For many women, the mere mention of the pelvic floor is enough to make them squirm.
From routine smear tests to prodding at midwife appointments, the idea of having a stranger in and around that area can seem less than comfortable.
But mum-of-two Laura Patterson wants to banish that fear, using physiotherapy and Pilates to educate women on their bodies.
“I completely understand the nerves and the embarrassment,” she said.
“But I have honestly heard everything and I will happily talk about everything all day.
“If I had a pound for every time I have heard someone say ‘I’ve not been for a wax’ before an examination, honestly, I don’t even notice.
“There are things we can do even without internal examinations, from looking at someone’s history or even at their tummy, their breathing, their movement, we can still find out lots if that’s what they prefer.”
ReformPhysio & Pilates
Laura has been a physiotherapist since 2004, initially working mostly with musculoskeletal sports injuries in the NHS and private practices.
It wasn’t until she had her own children that she realised that she could use her talents a little closer to home.
“I had quite bad pelvic girdle pain when I had my children, so I went to a physio which opened my eyes to that side of things,” said Laura.
“I started seeing more women myself for pregnancy and postnatal back pain and pelvic pain, the more I did it the more interested I got in the pelvis and the pelvic floor.”
Laura opened ReformPhysio & Pilates clinic in January 2020, moving it to its new and current location in Cults in August 2021.
A dedicated team of trained professionals means the clinic offers a wide range of classes and services from antenatal physiotherapy to sports and C-section scar massages – all working together to ensure people get the help they need.
Laura said: “Not everyone is fit to be in a class, if you’ve had a long time away from exercise or have an underlying health condition for example.
“We can do a one to one Pilates or physio assessment and we can have a look and see what we think would be best for them.”
Reformer Pilates differs from regular Pilates in the introduction of resistance, with a specialised machine
Laura has used it in physiotherapy for over a decade and said it slots in perfectly with pregnancy and post-natal classes.
She now runs the only clinic in Aberdeen to offer group classes using the machines.
“It had been my dream for years to open a reformer studio,” she said.
“Other places only ever had it for one to one therapy, which makes it so expensive, I wanted to make it accessible to everyone.”
Understanding women’s bodies
Laura believes women deserve more support in managing and understanding pelvic floor symptoms and aims to address this through physiotherapy.
“We know that one in three women will be incontinent at some point and that 50% will have a prolapse, statistics on that are huge,” she said.
“If we can prevent prolapse, or make people more aware of the symptoms, we can also help address them or refer them to GPs if they are beyond our help.”
Laura’s interest in female health has only grown through the years, evolving from being pregnancy-centred to looking at all the different stages of a woman’s life.
She said: “I recently found a statistic that said women are now living 40% of our lives post-menopause.
“For some people that will be absolutely fine, for some it really won’t be, so it’s trying to educate people on how to recognise symptoms.
“We also want to make sure women are doing enough exercise around this time, the clinic is multi-faceted in the pelvic health area.”
Mummy MOTs
One of Laura’s main focuses is on providing new mums with a Mummy MOT.
She explained: “It focuses on helping postnatal mums and giving them advice and education that they aren’t getting otherwise.
“It also tries and help them back to activity as safe as possible.
“Unfortunately a lot of places now aren’t doing the six-week checkup after birth, so a lot of women want to know what is going on with their pelvic floor, tears, and just that everything is okay.”
Through education and support, Laura also hopes to battle so-called ‘bounce-back’ culture for women after giving birth.
“Everyone looks at celebrities and thinks ‘oh they’ve bounced right back’, but you’re not seeing what’s going on behind the scenes,” said Laura.
“Everyone’s recovery is so so different, even no two C-sections are the same, and everyone has different goals regarding what they would like to get back to as well.
“There is no one size fits all to postnatal recovery: if you just want to be able to walk the dog, fine, but equally we have marathon runners who want to get back to that.”
Creating a safe space
There are many classes and services at ReformPhysio & Pilates that welcome men, but Laura and the team are passionate about supporting women’s wellbeing.
She said: “My own journey has impacted my work because I know you can ask for help.
“I think back to things I went through and know I can encourage others to do them a bit better.
“I got really fit after having my second child and I had a C-section, so I can say there’s hope if you have goals you want to work towards.”
Moving forward, Laura hopes to expand the business, with classes currently filling up fast, offering online classes and increasing focus in different areas.
Ultimately, she hopes the clinic is a safe space for people to bring their worries so the team can help melt them away.
“A huge part of our job is reassurance and listening, women need people to speak to,” said Laura.
“All the women on the team have had children so there’s that empathy, even with a mum’s lack of time to do things.
“We see a lot of tears in our clinic room, I think when they start to talk about symptoms and see that we are understanding, there is a relief, they realise they are not alone.”
Wellbeing check-in with Laura Patterson
What is your favourite way to relax?
Go for a walk with the dog, or colouring. I love a colouring book.
What is your favourite way to exercise?
Either reformer pilates – I’ve done it myself for years – or running.
Go-to for workout clothes?
I am a total Sweaty Betty addict. Everyone who comes to my classes knows that, and as an instructor you even get a discount.
Do you have any workout essentials?
Headphones. I used to have a brilliant drum and bass running playlist I would listen to, you can find ones that match your cadence so it helps you keep your pace.
What is your idea of a workout nightmare?
Anything that gets me up early in the morning. The thought of getting up at 6am to go for a run or join a class – no way. I don’t know how people do it, I am continually impressed by it but it’s not me.
What is the top benefit of your classes?
The resistance training, that’s a really big benefit.
To find out more about ReformPhysio & Pilates, go to reformphysio.net or check out their Instagram and Facebook pages.
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