Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy is still a relatively unknown specialty and yet it is incredibly important. On this podcast, we discuss parenting and child health and development, but also health and mental health for caregivers. And pelvic floor health is part of that! I welcome Dr. Sara Reardon, a pelvic floor physical therapist who was recently featured in TIME magazine, and founder of @the.vagina.whisperer

She joins me to discuss:

• Why pelvic floor PT may be beneficial to you
• How pregnancy (and not just delivery) impact the pelvic floor
• How to find a pelvic floor PT
• Tips on pooping and peeing during pregnancy and postpartum that can save your pelvic floor

Learn more about Dr. Sara and how to take care of your pelvic floor at TheVagWhisperer.com or follow on Instagram @the.vagina.whisperer

00:00:01:01 – 00:00:30:01

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And so whenever there is a change in that part of our body, or we notice something changing or going kind of in a negative direction, that’s really when we want to seek a pelvic floor physical therapist. So if we’re talking about bladder function, if you are peeing frequently or if you are having chronic urinary tract infections, but your negative for, you know, a UTI, if you are leaking when you’re laughing or coughing or sneezing, which is really common after giving birth, those are signs that you’d want to see a pet.

 

00:00:30:03 – 00:00:53:18

Dr. Sara Reardon 

When you talk about pooping. If you are constipated straining, you have hemorrhoids. Again, these are things that often occur during pregnancy and can also persist postpartum. You know, pelvic floor PT to help with that. If you’re having intercourse and you have pain with sex, either with insertion or deeper penetration, we help with that. And then when it comes to pregnancy and birth, it’s an area that I really focus on.

 

00:00:53:18 – 00:01:06:20

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And you can have pelvic floor issues all across your lifespan. But I think our bodies go through such a huge transformation during pregnancy and postpartum, and we are not getting the tools or resources to really help women recover from that.

 

00:01:06:22 – 00:01:32:10

Dr. Mona

Welcome to the PedsDocTalk podcast, a podcast that continues to grow because of you and your reviews and a podcast where I get to welcome the most amazing guests to chat about all things parenting, child health, child development, and also parental health and parental mental health. And today’s guest is Doctor Sara Reardon. I love following her on Instagram as the founder of The Vagina Whisperer.

 

00:01:32:14 – 00:01:45:01

Dr. Mona

She’s also a pelvic floor physical therapist, and we’re chatting all about why you may want to see that pelvic floor PT after having kids. Thank you so much for joining me today, doctor Sarah.

 

00:01:45:03 – 00:01:47:02

Dr. Sara Reardon 

Thanks, doctor Mon, I appreciate you having me.

 

00:01:47:04 – 00:02:03:15

Dr. Mona

Well, I’m so excited that we were having you on one because like I said, the show is not just about parenting, child health, child development. It’s also about the parents who have to take care of the kids. And a lot of my listeners are women, and a lot of them may not know the benefits of pelvic floor PT.

 

00:02:03:17 – 00:02:19:01

Dr. Mona

I, for one, did not know until the last I would say four years when I had a kid and I was like, oh crap, I should have probably done this. So it’s such an important thing for me. And I think there’s a lot of misconceptions and there’s a lot of misunderstandings of why you need it when you would need it.

 

00:02:19:01 – 00:02:22:16

Dr. Mona

So again, I’m just so grateful that we could connect and record this episode today.

 

00:02:22:18 – 00:02:41:10

Dr. Sara Reardon 

Thanks so much for having me. And it’s so interesting because I end up chatting a lot on parenting podcasts and platforms, because I think so often for parenting, we think about how can we be good parents, how can we take care of our kids? But I really think, you know, you focus on this and I do as well as like, how do we take care of ourselves so that we can take care of our kids?

 

00:02:41:10 – 00:02:55:13

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And I think talking about pelvic floor health helps us kind of be able to seek the resources that we can be. The kind of moms or parents you want to be, but also to teach our kids about some really normal pelvic health strategies that we didn’t learn when we were growing up.

