The Pelvic Health Podcast

Pelvic pain care doesn’t just involve patients learning to feel safe, it demands clinicians feel regulated too. In this episode, I’m joined by Dr Thea Bowler , a gynaecologist and fertility specialist with advanced training in pelvic pain, pain management, and laparoscopic surgery. Thea combines evidence-based medicine with a compassionate, whole-person approach, helping patients and practitioners...

On this episode of The Pelvic Health Podcast we were joined by Dr Laura Whitburn , Senior Lecturer and researcher at La Trobe University, to explore The Meaning of Labour Pain and the groundbreaking research behind it. Dr Whitburn’s work reframes labour pain—showing that the way women interpret and give meaning to pain during childbirth plays a pivotal role in their experience and coping, and that...

Part 2 is finally ready for everyone to listen to - or watch on YouTube! If you haven't listened to or watched Part 1, head back catch up, this is our continued conversation. Jo, Tam and myself dive further into my PhD studies - looking at pelvic floor symptoms between women doing CrossFit and women only running, objectively assessing pelvic floor support in supine versus standing, and more of the...

🎙️ NEW EPISODE ALERT! 🎙️ We're thrilled to share our conversation with Alison Deslandes, specialist sonographer and endometriosis researcher, who's breaking down the game-changing role of ultrasound in endometriosis detection. If you are missing out on the current action at the World Congress on Endo, catch her here and stalk her on insta. ✨ In this episode, we dive into: How specialized ultrasou...

In Part 1 of this special series, Jo and Tam flip the script and interview the newly Dr. Lori Forner about her PhD research on exercise-based heavy lifting, pelvic organ support, and the use of transperineal ultrasound in physiotherapy. We explore her research, specifically exercise-based heavy lifting and pelvic organ support in Part 1 where the next episode (Part 2) discusses the use of transper...

We are back for 2024 (better late than never) with an interesting talk about female genital cutting (previously known as FGM - female genital mutilation) with Dr Greg Jenkins. Today’s episode is a tough but important episode. We discuss female genital cutting previously known as female genital mutilation in Australia. We have had the absolute privilege of talking to Dr Greg Jenkins, who was an OBG...

We had a brilliant chat with Dr Stephanie Pirotta about PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) and the role of lifestyle interventions to manage the chronic illness. This episode was meant to be aired before the PB Endo Conference, where Dr Pirotta presented a wonderful talk, however Lori's life was crazy and she just couldn't pull it together and get it out there in time. Apologies! But this episode is...

Today’s episode discusses the deeply sensitive topic of stillbirth. We understand that discussing this subject can be distressing or triggering for those who have experienced loss, are currently dealing with pregnancy complications, or are currently pregnant. In this episode, we chat with a long-time physiotherapy colleague and friend of Lori's, Heidi Mules. She shares her personal story about the...

What is the vagus nerve? What is the polyvagal theory? Why should we care? Isn't it controversial? The one and only, Michelle Lyons , will answer these questions and sooooo much more on this episode (think: behaviour change for patients, how do we as clinicians avoid burnout, etc). For those of you who have been listening to this podcast, you will be very familiar with previous episodes on menopau...

In The Clinic today with Jo: palpating and cueing EUS (external urethral sphincter). Don't forget about the upcoming Brisbane Endo conference in October - tickets selling faaaaaast: PB Endo conference!!!! And of course checking out The Pelvic Health Community!!!!: https://the-pelvic-health-community.mn.co/share/M6n01bTZgpvV9J1s?utm_source=manual   The paper Jo is discussing: https://pubmed.ncbi.nl...

This episode welcomes back to the pod, the wonderful Dr. Jennifer Kruger, who was on the podcast in 2018 discussing the vaginal pressure profile and the early work behind JunoFem and the FemFit – the focus on today’s episode. She is a wealth of knowledge, has a PhD in Sport and Exercise Science, 15 years of clinical experience in nursing and midwifery, and now the CEO and Co-founder of JunoFem – a...

We are adding some new information to The Pelvic Health Podcast. Our expert interviews will continue but in between them, we will now have some shorter episodes on useful clinical ideas for assessment and treatment.  Today it's the ever-growing interest in transperineal ultrasound and I (Lori) share some tips.  PB Endo conference!!!! For extra knowledge in this area, you can learn from us here......

