PELVIC HEALTH & POSTPARTUM · STAFFORD, VA
Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy, In Your Own Home
Pelvic health concerns can affect bladder and bowel function, pelvic support, sexual comfort, core function, exercise and confidence. Divine Physical Therapy provides individualized, one-on-one pelvic health and postpartum rehabilitation in your home, with 75-minute sessions and the same Doctor of Physical Therapy every visit.
THE BASICS
What Is Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy?
Pelvic floor physical therapy treats the muscles, connective tissue and nerves that support your bladder, bowel, pelvic organs and core. Dr. Thea Paige assesses how those muscles coordinate with your breathing, ribcage, hips and abdominal wall, then treats the pattern driving your symptoms, in your own home, across Stafford County, Virginia.
Sessions are 75 minutes, one-on-one, and paced by consent at every step. HSA/FSA cards may be used for eligible expenses, subject to your plan rules, and an itemized superbill is available on request for possible out-of-network reimbursement.
This page is the starting point for Divine Physical Therapy's pelvic health services. Reviewed by Dr. Thea Paige, PT, DPT, CMTPT, PCES (about Dr. Paige).
Pelvic health is more than Kegels. It can address urinary leaking or urgency, pelvic pressure or heaviness, pelvic pain, painful intercourse, bowel dysfunction, pregnancy-related musculoskeletal pain, diastasis recti, cesarean or perineal scar concerns, postpartum weakness, and return to lifting, running and exercise.
THE WHOLE SYSTEM
Pelvic Health Is More Than Kegels.
At Divine, pelvic health is integrated with orthopedic rehabilitation. The pelvic floor does not work in isolation from the abdominal wall, diaphragm, hips, spine or the loads you manage every day. Assessment therefore looks at the whole movement system rather than assuming every pelvic symptom is simply a weak pelvic floor.
A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis of 65 studies involving 21,334 participants found moderate-certainty evidence that postpartum pelvic floor muscle training reduced the odds of urinary incontinence by 37% compared with control groups.1 The same review reported a 56% reduction in the odds of pelvic organ prolapse based on one randomized trial, while evidence for several other postpartum outcomes remained more limited.
THE EVALUATION
Strength, Relaxation, Coordination, Or A Combination?
Symptoms alone do not tell us whether the pelvic floor needs strengthening. Some people need better force production or endurance; others need improved relaxation, coordination, mobility or pressure management. Many need a combination. That is why the plan begins with assessment rather than automatically prescribing Kegels.
Assessment may include breathing and pressure strategy, abdominal-wall function, hip and spinal mobility, functional movement, external pelvic-region assessment and appropriate symptom questionnaires. An internal pelvic-floor examination may provide additional information about muscle activation, relaxation, tenderness and coordination when clinically indicated.
CONSENT, ALWAYS: Internal pelvic assessment or treatment is never automatic and is not required to receive pelvic health physical therapy. At Divine Physical Therapy, internal pelvic assessment and internal pelvic interventions are currently offered to women only. They are performed only when clinically appropriate and with informed consent. Consent can be withdrawn at any time. External assessment, education, movement rehabilitation and orthopedic treatment remain available without an internal examination.
YOUR FIRST VISIT
What Happens At The First Pelvic Health Visit?
Phase 1: History & Comprehensive Examination
The first appointment is a 75-minute evaluation in your home. It begins with your history, symptoms, goals and the activities that matter to you. The physical examination is individualized and may include breathing, ribcage and hip mobility, abdominal-wall function, strength, movement, scar mobility and pelvic-floor assessment when appropriate.
Phase 2: Immediate Treatment & Self-Reliance
Treatment may begin during the evaluation when appropriate and can include education, manual therapy, mobility work, pelvic-floor coordination or relaxation strategies, pressure management, progressive strengthening and a home program. The goal is not dependence on treatment. It is to help you understand your body, build capacity and become increasingly independent.
BEYOND THE SIX-WEEK CHECK
Postpartum Rehabilitation Is More Than A Six-Week Check.
