Pelvic Health Network Podcast

Dr. Rebeca Segraves

I discovered something strange about women's health when I learned that people were offered rehab services and recovery plans after ACL repairs, shoulder surgeries, knee and hip replacements, yet women after C-section and hysterectomy were sent home in diapers. The more I dug, the more I found out why. Here are some of my most intimate conversations with thought leaders, experts, and ordinary people about the business of women's health. These hold the lessons I learned of the consequences and rewards of making it public. Thank you for listening. ~Rebeca Segraves

  1. May 20

    Build a Physician-Led Postpartum Recovery Program

    Most postpartum recovery conversations start too late.This one started with a woman who collapsed trying to get upstairs after birth.She had been discharged home after a complicated delivery. No rehab consult. No functional assessment. No equipment. No one evaluated whether she could safely navigate her own home.By the time a physician finally reached her weeks later, she had been confined to her couch. She could not get to the bathroom independently. She was using a bowl because she physically could not make it across the room.A home health referral for occupational therapy and physical therapy was finally placed at 5 weeks postpartum.In this conversation, physicians, physical therapists, and innovators in maternal health discuss a question that is becoming harder to ignore:What happens when we discharge mothers based on medical stability alone, without assessing whether they can actually function at home?We discuss:• Why some maternal fetal medicine physicians automatically order PT and OT after complex births• How postpartum rehab programs are reducing readmissions in hospitals across the U.S.• What therapists are identifying in the first days after discharge that vital signs at rest often miss• Why movement, function, blood pressure response to activity, and home setup matter after birth• The growing role of telehealth, wearable monitoring, and remote postpartum recovery supportFeaturing conversations with clinicians working to build physician-led postpartum recovery pathways in hospitals and homes.This is not a conversation about “bouncing back.”It’s about whether mothers are being assessed for the realities they’re returning home to.

    1h 42m

  2. May 6

    Endurance runner's experience with home health OT after C-section

    Four days after her C-section, Jenna couldn’t lie flat. She was short of breath. Her blood pressure kept climbing. She went to OB triage and was told to go home and rest. Instead, she went to the main emergency department with ongoing chest pressure, where her systolic blood pressure rose above 180 and her BNP registered at 1650. She was treated for postpartum fluid overload and acute heart failure. Jenna is an ultra-endurance athlete and cofounder of Enhanced Recovery After Delivery®. In this conversation, she shares what warning signs were missed, what happened during her postpartum readmission, and the role of home health occupational therapy after discharge from the hospital. Topics discussed: Postpartum readmissionAcute heart failure after C-sectionHome health OTReturn to running after birthEarly postpartum rehabStart your postpartum rehab practice within the first week after birth: https://courses.pelvichealthnetwork.org/postpartum-rehab-practiceGrow an OB rehab program in the hospital and home: https://enhancedrecoveryafterdelivery.com/program/Find hospitals offering OT and PT in the hospital after birth: https://pelvichealthnetwork.org/hospital

    1h 3m

  3. Apr 19

    The Leaders Bringing Early Rehab to Maternity Care

    Across the country, occupational and physical therapists are beginning to bring early rehabilitation to maternity units. In this panel, hospital-based clinicians share how they built programs for high-risk pregnancy, cesarean recovery, and early postpartum care, and why rehabilitation should be part of standard recovery after birth. Learn more about the Enhanced Recovery After Delivery (ERAD®) initiative: https://enhancedrecoveryafterdelivery.com/program/ Find hospitals in the U.S. that offer occupational and physical therapy after birth: https://pelvichealthnetwork.org/hospital

    1h 7m
  4. Why RCTs Fail Rehab Research and How Implementation Science Wins | Amy Lamb & Alyson Stover

    11/10/2025

    Why RCTs Fail Rehab Research and How Implementation Science Wins | Amy Lamb & Alyson Stover

    Why do randomized controlled trials often miss the mark for rehabilitation research? How can occupational therapy and physical therapy show system level value in maternal health, postpartum care, and hospital workflows? In this conversation Dr. Rebeca Segraves sits down with two past presidents of the American Occupational Therapy Association — Dr. Amy Lamb and Dr. Alyson Stover — to explore practical strategies for measuring real world impact using implementation science, quality improvement, and smart clinical workflows.In this episode we cover:• Why RCTs are not always the best fit for rehab research• What implementation science and quality improvement look like in clinical practice• Concrete examples of workflows and data points hospitals care about (length of stay, readmissions, cost, patient satisfaction)• How to design feasible pilot projects that produce actionable results for administrators• A glimpse at international models that embed OT into primary careConnect with our Guests:• Dr Amy Lamb, Past President, American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), Consultant, Implementation Science Research — amy@thrivynconsulting.com • Dr Alyson Stover, Immediate Past President, AOTA, Consultant, Health Policy and Law — alyson@thrivynconsulting.comGrow an OB Rehab Program in your hospital: Enhanced Recovery After Delivery® (ERAD): https://enhancedrecoveryafterdelivery.com/program/

