Pregnancy MOT

The Pregnancy MOT package from PelviCare is a specially designed women's health assessment tailored to help every expecting mum prepare themselves for the imminent changes that pregnancy and delivery will bring.

It will equip you with the knowledge you need both during pregnancy and post-birth, from your 12 week scan to your 6 week checkup. (At this stage, we would recommend our Mummy MOT®). It is also suitable for women who are expecting to give birth via a planned c-section.

What to expect from the process

Pregnancy creates huge physical changes. For example, mums-to-be will often experience aches and pains as the body adjusts to its new state; there will inevitably be increased strain on the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles as the bump grows. During your Pregnancy MOT, one of our specialist physiotherapists will assess your alignment, then suggest various means of avoiding or lessening pelvic girdle pain, lower back pain, and other common postnatal conditions by creating awareness of where you may be overloading your body or pulling yourself out of balance.

Exercises during pregnancy are very important. They will serve to strengthen whole body and help you maintain your muscle strength to avoid common issues like diastasis recti. It’s particularly vital to know which exercises will help you retain a strong and resilient core, which is a key factor for a fast recovery post-delivery.

A pelvic floor assessment can also give you some insight into how to connect to your pelvic floor and maintain it well through pregnancy. Our team can teach you how to relax your pelvic floor as you get closer to delivery, and how to perform perineal massage to protect your perineum during childbirth.

What does our Pregnancy MOT include?

Assessment of your posture and joints
A comprehensive internal and external vaginal assessment of your pelvic floor muscles, including guidance on how to correctly contract and relax them
Assessment and treatment of any hip, pelvic, coccyx or back pain
Advice on labour, and help preparing your pelvic floor and pelvis for delivery
Perineal massage
Advice on how to exercise safely during pregnancy and how to minimise tummy separation (diastasis recti)
Postpartum tips to help kick start your safe recovery postnatally until your 6 week checkup Mummy MOT
Discussions regarding any concerns you may have around the birth and the relevance of any current pelvic floor dysfunction

What does our Pregnancy MOT treat?

Our Pregnancy MOT will help to address all manner of pregnancy-related conditions, such as:

Pelvic girdle pain (PGP), symphysis pubis (SPD) and sacroiliac dysfunction (SIJ)
Coccyx pain
Back, rib and neck pain
Carpal Tunnel and De Quervain Syndrome (Mother’s wrist and thumb)
Separation of the abdominal muscles (diastasis recti)
Swelling or other circulatory issues, including varicose veins

It can be beneficial when correcting pelvic floor dysfunction to alleviate conditions like:

Bladder and bowel incontinence
Tightness and weakness in the pelvic floor muscles
Pelvic organ prolapse
Pain or discomfort during sexual intercourse

Our aim is always to provide you with a safe and effective program that will help you regain function, improve strength and reduce pain for the rest of your exciting journey and prepare you for the early weeks post-birth.

Treatment techniques can involve soft tissue massage, gentle joint mobilisations, muscle energy techniques, manual therapy, lymphatic drainage or kinesiotaping.