Get ready for an empowering and educational conversation with Dr. Sara Reardon, also known as The Vagina Whisperer. As a board-certified pelvic floor physical therapist, mom of two, and author of Floored: A Woman’s Guide to Pelvic Floor Health At Every Stage and Age, Sara brings her expertise and approachable vibe to demystify pelvic floor health for pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond. She’s also famous for her vulva costume 😂
Sara dives into why pelvic floor health is important in every phase in life, how to prep your pelvic floor for birth without the overwhelm, and the small, practical steps you can take to care for your body at every stage. From debunking the kegel myth to sharing why your perineum deserves some TLC, this conversation is packed with insights to help you feel confident and informed.
What’s inside this episode:
- Why pelvic floor exercises are more than just kegels – and what to do instead.
- Sara’s tips for pregnant mamas: bite-sized ways to prep your body for birth.
- The lowdown on perineal massage and how it can reduce severe tearing.
- A candid chat about why proactive pelvic floor care matters for life, not just postpartum.
- A sneak peek into Sara’s book, Floored, and how it supports women at every age and stage.
Helpful timestamps:
- 02:05 Meet Dr. Sara Reardon, The Vagina Whisperer
- 03:24 The Importance of Pelvic Floor Health
- 04:52 Navigating Pregnancy and Postpartum Challenges
- 13:25 Small Steps for Pelvic Floor Health
- 20:00 The Need for Preventative Healthcare
- 25:52 Pelvic Floor Engagement During Pregnancy
- 28:19 Perineal Massage Tips
- 34:26 Postpartum Care and Recovery
- 37:07 Lifelong Pelvic Floor Health
- 43:04 Introducing the Book ‘Floored’
- 45:43 Final Thoughts and Joyful Moments
More from Dr. Sara Reardon:
Grab her book Floored: A Women’s Guide to Pelvic Floor Health at Every Age and Stage
Visit Dr. Sara Reardon’s website: TheVaginaWhisperer.com
Follow her on Instagram: @the.vagina.whisperer & TikTok: @thevagwhisperer
About your host:
🩺🤰🏻Lo Mansfield, MSN, RNC-OB, CLC is a registered nurse, mama of 4, and a birth, baby, and motherhood enthusiast. She is both the host of the Lo & Behold podcast and the founder of The Labor Mama.
For more education, support and “me too” from Lo, please visit her website and check out her online courses and digital guides for birth, breastfeeding, and postpartum/newborns. You can also follow @thelabormama and @loandbehold_thepodcast on Instagram and join her email list here.
For more pregnancy, birth, postpartum and motherhood conversation each week, be sure to subscribe to The Lo & Behold podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you prefer to listen!
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Disclaimer:
Opinions shared by guests of this show are their own, and do not always reflect those of The Labor Mama platform. Additionally, the information you hear on this podcast or that you receive via any linked resources should not be considered medical advice. Please see our full disclaimer here.
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Produced and Edited by Vaden Podcast Services
Transcript
It's a privilege of being your child's safest. Space and watching your heart walk around outside of your body.
The truth is, I can be having the best time being a mom one minute, and then the next, I'm questioning all my life choices.
Lo: I'm Lo Mansfield, your host of the Lo and Behold podcast, mama of four Littles, former labor and postpartum RN CLC, and your new best friend in the messy middle space of all the choices you are making in pregnancy, birth, and motherhood. If there is one thing I know after years of delivering babies at the bedside and then having, and now raising those four of my own, it is that there is no such thing as a best way to do any of this.
And we're [:If you grew up in a house like I did, and this is not me throwing shade at my parents, they absolutely were always doing the best they could with the info they had at the time. I know that of them to be true. I know that is true of you as well, so no shade at my parents. Okay? But I did grow up in a home that did not talk about bodies that did not use, you know, quote unquote, the proper nouns for body parts.
ow talking very openly about [:one of those people. So since:And then, like I said, the Vagina Whisper is who she is on Instagram and TikTok, where she has hundreds of thousands of followers on both of those platforms. And this is super exciting as well. She is about to release her book called Floored, A Woman's Guide to Pelvic Floor Health at every age and stage.