 

00:02:55:15 – 00:03:14:04

Dr. Mona

Well, I love that because I remember you had posted on your social media about constipation in kids, like about, you know, relaxing the pelvic floor, which again, we’re talking about mom life and pelvic floor PT but a lot of the concepts here are just important for like you said, across the ages and things that we just never were educated or informed about when we were kids.

 

00:03:14:04 – 00:03:22:08

Dr. Mona

And I think this is so great about social media education and about the education in general that we have now at our fingertips and how it can be beneficial.

 

00:03:22:10 – 00:03:24:19

Dr. Sara Reardon 

No, totally. I totally agree with that.

 

00:03:24:21 – 00:03:33:01

Dr. Mona

And tell us more about yourself. So if people are not familiar with The Vagina Whisperer and what you do as a pelvic floor PT for those who may not know.

 

00:03:33:03 – 00:03:56:21

Dr. Sara Reardon 

My name is Doctor Sarah Reardon. I am a pelvic floor physical therapist. I live in New Orleans, Louisiana, which is my hometown, and I have a private practice here with some other therapists where we do pelvic floor physical therapy to men and women, actually. And then I also have an online platform, The Vagina Whisperer, which has online pelvic floor exercise programs for pregnancy and postpartum painful sex, all the things.

 

00:03:56:21 – 00:04:22:08

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And so what I’m really passionate about is kind of educating people about their bodies and that there is a resource out there to get help with something we didn’t know there was help for. I’ve been a pelvic floor PT for 16 years now. It’s all that I’ve done throughout my career, and one of the things that really attracted me to it is one to learn more about my own body as a woman, and two, to help people with something that they didn’t know there was help for.

 

00:04:22:08 – 00:04:34:10

Dr. Sara Reardon 

I think we often think of pelvic floor therapy for back pain or shoulder issues, like your pelvic floor has muscles like any other part of your body. And as physical therapist, we work with those muscles in that region.

 

00:04:34:12 – 00:04:50:06

Dr. Mona

Well, I love this. Like I said, it’s so important and I, I almost wish that even in our training, obviously I’m not an OB or anything like that, but I guess that’s why I probably never learned about it. But how important it is, and we’re going to get into that in terms of why someone may need to see it, but this is just important information.

 

00:04:50:06 – 00:05:12:08

Dr. Mona

And for my second child, we’re recording this before I’ve had my second child. I’m definitely going to get a pelvic floor even though I’m having a C-section, which we’ll get into. Why that’s still beneficial. But why would someone need pelvic floor physical therapy after having kids and I know you are one, so you know, preach about why the benefits are there and why someone should seek that out after they have children or even before.

 

00:05:12:10 – 00:05:29:01

Dr. Sara Reardon 

Absolutely. So, I mean, I also am a mom of two boys and I felt really fortunate that I was in this field during pregnancy and postpartum because I knew what to do to care for my body. I knew who to see, and I was like, everybody should have access to this information, not just myself who happened to pick this field.

 

00:05:29:01 – 00:05:58:17

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And that’s how I ended up starting my Instagram so often. You know what we think about pelvic floor PT as we just kind of grew up hearing about Kegel exercises. But really, these pelvic floor muscles play a role in bowel function. So, you know, pooping bladder function, sexual health, reproductive health, and of course, childbirth. And so whenever there is a change in that part of our body or we notice something changing or going kind of in, in a negative direction, that’s really when we want to seek a pelvic floor physical therapist.

 

00:05:58:17 – 00:06:18:18

Dr. Sara Reardon 

So if we’re talking about bladder function, if you are peeing frequently or if you are having chronic urinary tract infections, but your negative for, you know, a UTI, if you are leaking when you’re laughing or coughing or sneezing, which is really common after giving birth. Yeah, those are signs that you’d want to see a pet when you talk about pooping.