Postpartum recovery involves more than tissue healing. Sleep disruption, feeding and carrying positions, changing activity demands, abdominal-wall recovery, pelvic-floor symptoms and the gradual return to exercise can all influence how someone feels and functions. ACOG describes postpartum care as an ongoing process and specifically recommends assessment of urinary and fecal continence with referral to physical therapy or urogynecology when indicated.2
Exercise can generally be resumed gradually when medically safe, based on mode of delivery and the presence of medical or surgical complications. ACOG also notes that pelvic-floor exercises can begin in the immediate postpartum period for appropriate patients.3 A medical clearance, however, does not by itself determine readiness for running, heavy lifting or higher-impact exercise; rehabilitation can help bridge that transition.
BEYOND ONE CLIENT AT A TIME
Pelvic Health Education Should Start Before Something Feels “Wrong.”
Divine's long-term vision for pelvic health extends beyond treating symptoms one client at a time. Pelvic anatomy, bladder and bowel habits, menstruation, pregnancy and postpartum changes, pressure management, exercise and when to seek help should be easier to discuss. Community education can give teens and adults more accurate language for their bodies and reduce the stigma around symptoms people often keep private.
Education does not replace individualized medical care. It creates a stronger foundation for recognizing symptoms, asking better questions and seeking appropriate care earlier.
SET HONESTLY
What Physical Therapy Can And Cannot Promise
Pelvic health rehabilitation can improve function and symptoms for many people, but outcomes vary by diagnosis, severity, medical history and adherence. For postpartum urinary incontinence, recent systematic reviews support pelvic floor muscle training as an important conservative strategy, while also showing meaningful heterogeneity between studies and uncertainty around the best program for every patient.4
Physical therapy does not replace evaluation by an OB-GYN, urogynecologist, urologist, colorectal specialist or other clinician when symptoms suggest a condition outside the physical therapy scope. Referral and coordinated care are part of responsible pelvic health practice.
SELECTED EVIDENCE & FURTHER READING
Sources Referenced On This Page
Research is provided for education and clinical context. Findings from a study population do not predict an individual's outcome.
01. Davenport MH, et al. (2025). Impact of postpartum exercise on pelvic floor disorders and diastasis recti abdominis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. PubMed.
02. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Optimizing Postpartum Care. ACOG.
03. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Physical Activity and Exercise During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period. Committee Opinion No. 804. ACOG.
04. Chen L, et al. (2024). Conservative Interventions for Urinary Incontinence on Postpartum Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Midwifery Womens Health. PubMed.
INSIDE THIS AREA OF CARE
Start With The Page That Sounds Like You.
Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
High-tone vs low-tone, and why the direction of treatment is a clinical decision, not a default.
Urinary Incontinence
Leaking with coughing, laughing, lifting or running: assessment, pelvic-floor training and progressive return to activity.
Pelvic Organ Prolapse
Pressure, heaviness or bulging symptoms: conservative management, exercise and appropriate referral when needed.
Diastasis Recti
Abdominal-wall function, load management and progressive strengthening beyond measuring gap width alone.
Pregnancy Physical Therapy
Support for pregnancy-related back, pelvic and pubic-region pain, mobility and safe exercise.
Postpartum Physical Therapy
Core and pelvic floor rehabilitation at home, with your baby in the room.
Cesarean Recovery
Abdominal-wall rehabilitation, scar mobility and return to activity after cesarean birth.
Pelvic Pain
Pelvic pain education and rehabilitation that considers muscular, orthopedic and nervous-system contributors.
Return To Running Postpartum
A graded return to impact based on symptoms, strength, capacity and individual recovery.
YOUR QUESTIONS, ANSWERED
Frequently Asked
KEEP READING
Where To Go Next
Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
High-tone vs low-tone, and why the direction of treatment is a clinical decision, not a default.
Cesarean Recovery
Scar massage, numbness and the deep core, months or years after a C-section.
First Visit Expectations
A walkthrough of a first Divine PT session, from conversation to plan.
BEGIN WITH A DISCOVERY CALL
You Don't Have To Keep Living Around It.
Start with a complimentary Discovery Consultation to discuss your concerns and determine whether pelvic health physical therapy is an appropriate next step.