So I feel really lucky that I got to. Steal her. If you're listening to this present day, kind of in the midst of. Whatever it is that goes into releasing a book, since that's not something I've done. But she has just been grinding, making these things happen, and so I'm excited that I got to steal some time from her.
g to her. She's easy to talk [:Hello. Hello everybody. Okay. I'm super excited to get my guest, Ms. Sarah in front of you today I've got Dr. Sarah Reardon here, the Vagina Whisperer, as she is better known on basically all social media platforms. I'm gonna have her go ahead and introduce herself a little bit more, and then we're just gonna get into the combo that we're gonna have with you guys today.
years. [:So I'm excited to be here in chat today. I'm so glad to have you.
Lo: Okay. I also just wanna call out that I just called you, miss. Sarah, because that's how my kids refer to everybody. I'm like, why did I just call you Miss Sarah? So sorry guys. This is Sarah. She's a grownup. We do not have to call her Miss Sarah,
Sara: but also grownup like we, I, when I'm like, oh, the grownups, I'm like, okay, we're adults.
But I say grownup because that's also how I talk to my children. So I totally get it. Right.
Lo: Right. Okay. Anyway, yeah, so we're both moms in case you didn't know. Okay. So you said you've been doing this for 17, 18 years. I actually am curious, I feel like pelvic floor health kind of exploded more recently.
in it for way longer. You've [:ccount, the Vagina Whisper in:And it was really just for my close girlfriends and family members. We were all kind of getting pregnant and having babies around the same time. And I was like, I feel like women really need this information. And I was. Sending the same emails and text messages to my girlfriends. I was like, I just wanna put this in one place so that everybody can find it.
And I also think that there's just a lot that women didn't know about birth and postpartum recovery and how we could actually prepare for those things. And this is, you know, your voice is so important in this field as well. And we were hearing so many people say like, I wish I would've known this sooner.
ial media has grown and it's [:And so we've seen so many therapists kind of start their accounts and create communities, and it's just really exciting to see pelvic floor health be a part of the conversations in the broader sense of birth and postpartum and women's health.
e, Hey, I started this around:validate those who started in:for a really long time. The [:Yes, I'd like to do some of it differently, but I do think it's even just like this movement away from that too. Kind of a, Hey, we're gonna talk about our bodies. I can wear a VUL costume on the internet, and that's okay. It's not this horrific, embarrassing thing. It's actually hilarious. And let's talk more about it too.
So I feel like you were probably in there too, right? When people are really recognizing that they really need to talk about this because we're all running around a little bit clueless, and we don't have to be that way.
Sara: Right, right. And I think that, you know, there's always like thief is the, I mean, comparison is the thief of joy.
k at accounts that started in:You know, I think that the follower count is really just a testament to how much people are wanting this information. They're not getting it from elsewhere. So I really think that the growth of social media has been, you know, there is a lot of consistency in work that goes into that, but it's also because people are looking for help and they aren't getting it from their medical providers or in their own healthcare experiences.
So, yeah, I mean, I also, I've been doing this for 18 years and I feel like it's really incredible that social media is a free tool to help us reach more people. And that is awesome because. I'm in New Orleans, you're in Denver. Like if we don't have, you know, if people aren't in those two particular cities, how do they get support?
e outside of our own kind of [:Lo: Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, it's helped me learn too. I would never have had a conversation or, you know, quote unquote met you if social media weren't a thing.
Right. And so even for, you know, providers to kind of. Share knowledge and information across platforms and spaces. Yeah, it's been really cool, as most of you are probably aware because you're literally listening to a podcast right now that's trying to help. Okay, so, okay, we're talking a little bit about birth and empowerment and all of that stuff.
Where do you see, let's see, how do I frame this? Okay. It feels like a lot of us kind of know when it comes to the pelvic floor health, the almost the opposite. Like we're just taught, especially specific to birth, do your Kegels. Right? And we have this kind of prolific thing out there that's really not maybe part of the story, I mean a little bit, but it's really not what we need to know about pelvic floor health.
o I guess how do you kind of [:Sara: It's a great question. I think for most women, particularly myself, you know, I'm in my 40 early forties and growing up in the age of like cosmopolitan and you know, different magazines, it was like, do your Kegels for a tight vagina, for better sex, for stronger orgasms, for less leaks. And it really put this one contraction, which is a closing of the urinary sphincters, tighten the vagina as like the holy grail of pelvic floor health when it's not.
ome people have, tension and [:Some people have coordination issues. So in the book, I really broke it down less by. Hey, you need strengthening. Do this. You need weakness. Do this. I was like, here's a chapter on bladder health. This is what your normal bladder. You know, should look like how often she'd be peeing the proper way to sit.