THE Taryn Hallam (physiotherapist, educator and WHTA founder) joins the podcast in this episode to bust some big myths about pelvic floor dysfunction. Myths she addresses include: The Oxford scale as a measure of PFM strength Levator ani muscle function as a major factor in stress urinary incontinence Detrusor overactivity and overactive bladder as the same thing Caffeine as a major bladder irrita...

Pelvic floor physiotherapist, and recently awarded Order of Australia Medal, Sue Croft is joining us today to talk about longevity in physiotherapy profession. Given her extensive experience and contribution in this field for over 30 years, who better to talk to about avoiding burnout from our clinical and educational loads. Sue then turns the mic on me (Lori) to discuss my chosen professional pat...

Join us for the fantastic insight into Dr. Rachel Worman 's work trying to disentangle the great web of confusion around pelvic floor muscle tone.  Rachel has taken a deep dive into all the research looking into high tone/overactive/hypertonic pelvic floor muscles and its relationship with symptoms, and produced for us all a systematic review. She has been working with the team at the University o...

This is our special holiday episode on vulnerability. One of our fav podcasts, The Imperfects @theimperfectspodcast , do a great segment called “Vulnerabili-tea” and we jumped on this and decided to call ours “Vulva-bility”. Jo, Tam, and I take you on a vulnerability episode where we answer the following questions: If you could tell your younger self some advice, what would it be? What do you want...

Pelvic floor physiotherapist, National level weightlifter, and PhD candidate, Christina Prevett, is here to discuss her recently published journal article titled "Impact of heavy resistance training on pregnancy and postpartum health outcomes", authored by Christina Prevet, Miranda L. Kimber, Lori Forner, Marlize de Vivo, and Margie H. Davenport. LINK TO READ PAPER HERE: https://rdcu.be/cY0e2 This...

We are incredibly honoured and privileged to have had the opportunity to chat with Eloise Wellings , who generously shares her incredible story of triumphs and set-backs. Eloise’s story has examples of all health issues facing female athletes, from eating disorders, menstrual dysfunction and RED-s, to pregnancy and exercise and returning to sport post partum.   Eloise Wellings is one of Australia’...

You will love listening to Jodie Dakic , an amazing physiotherapy clinician and researcher. Her clinical experience in elite sport is inspiring, not to mention she has almost finished her PHD investigating pelvic floor symptoms, sport and exercise.  Jodie lectures at Monash University in the department of physiotherapy, she co-directs the curriculum of physiotherapy program and women's and men's p...

Amelia "Millie" Mardon is a full time PHD student at The University of South Australia working to improve our understanding of persistent pelvic pain. Millie and her amazing colleagues have published a systematic review of the efficacy of self management strategies for females with endometriosis , and more recently a systematic review on the treatment recommendations for the management of persiste...

Dr Margie Davenport is an Associate Professor at The University of Alberta where her areas of research including investigating the maternal-fetal transmission of chronic disease and exploring the role of exercise in pregnancy as a preventative strategy in the development of chronic disease. Margie and her team are sure shaking up our thoughts on type and intensity of exercise in pregnancy and refr...

Dr Rachel Harris is a Sport & Medicine Physician, Chief Medical Officer for the Australian Paralympic Team for the Tokyo games, and Chief Medical Officer for the Australian Water Polo Team. She is also the Project Lead for the AIS Female athlete performance and health, menstrual cycle and hormonal contraception project . Oh and an Olympian. Today's episode she joins Jo, Tam and I to discuss the up...

Yes it's still me, Lori, and yes it's still The Pelvic Health Podcast but I have new friends to hang out with and interview with and chat with and we will have so much more fun to come. Listen up, enjoy the fresh voices, and laugh with us while you get to know a little bit more about us all ❤️

Steph Paplinskie is a prenatal and postpartum fitness specialist, strength and conditioning coach, PhD candidate in the Exercise and Pregnancy Lab at Western University and international lecturer. Her research investigates the effects of physical activity and exercise training interventions on pregnant and postpartum women. She also runs her own business StrongHer Fitness and is passionate about s...

Today’s episode for is for all you pelvic pain nerds out there. I bring you a brilliant discussion I had with pelvic floor physio, Katie Kelly , on the concepts of graded motor imagery for pelvic pain.  Katie Kelly is a pelvic floor physiotherapist from New Brunswick, Canada. She graduated from the MSc PT program at Dalhousie University in 2010 and has been working with pelvic floor patients for o...