Hi, I'm Abby
I'm based on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, and I'm a Hypopressives coach, and a Specialist Midwife in Perinatal Mental Health in the NHS. I have been a midwife for over 10 years, working across Surrey, Sussex, London and Norfolk. My favourite thing about both of my jobs is building relationships with women, and supporting them through ( and importantly, after) this massive transition in their life. I will forever be fascinated by, and in awe of women's incredible bodies and what they are capable of!
I became a Mum in 2016 when I had my son. My son's birth was long and traumatic, ending in an emergency caesarean after an attempted ventouse and forceps delivery, and I found my recovery painful and difficult; my body felt broken. Being a Midwife myself, I knew how to do pelvic floor exercises but found them unappealing and difficult to remember to do with a new baby. My core muscles felt really weak and I struggled to feel I had fully "recovered" from carrying and giving birth to a baby.
I became interested in Hypopressives when I learned that the technique is routinely taught in France, Spain and Brazil postnatally (the technique was initially taught for postpartum recovery in the 1980's by Dr Marcel Caufriez). I was fascinated by the whole body approach and the added wellbeing benefits of the breathwork. Here was a technique that could be taught not just to postnatal women, but women at any stage in their life to support optimal function and health in the pelvic floor, and in the body as a whole. I completed the training to become a Hypopressives coach and in doing so, felt the strongest I ever have since having my son.
Many women I have met have been told that the pelvic floor symptoms they are experiencing are "normal", and they should learn to live with them. What I have learned by becoming a Hypopressives coach, is that these symptoms are common, but they are not normal. Pelvic floor difficulties don't have to be a life sentence; you can recover and feel strong again doing what you love.
Abby x