Things you might be doing that are actually like damaging your pelvic floor. And if you have pelvic floor issues like leakage or frequency or a hard time starting your stream, like try these exercises to help. And so it kind of pulled us away from thinking like everybody needs to do Kegels were, it's like, that's one small piece of the puzzle, but it's everything from how you sit and how you exercise and how you breathe and how you pee, and how you poop.
is is an STI and sperm meets [:Like it's, we don't even talk about sex in a real kind of, approachable and, and and honest way, but we certainly don't get pelvic health education, you know? And so it's really how can we educate women with the basics of their body, help them understand it better so they can advocate for care, and what can we start giving them at home that they can do right now?
And that's really what I was hoping to achieve with this book.
Lo: Yeah. Okay. So that actually brings me right to my next question, which is, okay, you know this, so many of my audience is pregnant, and often with a first baby. And so I think there can be this, you know, you just named a lot of things that don't overwhelm me anymore, but I think it can be obviously incredibly overwhelming.
regnant mom who comes to you [:It's clear to me that this matters. Where do I even start knowing that I also, you know, wanna have a good birth and I, I want breastfeeding to go well, like, how do you get to, or how do you speak to those moms who wanna do this and they wanna care about this, but also, you know, they kind of care about the other things, which yes, are also very connected.
But yeah, I.
Sara: I mean, it can feel really overwhelming. I mean, I feel it as a mom now, and I'm like, okay, wait, how do I like learn how to communicate with my kids and take care of my perimenopausal body and do my pelvic floor exercises and my skincare routine? I'm like, okay, the list is long. Right. But I think, you know, the goal is to kind of give you really small bite-sized.
d of encouraging you to make [:I want you to be aware of what your options are. I think the biggest challenge for me is that we've never even given women the option to be like, Hey, this information's out there. Do you wanna consume it? Do you wanna try it? Do you wanna work on it during birth or after? We've just kind of been like, oh, they don't need it.
These things are gonna happen to them anyway. So just like let it be. And I'm like, that's gaslighting us. And I would say more often than not. Every single patient who's come into my clinic after giving birth, they've never been like, oh, I'm so glad I didn't know this before. 'cause it felt, it would've felt too overwhelming.
They were like, I wish I would've known this sooner. Why didn't anybody tell me? So I think it's really just giving women the option of like, Hey, take this information and if you wanna implement it, great. If you don't, or it's not the right time. Like, well, at least you know, and you can make the choice about what you do wanna change or what path you wanna follow.
hing you're going to do. You [:And it's kind of like, I want you to pick one thing today or this week, I. Literally one thing that you're going to dig into, learn about, like narrow it down to this one thing. And I think, you know, we think we have to get everything done all at once too. And obviously pregnancy can go really quickly. You know, if you have ever kids at home, if you're postpartum, like there is a lot going on in our lives, including my own.
but it doesn't have to, you [:We don't have to learn about, you know, the entirety of the labor process in one day. But I think, I think that it can feel like we do where, you know, we just think there is so much that I'm just, I'm just throwing my hands up and I'm not gonna do anything at all.
Sara: It is, I mean, it's a fire hose, you know, and it's a fire hose of information and, and I felt that way during pregnancy.
I'm prepared for my birth. So much, but I did zero preparation for breastfeeding and looking back I was like, huh, I wish I would've done more her breastfeeding. But I'm like, I was a new mom, I just didn't know, like, you're not gonna get it right all of the time. And I think we are trying to do things so perfectly, but I'm like, again, it's like I at least like I wanna make the choice about what information I consume or what information I implement versus not being given that choice at all.
nto what makes sense to you. [:Versus being like, I've gotta do all these things and like think about the material of my baby blanket and like what breast pump I'm using. Like, it's like, I think you gotta just like take a breath. Everything's gonna be okay. I. But for me, I knew like, okay, if I can have a particular kind of birth, I know my postpartum recovery is gonna be a lot easier for me.
And then when I did have an easier postpartum recovery, I was like, okay, then I know that I can be able to do blank. You know? So it was kind of like, I was just thinking about like, what is the, what am I really focused on? It wasn't about like being this hero or having this unmedicated birth. It was really just like.