 

00:06:18:18 – 00:06:40:23

Dr. Sara Reardon 

If you are constipated straining, you have hemorrhoids. Again, these are things that often occur during pregnancy and can also persist postpartum. You know, pelvic floor PT to help with that. If you’re having intercourse and you have pain with sex, either with insertion or deeper penetration, we help with that. And then when it comes to pregnancy and birth, it’s an area that I really focus on.

 

00:06:40:23 – 00:07:02:12

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And you can have pelvic floor issues all across your lifespan. But I think our bodies go through such a huge transformation during pregnancy and postpartum, and we are not getting the tools or resources to really help women recover from that. And so during pregnancy, you know, these muscles stretch and lengthen and can often get weak, even not just your pelvic floor, your abdominal muscles as well.

 

00:07:02:14 – 00:07:11:10

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And then the act of childbirth can mean a cesarean section or a vaginal birth where you may have some tearing and scar tissue, and then you just go home.

 

00:07:11:15 – 00:07:12:06

Dr. Mona

And there’s no.

 

00:07:12:06 – 00:07:26:09

Dr. Sara Reardon 

Guidance on how to recover or return to sex or exercise, or even picking up your kids or returning to work. So we really help women kind of rehabilitate and either strengthen their muscles or work on their scar tissue, or strengthen their core after having a baby as well.

 

00:07:26:11 – 00:07:45:17

Dr. Mona

Well, that’s kind of how I think I first found you. I remember seeing one of your posts about scar mobilization after a C-section, and that’s not something that was told to me after having actually a very traumatic delivery and also repeat surgery into that same scar. So I had a lot of scar tissue and I loved it. I remember watching it and I’m like, this is amazing.

 

00:07:45:17 – 00:08:02:06

Dr. Mona

And I did it, and I’ve been doing it and I plan on I’m going to have a C-section again and I’m going to do that again. But like you said, it’s just so important. And do you feel like it is more of a useful thing when there are issues, or do you feel like you do have clients or patients that come before issues begin?

 

00:08:02:08 – 00:08:21:09

Dr. Sara Reardon 

Both. You know, so I think definitely if you are experiencing issues and this can be at any late stage, this can be pre-conception postpartum, going into menopause with aging, you always want to seek help for those, particularly from a pelvic floor therapist, before going on to just surgeries or medication. And sometimes it works hand in hand with those other interventions.

 

00:08:21:09 – 00:08:39:20

Dr. Sara Reardon 

But, you know, I think in that older generation of my mom, my mom generation, they just were kind of told to deal with it. And that’s not how it has to be. I do see a lot of women who come in, even pre-conception or before their second baby or third baby, and they’re like, you know what? I just want to make sure everything’s okay down there.

 

00:08:40:00 – 00:08:57:04

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And I really compare pelvic floor PT. It’s like, you know, we go to the dentist twice a year to make sure that our oral hygiene grade, if we have a couple things we need to tweak, we can make some changes. If we have a cavity, we can get it fixed. And then you go home, practices new habits, and then you come back in six months.

 

00:08:57:06 – 00:09:13:11

Dr. Sara Reardon 

I don’t see why we’re not doing that for our pelvic floor, which is such an important part of our day to day lives. So my vision and dream for pelvic floor PT, is that it? It really is just part of wellness and health care. And we’re not just seeing people after the damage is done.

 

00:09:13:13 – 00:09:34:03

Dr. Mona

Oh, absolutely. And you brought up all the examples like chronic tube is leaking, pooping, constipation issues, intercourse. That is painful. And you said it already that I think a lot of times we just attribute this to being normal. Like I just got to deal with it and okay, listen, like constipation, we know postpartum it can be to some degree, but we need to figure out, well, how are you relaxing your muscles?

