BROOKLYN AT HOME PELVIC FLOOR THERAPY FOR BIRTH PREPARATION

Common Pelvic Floor Issues During Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a beautiful journey, yet it often comes with its own set of challenges, particularly those affecting the pelvic floor. As your baby grows, these pelvic muscles work harder to provide support, often leading to discomfort, weakness, or dysfunction. Understanding these common issues can help expectant mothers take proactive steps to maintain pelvic health and prepare for a smoother labor and postpartum recovery.

Urinary Incontinence

Many pregnant women experience urinary incontinence, as the growing uterus places extra pressure on the bladder. This often leads to involuntary leaks when coughing, laughing, or sneezing. Pregnant women may also experience urinary frequency and urgency. While common, incontinence isn’t something you have to endure. Targeted pelvic floor exercises and lifestyle modifications can help strengthen muscle control and reduce leakage both during and after pregnancy.

Pelvic Girdle Pain

As the body prepares for childbirth, hormonal changes cause ligaments and joints in the pelvis to loosen, sometimes leading to pelvic girdle pain (PGP). This can result in aching, instability, or discomfort when walking, sitting, or changing positions. This pain may appear in the lower back, shoot down the leg, in the groin, pubic symphysis, and/or in the pelvic floor itself. Addressing these imbalances with guided movement strategies, strengthening, and gentle stabilization exercises can help relieve strain and improve mobility.

Constipation

Pregnancy hormones can slow digestion, leading to constipation and bloating. This increases pressure on the pelvic floor muscles, potentially causing further discomfort. Hydration, proper nutrition, lifestyle modifications, and Pelvic Floor Therapy techniques — including breathwork and gentle stretching — can support bowel function and ease tension in the pelvic region.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse

In some cases, the pelvic organs (such as the bladder or uterus) may shift downward due to the weight of pregnancy and changes in pelvic floor support. This condition, known as pelvic organ prolapse, can cause a sensation of heaviness, bulging, or pressure in the pelvis. Learning to properly manage pressure on the pelvic floor before childbirth can help prevent or minimize prolapse risk postpartum.

How Pelvic Floor Therapy Can Prepare You For Birth

Through personalized, in-home pelvic therapy, Blair Mauri provides tailored exercises, education, and hands-on support to help expectant mothers manage these challenges and prepare for birth with confidence. By addressing pelvic health concerns early, individuals in Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Tribeca, and Dumbo can reduce discomfort, enhance muscle awareness, and feel more in control of their prenatal experience.

What To Expect During At-Home Pelvic Floor Therapy Sessions

At Blair Mauri Pelvic Health, each session is designed to provide tailored care that meets your specific needs. No matter what you’re looking for, Blair brings her expert guidance directly to your home.

Personalized Evaluation And Goal Setting

Your first session begins with an in-depth discussion about your medical history, symptoms, and goals. Blair will listen carefully to your concerns to ensure her therapy methods are suitable for you. As part of your evaluation, she may assess:

• Pelvic Floor Function: Identifying areas of tightness, weakness, or imbalance.

• Posture And Core Strength: Examining how your pelvic alignment and movement patterns impact pelvic health.

• Breathing Patterns: Assessing how breathwork can improve pelvic floor relaxation.

• Daily Habits: Discuss lifestyle factors (lifting, sitting, bathroom habits) that may contribute to dysfunction and identify areas where ergonomic adjustments can easily be made.

The entire process usually takes around 1.5 hours to complete.

Voluntary Internal And External Exam

For those in need of an internal or external assessment, Blair will walk you through the entire process to see if you’re comfortable with it. An external exam consists of perineal observations of the tissues and patterns of movement of the perineum, as well as gentle palpation of the bony landmarks, vulva, and vulvar structures in order to assess sensation. 

Meanwhile, an internal exam tests your muscle strength, coordination, and tension level and involves inserting one gloved and lubricated finger into the vagina. She will only conduct an internal exam with your ongoing and full consent. If at any point you need to take a break or stop altogether, you are more than welcome to do so. With Blair, her top priority is that you feel seen, heard, and respected during every session. If you don’t fully agree with an internal or external evaluation, remember that it’s entirely optional, and there’s no pressure for you to complete either one.

Targeted Exercises

Each session includes safe, functional exercises that are carefully selected based on your body’s needs. If your pelvic floor muscles are too tight, therapy will focus on gentle relaxation techniques to release tension and alleviate pain. If weakness is contributing to symptoms like incontinence or prolapse, strengthening exercises will be incorporated to improve support for the bladder, uterus, and bowels. For those preparing for childbirth or recovering postpartum, therapy helps enhance muscle coordination, ensuring smoother labor and a more effective recovery. Additionally, targeted movements improve mobility and stability, reducing discomfort during daily activities. Every exercise is selected with intention, ensuring that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach in Blair’s therapy.

Education And Hands-On Support

Understanding your body is a key part of the healing process, and Blair ensures that you feel informed and empowered throughout your therapy. During sessions, she provides step-by-step guidance on how to properly engage, release, or coordinate your pelvic floor muscles, making each exercise more effective. You’ll also learn practical techniques to manage symptoms at home, including breathing exercises to support relaxation, posture corrections to improve alignment, and movement modifications to ease daily discomfort. Blair offers real-time feedback, helping you refine your technique to maximize the benefits of each session. Based on their specific anatomy, Blair will make personalized birthing recommendations for her clients to share with birth partners and doulas. She works on push coaching with her clients to help decrease risk of damage to the pelvic floor (perineal tearing, over stretching, prolapse). Depending on her clients needs, Blair will also support with 4th trimester planning for a more easeful recovery. 

Manual Skills

During her birth prep sessions, Blair utilizes a number of manual skills to help with comfort as well as prepare for birth. This may include: pelvic mobility for a vaginal birth, uterine mobility to promote optimal fetal positioning, scar mobilization, perineal massage, pelvic floor muscle release, and other soft tissue work. These strategies work best when performed by a trained professional regularly leading up to birth. 

Compassionate Care In Your Home

With Blair’s in-home sessions, you receive uninterrupted, one-on-one attention in the privacy and comfort of your own space. Here, you can truly settle down and focus on your healing without distractions. Plus, there’s no rushing through appointments. Blair takes the time to answer your questions, address concerns, and ensure you feel confident in your progress. She does her best to explain the “why” behind each recommendation and will refer you to another skilled practitioner if she’s unable to help. Additionally, if you need to quickly chat with Blair but your next appointment is a few weeks out, she makes herself available between sessions. Under her care, you can feel reassured that help is just an email or call away. Please note that Blair primarily serves Brooklyn-based women located in Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, or Cobble Hill.

Ongoing Wellness

With Blair Mauri Pelvic Health, you’re not just receiving Pelvic Floor Therapy; you’re gaining a dedicated partner in your recovery. At the end of each session, you’ll receive a clear plan outlining what to focus on before your next visit, along with personalized exercises and techniques to incorporate into your daily routine. This structured approach ensures consistent progress and helps build long-term strength, mobility, and confidence in your body’s ability to heal. With Blair’s expert guidance, you’ll feel empowered to take control of your pelvic health and return to the activities you love with greater comfort and ease.