Supporting Your Body Through Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond
Pregnancy and childbirth are incredible experiences, but they also place significant physical demands on your body. As your body changes, you may experience pain, weakness, pelvic pressure, changes in your core or pelvic floor, or difficulty staying active and returning to the activities you love.
At Magic City Physical Therapy, our physical and occupational therapists provide specialized pregnancy and postpartum rehabilitation for women in Hoover, Alabama, and throughout the Birmingham metro area. We help you stay active and comfortable during pregnancy, prepare your body for birth, recover after delivery, and confidently return to exercise, work, and everyday life.
Whether you’re newly pregnant, preparing for birth, newly postpartum, or still experiencing changes years after having a baby, we’re here to help.
Prepare Your Body for Birth—Not Just Postpartum Recovery
Pelvic floor therapy can be an important part of pregnancy and birth preparation. Your pelvic floor needs to be able to relax, lengthen, contract, and coordinate with your breathing, abdominal muscles, and changing positions during labor and delivery.
Prenatal rehabilitation can help you develop pelvic and hip mobility, strength, coordination, body awareness, breathing strategies, and pressure management to better prepare your body for birth. Addressing mobility restrictions, pelvic floor coordination, positioning, and breathing before delivery may also help decrease the risk of pelvic floor injury and birth-related trauma.
If you’re experiencing pain, pelvic pressure, urinary changes, constipation, or difficulty staying active during pregnancy, you don’t have to wait until after delivery to seek help. Whether you’re in your first trimester or your third, it’s never too early—or too late—to prepare your body for what’s next.
Pregnancy Physical & Occupational Therapy
Feel Strong, Comfortable & Prepared During Pregnancy
As your baby grows, your posture, balance, breathing, core function, pelvic floor, and ability to perform everyday activities can change. Therapy can help you adapt to these changes while maintaining strength, mobility, comfort, and independence.
We commonly help with pregnancy-related low back, pelvic, hip, SI joint, pubic symphysis, and tailbone pain, as well as round ligament discomfort, pelvic floor changes, urinary symptoms, constipation, abdominal and core changes, and difficulty exercising comfortably. We can also address body mechanics for work, home, lifting, childcare, and other daily activities.
Our therapists look beyond an individual symptom to understand how pregnancy is affecting your whole body and your ability to participate in the activities that matter to you.
Preparing for Labor & Delivery
Birth preparation isn’t simply about strengthening your pelvic floor. Your body needs the ability to move, relax, breathe, and coordinate effectively throughout labor.
Depending on your needs and stage of pregnancy, therapy may incorporate pelvic and hip mobility, pelvic floor relaxation, breathing and pressure management, labor positioning, core and hip strengthening, and education for labor and postpartum recovery.
Our goal isn’t to tell you how you should give birth. It’s to help you understand your body and feel more prepared and confident in your options.
Postpartum Physical & Occupational Therapy
Your Body Deserves Rehabilitation, Too
Whether you had a vaginal birth or C-section, pregnancy and delivery create significant changes throughout your body. You may be told that leaking, weakness, abdominal changes, pain, or difficulty returning to exercise are simply “normal” after having a baby. While these concerns are common, you don’t have to accept them as your new normal.
Postpartum therapy can help restore strength, mobility, coordination, confidence, and independence as you return to everyday life. We commonly address diastasis recti, abdominal and pelvic floor changes, urinary leakage or urgency, pelvic pressure, low back or hip pain, C-section recovery, scar restrictions, pain with movement or exercise, and difficulty returning to running or higher-impact activities.
Occupational therapy can also help you safely and comfortably manage the physical demands of caring for a baby, including lifting, carrying, feeding, reaching, getting up and down from the floor, and managing daily routines.
C-Section Recovery
A C-section is abdominal surgery, and recovery involves more than allowing the incision to heal. Once medically appropriate, therapy may address abdominal and scar mobility, visceral mobility, core coordination, breathing and pressure management, posture, progressive strengthening, lifting mechanics, and return to exercise and daily activities.
Appropriate scar and soft-tissue techniques can help restore mobility and improve how the surrounding tissues move once the incision is fully healed.
Returning to Exercise & Everyday Life After Baby
Getting back to exercise and daily activities should be a progression, not a race.
Whether your goal is walking comfortably, returning to Pilates, lifting weights, running, playing sports, returning to work, or simply keeping up with your children, we’ll help you rebuild your strength and gradually increase your activity.
Your plan may address core and pelvic floor function, breathing and pressure management, hip and lower-extremity strength, mobility, balance, movement mechanics, lifting and carrying, and your ability to tolerate impact and increased physical demands.
Our goal is simple: to help you feel strong, capable, and confident in your body again.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I start therapy during pregnancy?
You can begin at any point during pregnancy. Some women seek care because they are experiencing pain or limitations, while others want to proactively prepare their bodies for birth and postpartum recovery.
Do I need to wait until six weeks postpartum?
Not necessarily. The appropriate timing depends on your delivery, medical history, symptoms, and individual recovery. We’ll work within your medical provider’s recommendations and your body’s needs.
Is postpartum therapy only for women who had a difficult delivery?
No. Even an uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery place significant demands on the body. Postpartum rehabilitation can help restore strength, mobility, coordination, and function regardless of how your delivery went.
Can you help after a C-section?
Yes. We work with women recovering from cesarean deliveries and can address scar and abdominal mobility, core function, posture, strength, lifting mechanics, and return to activity as appropriate.
Can you help with diastasis recti?
Yes. We’ll assess how your abdominal wall functions during breathing, movement, and exercise and develop an individualized program to improve core coordination, strength, and function.
Can you help me return to running after having a baby?
Absolutely. We’ll assess strength, mobility, movement mechanics, core and pelvic floor function, and impact tolerance before developing a gradual return-to-running program.
Can you help me with everyday activities after having a baby?
Absolutely. Postpartum recovery isn’t just about exercise. Caring for a newborn involves frequent lifting, carrying, feeding, reaching, getting up and down from the floor, and spending long periods in different positions. We can help you develop strategies for these activities while rebuilding strength and protecting your recovering body.
Can I see you if I had my baby years ago?
Yes. Postpartum recovery doesn’t have an expiration date. If you’re still experiencing weakness, abdominal changes, pain, pelvic floor symptoms, or difficulty exercising years after pregnancy, we can evaluate your current function and help you move forward.
Do I need an internal pelvic floor examination?
No. An internal examination is not automatically required. If it would provide useful information for your individual situation, we’ll explain why, discuss your options, and obtain your consent before proceeding.
You Don’t Have to Figure It Out Alone
Pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery are different for every woman. You don’t have to simply accept pain, weakness, leaking, or physical limitations as part of motherhood.
At Magic City Physical Therapy, our physical therapists and occupational therapists provide specialized pregnancy and postpartum rehabilitation in a private, comfortable environment where you can ask questions, receive individualized guidance, and feel supported throughout your journey.
Prepare your body for birth. Recover with intention. Rebuild your strength. Get back to the life you love.
Contact Magic City Physical Therapy to schedule your pregnancy or postpartum physical or occupational therapy evaluation in Hoover, Alabama.