 

00:09:34:03 – 00:09:58:23

Dr. Mona

Is there some strategy. And again your account and what you teach is so valuable because of the prop. There is proper ways. You know, one thing I did learn from you was about your comment about power peeing. Like how a lot of women will just kind of pee really, really fast and she’ll probably get into. But all of these things, these terminologies that you’re like, wow, a lot of women are probably doing this and they don’t realize that it doesn’t have to be this way, that maybe you can do things a different way.

 

00:09:59:02 – 00:10:15:09

Dr. Mona

See your pelvic floor, feet, get the tips and strategies you need so that you’re not dealing with something like painful sex or constipation. That’s chronic. I mean, these kind of things can really be harmful, like in terms of just your mental health, your physical health. And there are ways to help it. You know, I love that.

 

00:10:15:11 – 00:10:31:20

Dr. Sara Reardon 

No, I agree, and I think that’s one of the things that we don’t really think about. They’re like, oh, these are just like little issues and it’ll go away or I can deal with it. But what ends up happening is that if we don’t attend to them, they end up really affecting our quality of life. I mean, after having kids, it is hard enough to be intimate and have sex with your partner.

 

00:10:31:20 – 00:10:49:11

Dr. Sara Reardon 

But if it’s painful, you definitely end up avoiding it. And that’s another kind of barrier or a speed bump for turning to intimacy. If you love to exercise. And it’s. We read all of these studies about how it’s great for mental health and postpartum depression, but if you’re picking your pants, you don’t want to go to that workout class or go for a run.

 

00:10:49:13 – 00:11:11:05

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And so, you know, I have a mom who, like, could not lift up her baby for the first three months because her back pain was so bad. And so we don’t see those really invisible kind of experiences for women and moms. And I think one of the things that I’m really passionate about is like, it’s not normalizing these problems, but it’s normalizing the conversation around these problems because we don’t talk about them because they’re embarrassing.

 

00:11:11:07 – 00:11:29:16

Dr. Sara Reardon 

But I think if we say, like, hey, this can totally happen and this can help improve your quality of life, help you get back to exercise, help you get back to work. So I think it helps in a lot of arenas outside of just your pelvic floor and peeing and pooping. It really does kind of have ripple effects into the other arenas of our life.

 

00:11:29:18 – 00:11:50:09

Dr. Mona

Absolutely. And I did already mentioned this already about C-sections. Like, I think one of the misconceptions I’ve heard is that, oh, well, if you deliver via C-section, your pelvic floor is intact because you didn’t deliver via vaginal delivery. But I know that obviously C-section vaginal doesn’t really matter. You may want to see one. So what would you say to those C-section moms who are like, I probably don’t need it?

 

00:11:50:09 – 00:11:54:11

Dr. Mona

Why would there be an impact? Or why would they want to see a pelvic floor HT?

 

00:11:54:13 – 00:12:14:11

Dr. Sara Reardon 

Absolutely. So pregnancy itself affects your pelvic floor. So if you have been pregnant, if you have carried a baby, your pelvic floor muscles are typically weaker. They’re lengthened. You may experience constipation or urinary leakage or prolapse. And those are all signs that your pelvic floor isn’t functioning the way that we want it to. And that is just during pregnancy.

 

00:12:14:15 – 00:12:35:12

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And then after a C-section. I mean, you’ve had major abdominal surgery, your core muscles are affected and your core and your pelvic floor work together. And oftentimes the caesarean scar can be restricted or tight or read a lot about like a cesarean shelf. So that scar tissue restriction can cause abdominal pain, constipation, incomplete bladder emptying, and actually C-section.

 

00:12:35:12 – 00:12:54:14

Dr. Sara Reardon 

Moms have a higher risk of pain with sex and even a vaginal birth mom. And so I think it’s like we don’t always connect those puzzle pieces because we think of these parts of a body as so separate, but they’re really so integrated. And it’s, you know, I had a mom who she was actually in her 60s. Her kids were like their 20s, you know, out of the house.

