Dr. Daniel Lee, General Obstetrician and Gynecologist, Southaven, Mississippi
Visits are very intensive for moms as they’re approaching delivery. They’re focused on a lot of stuff. They’re getting ready for this new baby. They’re going through a labor process, and sometimes they really don’t know what to expect.
We have to recognize that they kind of drop off after they have the baby. We deliver them. They go home from the hospital. We expect everything to go okay, and where they might be seen in my office every week or more often, now they’re not coming back for another six-week period.
They have a lot of adjustment to do. That, I think, is where some physical therapy does help.
In terms of the Mommy Bounce Back program, there’s a lot of different things that are being addressed. Moms may not recognize that they may or may not have a lot of transient things, like transient back pain, urinary incontinence, pelvic pain, pelvic prolapse. Maybe they just want to get back to their old workout regimen. They’re ready to have their pre-pregnancy body back. That’s what the physical therapists are going to really work for.
There’s lots of moms that I think of when I’m trying to identify people to send to postpartum physical therapy or the Mommy Bounce Back program. When I see them and evaluate them for their postpartum visit, if they’re having pain, if they’re having problems with leaking or incontinence—or, honestly, if it’s just the lady that says, “You know, I’d really like some help getting back into working out, if you think that’s okay, because I want to be able to get back into my exercise.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s trying to lose weight, that she’s trying to get back into shape. There’s emotional benefits too. I get a lot of people saying, “You know, I’m really feeling really cooped up in the house. I’d like to get out so I can get back into some exercise, because I think that’s going to feel really good.” I think that’s great.
I really endorse that. That’s why this program, I think, is great for them.