Pelvic Health Support and Information
In Birmingham and Solihull, every woman and birthing person who is pregnant, or up to one year after birth, will be invited to complete a pelvic health self-assessment questionnaire, which will identify your individualised pelvic health risk factors and any current symptoms, helping you to optimise your lifelong pelvic health.
To gain access to the questionnaire, you will receive an email or SMS text message asking you to register with MyPathway, our new online account. The system is safe, secure and has been designed to enhance the service that we provide to you. Your invitation to register with MyPathway will be sent automatically after your antenatal booking appointment with your midwife and again after the birth of your baby(s).
Registering with MyPathway will gain you access to a library of resources to optimise your pelvic health, but registration alone does not mean you are referred into the Perinatal Pelvic Health Service. You must complete the risk and symptom questionnaire assigned to you as this is your referral, and your answers will be triaged by the team.We understand that symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction such as bladder, bowel or sexual problems, prolapse and pelvic pain, can have a negative influence on your mental health and quality of life. They can often feel difficult to talk about and we want to make it as easy as possible to get help should you need it.
Once the questionnaire is completed, you should continue to optimise your pelvic health with the information provided. You may be sent additional information more specific to any symptoms you reported, and where needed, a member of the team will be in contact to provide additional support.
We have seen a significant demand for the service since launching and therefore already have a waiting list. However, be reassured that every questionnaire is reviewed by the team, and we will be in contact if your questionnaire responses indicate you require additional support.
Providing the service this way helps to keep you in control of optimising your pelvic health and gains you access to any symptom-specific resources straight away rather than waiting for an appointment with a pelvic physiotherapist.
- If you do not receive your email or SMS text message (please check your midwife has your correct email address and mobile phone number on BadgerNet) or if the link expires then you can also self-refer.
CLINICIAN REFERRAL: The primary route for referral into the perinatal pelvic health service is self-referral but if you are a clinician and need to refer a patient, please also click the link.
Sadly, sometimes pregnancy results in loss. After any major shock or trauma, the mind and body take time to heal, recover and restore a sense of equilibrium again, and pick up the pieces of our life. We encourage everyone to access the service to help optimise their lifelong pelvic health.
What is pelvic health?
During pregnancy your body goes through many changes and it can be difficult to know what changes are normal and when you should seek help. As your pregnancy progresses, changes can happen to your bladder, bowel, vagina and sexual health.
We recognise that every person will have different names for their pelvic body parts, however throughout this website we will be using anatomical names. We encourage you to use your own preferred body part names with any healthcare professional you come into contact with during your pregnancy and postnatal journey, so let your preferences be known.
Pelvic health physiotherapy is a sub-speciality within physiotherapy. The types of problems treated within this speciality are:
- Pregnancy related issues
- Postnatal recovery
- Pelvic pain
- Pelvic floor dysfunction including any problems relating to bladder, bowel, or prolapse
- Painful sex
If you have symptoms you’re concerned about, getting help as soon as possible is important as physiotherapy will help to prevent problems getting worse and will often resolve the problem completely.
What will I be offered?
Depending on your symptoms, you may be offered symptom specific advice to give you the tools to manage your problem. Alternatively, group sessions are available, as well as phone or face-to-face appointments.
What will it involve?
The 'talky' bit: We will ask you many questions that can be quite personal and sometimes embarrassing to talk about. We understand how challenging this can be but we are here to listen and support you.
The assessment: A key part of our physiotherapy assessment is to offer (which is optional) an internal vaginal examination. This helps us to understand what is happening with your pelvic floor muscles and be able to guide you on how to do your pelvic floor exercises correctly. Many people who attempt pelvic floor exercises may be doing them incorrectly or not as effectively as they could be. This can be due to there being a problem but often it is because it is not something that has been tried before and needs some practise, which is also made harder by not being able to see them.
Be reassured. If you can’t or don’t want to have an internal vaginal examination, this does not mean your treatment will be limited. There are lots of alternative ways for us to help you. We are able to offer a point of care ultrasound scan - the scanning probe will sit at the entrance to the vagina and will show us your muscles and how they are working.
How long will it take to see improvements?
You will be guided on how to do pelvic floor muscle exercises properly and how to progress them to make sure they continue to get stronger. This can take around three to four months for changes to occur in the muscles and to see improvements. However, it is also essential to make lifestyle changes related to your problem, for example bladder or bowel advice.
It is really important to keep up your treatment, even if at times it may feel challenging or hopeless. The research shows that consistent progression will improve urinary or prolapse symptoms within three to four months.
The information below will give you the tools to help you manage these changes and set you up for maintaining good life-long pelvic health.