    1h 1m
  5. What no one tells you about diastasis with Antony Lo

    09/17/2025

    What no one tells you about diastasis with Antony Lo

    What if everything you’ve been told about diastasis recti isn’t the full story? In this episode, Antony Lo @PhysioDetective  an internationally recognized physiotherapist from Australia, shares why: slowing things down with deep core activation and breathing exercises can backfirewhy people deserve support in their own goals for strength, function, and appearance, andwhy most are far more capable than they’ve been told. This conversation will challenge what you think you know about abdominal muscle separation and recovery after birth.

    1h 19m
  6. Trauma-Informed Pelvic Health Training for Birth and Beyond

    09/15/2025

    Trauma-Informed Pelvic Health Training for Birth and Beyond

    Occupational therapists Lindsey Vestal, OTR/L and Lara Desrosiers, MSc. OT Reg. (Ont.) share how trauma can impact the experiences that mothers have after birth and the work of rehab therapists providing early care across settings. We discuss: 1. Their personal motivations behind creating the Trauma-Informed Pelvic Health Certification program and the Trauma-Informed Maternal Care training 2. Their reactions to the New York Times report on intra-operative pain during cesarean birth and the estimated 100,000+ women in the U.S. affected each year 3. The evolving role of rehab therapists in maternal health, why hospitals are beginning to offer OT and PT services after birth, what it takes to gain recognition as part of the maternal care team in hospital, virtual, and clinic-based settings 4. Clinical pearls for trauma-informed practice: • Why the presence or absence of trauma cannot be assumed from a medical record, and how to ask questions that build trust and uncover lived experience • Trauma-informed care strategies uniquely relevant to the maternal population, including language that restores agency and collaborative goal setting • Self-care recommendations for therapists facing burnout, secondary trauma, or personal challenges while advocating for the value of maternal rehab This conversation is designed for rehab professionals who are working to make early maternal rehab the standard of care in hospital, virtual, and outpatient clinic settings. If you have felt the struggle of proving your value in systems that overlook maternal rehab, this interview will provide both validation and actionable tools to support your practice. Trauma-Informed Pelvic Health Certification Training: https://www.functionalpelvis.com/trauma Trauma-Informed Strategies in Maternal Health: Pelvic Health Network OTs in Pelvic Health Summit: https://www.functionalpelvis.com/summit

    38 min

  7. 07/04/2025

    The First 7 Days

    Jenna and Rebeca Segraves discuss why they advocate through Enhanced Recovery After Delivery for occupational and physical therapy to be accessible to moms within the first 7 days of giving birth. Learn more about Enhanced Recovery After Delivery

    1h 11m

  8. 05/14/2025

    What moms don't learn in the hospital after c section

    Dr. Addy Javes, PT, DPT is an acute care physical therapist and author of what is considered to be the first case report published in the U.S. on physical therapy in the hospital after birth. She shares the story of her patient who was physically active before delivery and who received PT in the hospital after her unexpected c-section. Dr. Javes describes how patients who recover with PT in the hospital after their major abdominal birth have the advantage of healing earlier than patients who are sent home to navigate their rehab on their own. For updated information on hospitals in the U.S. that provide occupational and physical therapy earlier than the standard of care after birth, visit: https://pelvichealthnetwork.org/hospitals/. To learn how to enhance recovery after delivery with occupational and physical therapy starting in the hospital and home, visit: https://enhancedrecoveryafterdelivery.com/. Case Report Physical Therapy May Improve Recovery After Cesarean Section During Hospital Admission: A Case Report. Journal of Acute Care Physical Therapy, April 2025 - Volume 16 - Issue. https://journals.lww.com/jacpt/abstract/2025/04000/physical_therapy_may_improve_recovery_after.3.aspx

    35 min
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About

I discovered something strange about women's health when I learned that people were offered rehab services and recovery plans after ACL repairs, shoulder surgeries, knee and hip replacements, yet women after C-section and hysterectomy were sent home in diapers. The more I dug, the more I found out why. Here are some of my most intimate conversations with thought leaders, experts, and ordinary people about the business of women's health. These hold the lessons I learned of the consequences and rewards of making it public. Thank you for listening. ~Rebeca Segraves

Information

  • Creator
    Dr. Rebeca Segraves
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    16
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Dr. Rebeca Segraves
  • Show Website
    Pelvic Health Network Podcast