 

00:12:54:14 – 00:13:13:22

Dr. Sara Reardon 

She had had multiple cesarean sections and abdominal surgeries, and she had overactive bladder, could not empty her bladder and was having chronic urinary tract infections. And this is decades later. And all we did was work on her cesarean scar, which had gotten so restricted over the years, and she got tremendously better. And so I tell people like, it’s never too late.

 

00:13:13:22 – 00:13:28:22

Dr. Sara Reardon 

If you’re listening to this and you are like, oh, my kids are 5 or 10 and I don’t, it’s too late for me. It’s never too late to start working on that. And there’s a lot of benefits to doing it earlier. But if it’s later in the years, like there’s always improvements that you can make.

 

00:13:29:00 – 00:13:47:09

Dr. Mona

And how can someone find a pelvic floor? I agree with you already that this should be something like a dentist or more well and covered. And I wish it was the case because like you said, it’s such an important part of our body. But how can someone find someone, whether it’s through insurance in America, is it covered by insurance?

 

00:13:47:09 – 00:13:50:04

Dr. Mona

What’s the deal with finding one and paying for one?

 

00:13:50:06 – 00:14:09:13

Dr. Sara Reardon 

So there’s a handful of ways to find one, and I’ll talk about the difference between like some people who take insurance and some people don’t. So oftentimes I tell people like talk to your ObGyn because they may have a relationship with the pelvic floor that they work with and find is really good. Go to Google. Like I would just literally Google like pelvic floor therapists in my area.

 

00:14:09:13 – 00:14:23:12

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And you’ll be able to find some clinics that pop up and then talk to your mom friends, post something on the Facebook group, send a text at your mom friends because most of the time one of them has seen a PTA and you just may not even know it. And I think that word of mouth is the best referral.

 

00:14:23:12 – 00:14:43:18

Dr. Sara Reardon 

There’s also a website called Pelvic rehab.com. I’ll say that again. It’s pelvic rehab.com. And that is a website where you can literally go in and type in your zip code. And then all the pelvic tees that are registered on this site will pop up. So there’s a lot of ways that you can reach one. Some of them take insurance and some of them do not.

 

00:14:43:18 – 00:15:05:11

Dr. Sara Reardon 

So if you go to a clinic that takes insurance, which a lot of hospital based clinics do, then this falls under physical therapy benefits. So just like if you were to go to see a physical therapist for your shoulder or your back or your ankle, you know, it’s usually a copay or something like that, and that’s awesome. Then you can go see that pelvic floor and insurance covers it with whatever the copay is.

 

00:15:05:13 – 00:15:26:15

Dr. Sara Reardon 

Many of us are out of network with insurance. So what that means is you pay a flat rate kind of upfront, as if you were to see a acupuncturist or a massage therapist, and you can send something into your insurance for reimbursement depending on what your policy is. So it’s really tricky because as pelvic floor practice, I mean, we spend an hour with each patient.

 

00:15:26:15 – 00:15:41:02

Dr. Sara Reardon 

It’s not 15 or 30 minutes, and you’ve got multiple people in a gym like a regular PT office. It’s one on one for an hour. We usually see them once a week or once every other week. And then, you know, after 4 to 6 sessions, they may be doing much better. And then we just kind of touch base with them.

 

00:15:41:02 – 00:15:59:14

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And they have a home program. So it’s not multiple times a week like we usually think of. But the reason we’re out of network is because it’s really hard to offer that kind of quality care when you are expected to see 2 to 3 patients in an hour, it just makes it really impossible. So, you know, I think that you could look for both options and kind of see what the best option is for you.

 

00:15:59:16 – 00:16:16:20

Dr. Mona

Yeah. And like we said, a lot of it is we want accessibility and coverage. Like I always say, like postpartum. The best thing is, is if we could have access to a mental health professional, access to a pelvic floor, PT and access to a lactation consultant, it really wants to breastfeed. I mean, these three things should just be in like your postpartum care package.

 

00:16:16:23 – 00:16:18:19

Dr. Mona

Absolutely. And maternity leave.

