women.

From week 35 onwards:

• Perineal massage In addition to performing the massage in the consultation, we will teach you or your partner, if you wish, how to practice it at home to maintain the results.
• Manual work on musculature, ligaments, and soft tissues of all structures involved in your pregnancy, and we will teach your partner gentle mobilization techniques and stretches that will be very useful for the dilation stage.
• We will talk about postpartum: Since we won’t see each other during the postpartum period, I will suggest exercises and advice for this stage where rest and care must be priorities.

“The perineal massage they say I need to do at home hurts, is that normal? Am I doing the 'kegels' that the midwife explained to me in class correctly? It hurts here… is that normal? WILL I KNOW HOW TO GIVE BIRTH? What will I feel? How should I breathe?”

These are some of the questions I am often contacted about. It is normal to have them, and we will address them one by one. However, from the very first session, you will discover that they are poorly framed, and the truly important premise is the following:

Every woman who knows how to connect with her body and listen to herself knows what she needs to do. I am just here to guide you and help you realize that.

3. WHAT CAN WE WORK ON CONSCIOUSLY DURING PREGNANCY?

FROM THE SECOND TRIMESTER