Pregnancy and
post-partum.
Carrying, birthing, and recovering ask a lot of the body. Osteopathic support through pregnancy, after birth, and through the long months when "recovered" still does not quite fit.
What brings people in during pregnancy
The common presentations: low back and pelvic pain as the pelvis shifts and the ligaments soften; rib and thoracic tension as the diaphragm adjusts to the growing uterus; sciatica and pelvic girdle pain; hip and groin discomfort from the changes in weight distribution and mechanics. None of this is a disease — it is the body doing something it has never done before, and sometimes the adaptation becomes too demanding.
Less commonly: digestive discomfort, reflux, headaches, and the accumulated systemic tension of carrying more, moving differently, and sleeping less well than usual.
The thoracic space can feel very separate from the abdominal space. One is taking volume; the other has a hard time following.
What the work involves
Sessions during pregnancy use positioning, contact, and techniques adapted to avoid compression on the abdomen and any position contraindicated for the trimester. The work becomes lighter in the third trimester; the approach shifts throughout. I will ask about your obstetric history, any complications or concerns, and what your care team already knows.
From 2008 to 2011 I provided regular Osteopathic care at Clinique Léonard de Vinci in Paris alongside a physiological birth team — the Groupe Naissance — midwives, doulas, and physicians who understood birth as a physiological process and wanted their patients to have coherent, coordinated care. Working within a multidisciplinary perinatal team is not new to me. If you have a midwife, doula, or GP following the pregnancy and would like me to communicate with them, that is easy to arrange.
Post-partum
The post-partum period tends to be underserved. Most attention goes to the baby. The mother's physical recovery gets less systematic care, unless something goes significantly wrong.
What I commonly see in the weeks and months after birth: persistent pelvic and sacral tension that has not resolved; thoracic restriction from feeding positions; the generalised exhaustion of a body that did something enormous and then kept going without pause. Osteopathic work in this period tends to be well received — the body is ready to integrate, if given a little support.
The early post-partum period sometimes produces a low mood that gets attributed entirely to hormonal change. In my experience, part of what is driving it can sometimes be a sacrum that has not returned to its resting position after the birth. It is not the whole story. But it is worth checking. Low mood after a birth deserves attention in its own right — your midwife or GP is the right first conversation, and osteopathic work can sit alongside it.
For more complex post-partum presentations — significant pelvic floor involvement, recovery after a difficult birth, post-caesarean abdominal tension — I will often refer alongside or to a pelvic floor physiotherapist who does this work specifically.
Timing
During pregnancy: from the second trimester onwards is when most people come in, though earlier is possible and sometimes useful. First trimester work is lighter and I will discuss the approach carefully with you before we begin.
Post-partum: ideally from three to six weeks after birth, once the immediate recovery has settled. For caesarean births, I defer to your obstetrician's guidance on when manual work on the abdomen and pelvis is appropriate.