 

00:16:18:19 – 00:16:35:04

Dr. Sara Reardon 

Okay. Right. And they are I mean, they are in other countries. And I think that that’s what’s so challenging here is that it’s like the mom goes home and I had amazing birth. And then I went home and I was like, oh my gosh, I don’t even know what I’m doing. Like, I didn’t know how to breastfeed. I didn’t know how to take care of my baby.

 

00:16:35:04 – 00:16:53:20

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And and I was like, and I’m in this field. I worked with moms for decades, and I didn’t know what to do next. And I think that that’s a really common feeling and it can feel really lonely and isolating. And so I think, again, to your point, like, you know, I dream of the time that we really had that care team kind of integrated into the postpartum recovery plan.

 

00:16:53:21 – 00:16:54:15

Dr. Sara Reardon 

Oh, I wish.

 

00:16:54:15 – 00:16:56:14

Dr. Mona

One day.

 

00:16:56:16 – 00:16:59:17

Dr. Sara Reardon 

It’s going to happen. I mean, I see the needle moving.

 

00:16:59:18 – 00:17:14:14

Dr. Mona

It would be amazing. Like I agree. And so I love that you talked about that. I think it’s just so nice that people understand how to access these resources. And whenever I have guests that come on to talk about whatever it is, developmental stuff for children, pelvic floor PT, we need to know, okay, we want this, but how do we get it?

 

00:17:14:14 – 00:17:21:21

Dr. Mona

So I know the sessions can look different depending on what’s going on. But typically how what would someone expect in a session if they were to see a pelvic floor?

 

00:17:21:21 – 00:17:38:17

Dr. Sara Reardon 

PT so normally you sit down in a private treatment room, so this isn’t like you’re sitting in a big PT gym and you’re kind of talking to a PT in a corner, you’re in a private treatment room. And, you know, we start our sessions by saying, what brings you here? And then you really start talking to like, hey, I’m about to have a baby.

 

00:17:38:17 – 00:17:54:12

Dr. Sara Reardon 

I want to know how to prepare for birth. Or, you know, I had a baby six months ago, and every time I have sex, it hurts. Or I tried to get back to CrossFit, and now I feel like I’m peeing my pants. And it’s only getting worse. So we really just say, like, what brings you here? And then we ask you a bunch of questions about all arenas of your pelvic health.

 

00:17:54:12 – 00:18:12:13

Dr. Sara Reardon 

So even if you’re there for leakage, I want to hear about your pooping habits, your workout habits, your menstrual cycle, breastfeeding, birth, previous childbirth. So all of those things. So I can get a really clear picture of what’s going on. And then I do an external assessment kind of looking at your low back, your buttocks, your pelvic alignment to say is there anything kind of on the outside going on.

 

00:18:12:13 – 00:18:33:09

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And then we do an internal pelvic floor muscle assessment. So it looks similar, but it’s also very different to an ob gyn exam. So for the assessment you’re lying down on a table like a pelvic floor physical therapy table. You’re covered with a sheet but you’re undressed from the waist down. So you’re not in stirrups, but you’re just lying on like a little kind of matter bed again in a private treatment room.

 

00:18:33:14 – 00:18:51:21

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And then to assess your pelvic floor muscles, we insert a gloved, lubricated finger into the vaginal opening. And when we do that, we’re able to have you squeeze around our finger to see like, okay, how strong are her muscles? And that’s doing a cable contraction. And then we may have you kind of push or bear down like you’re pooping or giving birth.

 

00:18:51:21 – 00:19:08:16

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And then we can see is there any prolapse or are there any weakness. We may press on the muscles on the side and say, are any of these muscles tighter tense. And then we’ll assess for scar tissue at the opening, those sorts of things. And then we’ll also look at your abdominal wall like you’ve had like a C-section or abdominal surgery.

