PhysioUpdate News 9th January 2024

Physiotherapists and physical therapists (PTs) specialising in pelvic health have a key role to play in ensuring that women are ready to return to running after having a baby and should be educated appropriately.

That is the consensus view of an international group of experienced professionals working with postpartum runners that was published online on 26 December in a British Journal of Sports Medicine article.

The article’s first author is Shefali Mathur Christopher, a PT by background from Tufts University in Seattle, and her 11 co-authors include two high-profile UK-based pelvic health physiotherapists: Gráinne Donnelly, from Cardiff Metropolitan University, and Emma Brockwell, from the private Physiomum practice based in in Limpsfield, Surrey.

Highlighting the clinical implications of their findings, Dr Christopher and her co-authors note: ‘As healthcare providers and fitness professionals – particularly birth providers, primary care providers, personal trainers and PTs – are likely to be asked questions by perinatal runners, it is imperative that these providers are educated on this topic and can refer runners to the appropriate, evidence-informed information or provider to guide running during and after pregnancy.’