Pregnancy -the before, during, and after- is an incredibly special, and challenging time in a woman’s life. There are so many changes that occur physically, emotionally, spiritually, (and goodness, financially!) that it can be overwhelming. The journey through pregnancy can also bring on aches and pains as the body evolves throughout the stages. On top of all of this, women are often barraged with misinformation from society, social media, caring friends and family with an endless litany of: “don’t do this, that’s bad for you when you’re pregnant” or “don’t do that, that’s bad for the baby.”
Thankfully physical therapy can help! Here at Valor Physical Therapy we treat peri-partum related conditions such as:
Diastis Recti
Pelvic Girdle Pain
Stress incontinence
Sacro-iliac Joint (SIJ) Pain
Other orthopedic ouchies such as: Lowback or midback pain, shoulder pain, DeQuervain’s wrist pain etc!
A big way we do that is through hands on therapy techniques to resolve hypertonic musculature (hypertonic meaning the muscles are alert and ON), ergonomic assessments -of your work space, your gym space, caring for infants/small children etc- as well as slowly and safely introduce you into safe movement patterns. While your therapist, Brigette Schwimmer, has been trained in internal techniques which can be used for diagnosis and treatment, these are ALWAYS optional. We will always have a discussion prior to this procedure to determine your comfort level, and if it is appropriate or not to perform. All treatments are tailored to you, your body and your needs.
Common information women get while pregnant is: don’t lift heavy, it will hurt the baby. Or: Don’t do high-intensity exercises, it will pull blood away from the baby. Yikes! That’s some scary stuff. The cool thing though, that information is not true! Recent, high quality research starting really coming in 2024 and 2025 showing that there were absolutely no increased fetal adverse events with lifting heavy or exercising heavy. In fact, the women who participated in the higher intensity exercise programs had LOWER rates of perinatal mood disorders, gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes (1, 2) . How cool is that? In Physical Therapy, we can talk about how to create an exercise program that is right for you, which could include progressions into heavier weight training as appropriate. All treatments are tailored to you, your body and your needs.
The new research guidelines in pregnancy have extended to the post-partum phase as well! The American College of Obsetrics and Gynecology has issued committee opinions for women saying that some are appropriate to resume physical activity within days of delivery! (3) Other research shows that resumption of moderate physical activity within 2-3 weeks has no increase in pelvic floor complaints and has an overall lower symptom burden (4)
Pregnancy is a special time in life, and we at Valor Physical Therapy are here to support you reduce pain and continue to move so you can fully enjoy it!
Prevett, Christina, et al. "Impact of heavy resistance training on pregnancy and postpartum health outcomes." International urogynecology journal 34.2 (2023): 405-411.
Moolyk, Amy N., et al. "Maternal and fetal responses to acute high-intensity resistance exercise during pregnancy." British journal of sports medicine 59.3 (2025): 159-166.
Obstetricians, ACo. "Of, gynecologists. Physical activity and exercise during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Committee opinion no. 650." Obstet Gynecol 126.6 (2015): e135-42
Nygaard, Ingrid E., et al. "Early postpartum physical activity and pelvic floor support and symptoms 1 year postpartum." American journal of obstetrics and gynecology 224.2 (2021): 193-e1.