 

00:19:08:16 – 00:19:30:22

Dr. Sara Reardon 

So it just gives us information. We can’t just tell people if you leak, do Kegels, because sometimes people have tension, and if you have tension, then doing Kegels would make your issue worse. We really want to get an understanding of how are those muscles performing, how are they activating, what are the issues. And then we can start working with you on how to relax the muscles if they’re tense, or how to strengthen the muscles if they’re weak.

 

00:19:31:00 – 00:19:52:09

Dr. Mona

Oh, this is so helpful. Again, this is just information that I think we need to get out there. And I’m so grateful that you could come on this show to reach all these parents that listen to my show about all this information. So we could possibly do a whole episode on this question, but I want to do I want to ask you this in terms of your top tips on pooping and peeing and how to do this in the right way to protect the pelvic floor.

 

00:19:52:09 – 00:20:06:13

Dr. Mona

Because like I said already, I learned through your account all these things and I’m like, oh my gosh, this makes total sense. Absolutely. What are we doing? So if you can just again keep it short because I know we could talk for hours on it would be maybe your top tips on for both of those things.

 

00:20:06:14 – 00:20:24:23

Dr. Sara Reardon 

Absolutely. And this is what I love teaching parents because then we can teach our kids. Like I teach my kids how to poop properly. So let’s talk about pooping. So the first thing for pooping is that I recommend for everyone to get a little squatty potty or a stool to put it under their feet while they’re pooping. The best position to relax for a movement is squatting.

 

00:20:24:23 – 00:20:42:15

Dr. Sara Reardon 

So if you’ve ever been to Asia or you’ve been camping, people squat over the ground and that helps your pelvic floor muscles relax so that you can empty better for pooping. But if you’re sitting on a Western toilet, that’s really hard to do. So putting a stool under your feet kind of elevates your knees, and that helps you get into more of a squatting position.

 

00:20:42:16 – 00:21:02:14

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And then when you go to poop, instead of holding your breath, I recommend that you exhale like you’re blowing out a bunch of birthday candles. Or if you have a little kiddo who is constipated, get one of those little swirly straws and then have them blow through the straw because that makes them not hold their breath. If you hold your breath, you actually end up tightening your muscles more, which makes it harder to poop.

 

00:21:02:16 – 00:21:22:07

Dr. Sara Reardon 

So if you bear down and kind of push out and you exhale through the straw like you’re blowing up birthday candles, that can help empty better without straining for peeing. One of the biggest things as you mentioned, moms tend to push when they pee, and it’s because we are always in a hurry. We also sometimes hover over a toilet seat.

 

00:21:22:07 – 00:21:39:19

Dr. Sara Reardon 

So I know that sometimes toilets can be icky, but I really recommend sitting on the toilet seat instead of hovering or squatting over it. So, you know, bring your wipes or fanny wipes or lay or the toilet paper down, but sitting relaxes your pelvic floor much better. And then you don’t need to push when you pee. Yeah. You’re pooping.

 

00:21:39:19 – 00:22:00:21

Dr. Sara Reardon 

You can push a little bit when you’re peeing. All you need to do is sit and chill and breathe. Yeah. And your bladder is actually a muscle that pushes the urine out for you. If you’re pushing your plate, your tensing your muscles, which makes it harder to empty and you’re weakening your pelvic floor. So we see people who have never given birth and actually have pelvic floor weakness because they push when they pee.

 

00:22:01:03 – 00:22:20:09

Dr. Sara Reardon 

So sit, chill, let your bladder empty, don’t push. Don’t. Power is what I call it. And then just to get those last few drops out, you just kind of wiggle your hips forward and backwards. Sometimes you stand up, sit down again, see if a couple more drops come out, and then you get up and walk away. So those are the two things I was like, everybody had to figure out something.

 

00:22:20:09 – 00:22:34:09

Dr. Sara Reardon 

You know, those would be the two things. And the last one after giving birth, I really tell people to exhale when they’re lifting. So if you are lifting a stroller or a kiddo or you’re in the gym lifting weights, don’t hold your breath. Exhale as you’re lifting. That will put less pressure on your pelvic floor.

