Feminist womens pelvic health course from Elaine Miller

[ArabellaSaurus]

https://open.substack.com/pub/venusenvyxx/p/get-a-grip-my-feminist-fanny-fundraiser

I know this will be brilliant.

Educational, and also feminist.

Launching in September.

Fanny Origami? I'm in.

Thanks Arabella, a worthy cause.

Fannytastic!

OMG I totally need this thank you @ArabellaSaurus I only found out about specialist physios from Elaine Miller (being a Terf is very educational) and am now seeing one. I will sign up to learn from the guru herself. I instinctively feel that this will involve practicing laughing without embarrassing myself.

It'll be brilliant, educational, feminist, and funny!

I don't know Elaine Miller but this is totally a feminist issue.

I was left with post birth damage and the NHS wouldn't help. I genuinely had one HCP ask me if I would "need" to jump in future. Really.

I was lucky enough to be able to afford private specialist physio and I am back running, lifting and yes jumping - like I always have.

But the expectation that women shouldn't use their bodies anymore after childbirth is a hideous psychological shackle. It absolutely needs fighting

Well done, Johnny.

Elaine is fantastic, and her work is sorely needed. Its galling when you hear her talk about how much money the NHS would save if they supported better education for women's gynae health- thats without even considering the impact on women's lives!

This is brilliant, and so needed (not least by me). I'm in.

I’ve attended one of Elaine’s training sessions - I can’t praise her highly enough! Fantastic knowledge and expertise - an amazing woman!

Highly recommend!

Following.

What a great idea!

I'm another one who ended up going private for specialist physio after pregnancy. In my case, my sacroiliac dysfunction was so bad that I couldn't walk during my final trimester but it still apparently wasn't bad enough for NHS intervention.

My wonderful physio had changed from sports specialism after realising how lacking the provision was during her own pregnancy. She said that in France women get postpartum physio as standard, but here in the UK they will usually only intervene if you need surgical management.

"She said that in France women get postpartum physio as standard, but here in the UK they will usually only intervene if you need surgical management"

I remember hearing about this many years ago and thinking it was down to misogyny - getting women "back in working order" for their husbands. It really got my wee proto-feminist hackles up at the time. Obviously now, older, possibly wiser and with the appropriate life experience I think it's a great idea. It's interesting to me that, even though I thought I was very feminist, I was so mired in patriarchal thinking that I couldn't even look at a feminist issue from the point of view of the actual women.

Thanks for the link OP, looks great!

Many thanks OP, sounds great.

I've also forwarded it to a friend who is having gyne issues. She doesn't know anything about Elaine so I've warned her she is a specialist physio AND a standup comedian. It is a bit of a niche combo after all 😁.

In fairness to your younger self, there may be a bit of that about it too. From my experience of living in France, their feminism leans quite heavily on the feminine mystique, female power over men angle. They are quite canny about using things that would be anathema to UK feminists to get what they want.

However they got to it, there is a much stronger recognition of the importance of women to rebuild their pelvic muscles postpartum, and part of the narrative acknowledges the importance for women to enjoy a healthy sex life.

ETA: I imagine there isn't a French equivalent of "lie back and think of England".

I also had to resort to private physio. The fantastic woman I see told me she left the nhs because she could not give women the care they need. When I saw her, I was desperate due to chronic pain. I’d had four years of fobbing off and misdiagnosis, including being put on immunosuppressants. No one joined the dots until I saw her. I was on the nhs wait list for gynaecology for well over a year without an appointment. They gatekeep referrals to physio in my area, you can’t self refer. Women are suffering, it’s appalling.

I’ve been to Elaine Miller’s shows and met her. She is awesome and an incredible communicator.

Thank you for this, @ArabellaSaurus

As well as postpartum, specialist physios help for menopause/post-menopause problems. I know someone in her late fifties who went to her GP with a prolapse and was told to go home, watch a video and do some exercises, and that was it. Basically, shrug, you're getting old, nothing else to be done. She ended up seeing a wonderful physio who, she feels, gave her back the ability to live normally.

Ooh looks amazing. I've signed up

If you haven't heard of her, this might ring a bell:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11569705/Womens-rights-activist-flashed-Scottish-Parliament-comedian-pelvic-physiotherapist.html

She's a brilliant campaigner, a fantastic advocate for women's rights and a wonderful physiotherapist.

I wonder if Mumsnet might want to campaign on this. Seems quite pertinent.

What a brilliant idea @ArabellaSaurus how do we suggest it to @MNHQ?

I think there may be a campaign board? Or Site stuff.

We also need to push on the quality of NHS advice.

Squeezing your PF muscles is all well and good but you don't remain continent by constantly tensing. They are related to much larger functional muscles such as glutes and indeed the whole posterior train. I did PFX till I was blue in the face, but it took a sports physio to see that I actually had an asymmetry in glute strength so my PF couldn't engage properly when doing jumps etc.

If I'd relied on the "do your squeezes" type advice I'd have lovely toned vaginal musculature but not the freedom to go run 10k without worry.

Brilliant!
Will deffo sign up

Get A Grip made me smile. It looks like the Twitter course is a fundraiser for a women’s resource? My life would have been different if I knew about bladders and pelvic floors when I was younger, that’s definitely worth a few quid. donate link