 

00:22:34:11 – 00:22:49:09

Dr. Mona

I mean, all of this sounds so simple, but so many people don’t do it. And I love it. I’m so grateful that you’re talking about this today because again, we’re recording this when I’m pregnant. It may go live. And as you all know, after I’ve had the baby, but constipation, like 100% have used your tips that you’re recommending.

 

00:22:49:09 – 00:23:08:20

Dr. Mona

And the stool, the squatting, all of that relaxing, all of that stuff makes a huge difference. So it doesn’t cycle right. We know with constipation, if you keep tightening and you withhold poop, it just means more constipation. So this stuff is so useful for children as well. Even have a potty training course, which I talk about all this relaxing of the pelvic floor for children.

 

00:23:08:20 – 00:23:11:18

Dr. Mona

So I love that you’re bringing this into your platform as well.

 

00:23:11:20 – 00:23:26:08

Dr. Sara Reardon 

No. That’s perfect. And that that’s a thing. If we know better than we can teach our kids better, you know, and I think we see these issues really start arising really early with women. And so and then it can sometimes get worse during pregnancy and postpartum. And we just don’t know better. So I think obviously if we know better we can do better.

 

00:23:26:08 – 00:23:35:04

Dr. Sara Reardon 

And my goal is that we don’t all end up with pelvic floor issues down the line. I really think that there’s a lot that we can do proactively to prevent them and then to also treat them.

 

00:23:35:06 – 00:23:54:08

Dr. Mona

And yeah, like you said earlier, like we kind of our generations that came before us just kind of learned to live with it. Like maybe we have a mom or grandma who just pees when they laugh or pees when they cry or bears down. And okay, maybe that’s a common thing, but maybe we can fix it. So I love that we’re trying to change the narrative on how we approach feminine health and our vaginal health as well.

 

00:23:54:10 – 00:24:03:22

Dr. Sara Reardon 

Now thank you so much again, I love just being able to have these conversations on like an open platform like this, and you just kind of sharing this information with your audience. I really think it helps so much.

 

00:24:04:00 – 00:24:08:01

Dr. Mona

So what would be your final message for everyone listening today to tie up the conversation?

 

00:24:08:03 – 00:24:23:16

Dr. Sara Reardon 

You know, I think if I’m talking to moms, I just say like pelvic floor problems do not have to be a normal part of motherhood. I mean, I’ve experienced them myself and I feel so grateful. I work with pelvic floor PT so you can help me. And so I think I really encouraging them to just be proactive in this.

 

00:24:23:16 – 00:24:39:04

Dr. Sara Reardon 

You know, the time will come when you feel ready to go. It’s not as scary and as mystical as many people think. And often it can be life changing. And so, it’s never too late. It’s never too early. Just go ahead and get started. And I think that you’ll learn a lot about your body and be really appreciative that you did.

 

00:24:39:06 – 00:24:50:08

Dr. Mona

Thank you so much for joining me today, Sarah. This was, again, a great conversation, and I hope all of our guests listening today learned a lot because I just love talking about this too. So thank you.

 

00:24:50:08 – 00:24:52:03

Dr. Sara Reardon 

Again. Thank you so much.

 

00:24:52:05 – 00:25:06:17

Dr. Mona

And for everyone tuning in, make sure that you leave a review if you loved what Sara was saying. I think this information is so important. Those reviews and ratings help the podcast continue to grow, and I cannot wait to welcome another guest next week.

 

00:25:06:17 – 00:25:22:10

Dr. Mona

Thank you for tuning in for this week’s episode. As always, please leave a review. Share this episode with a friend. Share it on your social media. Make sure to follow me at PedsDocTalk on Instagram and subscribe to my YouTube channel, PedsDocTalk TV. We’ll talk to you soon.