I wanna have a good recovery. Like let me dive into like what are the best ways for me to kind of get there? And that was the guiding light for me.
is maybe on this, you know, [:It's because I think we're acknowledging that. Specific to birth and postpartum seasons, like it's not just about the birth anymore. And when your recovery goes better, when your postpartum goes better, often breastfeeding will better go better. And it, it's not because that's, you know, your pelvic floor is not connected to your boobs, but just this idea, I feel better mentally.
I feel better. You know, maybe something like I didn't tear horribly. I'm not peeing my pants. And then when you, you know, you postpartum mom feel better, it can maybe then support that breastfeeding part too. So I think that's, you know, these are super interconnected even though it's not like, you know, system A is connected to system B, but when it's about how you feel.
artum period. And then just, [:Also because I'm going to feel better and that is going to serve me and everyone around me. Right. You know, all the kids that may be in your family. So yeah, I just think that this is also tied together, together, even though there's not these, you know, direct ties every time between body systems or whatever.
Sara: Yeah. And I think that, again, making it bite-sized and accessible to people where it doesn't feel like you need to completely overhaul your life. Like when my husband's like, we need to stop using Classic and go to All Glass. I'm like, oh my God, that feels so overwhelming. You know? Right. But it's like, okay, you just kind of like chip away one plate at a time, or one Tupperware at a time, you know?
the hard part is, is we put [:The system is putting a lot of the onus on us because we don't have the infrastructure to support parents and moms in the us. Like we just don't. And so it's not your fault, it's just the systems aren't there, and so a lot of it is like. I'm hoping that demand for some of these services, like now you can get lactation support in the hospital, but it didn't used to be that way.
And so my hope is that there's a point where pelvic floor healthcare is integrated into postpartum recovery and it's automatic versus women having to like experience an issue or like knock down a doctor's door to get it, you know? And so I think I just want PE women to know like, hey, this is not on you all the time.
that better support you. But [:Like that's what I'm here to support you with, prepare you for, and support you with postpartum. But I think what our medical system does is like, we don't look at the people who had a particular outcome like. What helps someone have less tearing? What helps someone have less prolapse? What helps someone have a non-traumatic birth?
Like those are the studies I wanna be done, because I'm like, what can we do to make more of that happen instead of other things? Like, I think we're just like, oh, well, you know, 93% of moms didn't, you know, tear during birth. So like that's just the step. But I'm like, well, what did the 7% do? That led to less tearing or no tearing.
hat say like, Hey, if you do [:So like, this is just the case. I'm like, ah, it's not really how I like think about how we can best support people.
Lo: Right. Well, and I think it makes me, it makes me think of just that kind of overriding kind of way our, our healthcare system is, it, it's, a lot of times we are responsive, right? But we're not preventative.
And so even pelvic floor lactation support, you know, I'm so glad we have lactation support postpartum now in a lot of hospitals. You can come back a couple of times or your insurance covers it. That's wonderful. But you know what, if our insureds covered that first prenatal, lactation appointment too, where, you know, you go and you set up a plan, you know, but most insurances don't cover those.
ad we're doing those things, [:So, you know, in my, in my head, I see someday maybe post far postpartum pelvic floor therapy will be covered or. Or whatever, but can we sneak in before, like you're saying, so obviously, you know, we will, we'll take whatever we can get, right? If you start covering my postpartum pelvic floor appointments, then I would be on cloud nine.
Like all of us should be getting that and taking advantage of it. It would be so great too though, if we can get to that point where we're doing the pre stuff. Then we, we wouldn't even need it after. Right. Totally. I totally agree
Sara: with that. And that's so Hello?
Lo: Yeah. We don't have to talk about our
Sara: healthcare system.
f the reasons, like I really [:Those are the three biggest risk factors for developing a pelvic floor issue. You can have them before if you've never given birth or you know, whenever. But I think that when you, I hear that, that's when like we do so much education on diabetes, osteoporosis, high blood pressure or breast cancer. I'm like, one in two women can experience urinary leakage at some point in their life.
Yeah. I'm like, why aren't we? And that affects your self-esteem, your exercise, your, you know, relationships like your work. Like if when I was having a pelvic floor issue, I was like, I couldn't think about anything else. Like, I was just like constantly consuming, are my pants wet? Can people see this? Does it smell like it's so consuming?
ng or women because we can't [:Lo: Right. I like that. That problem conversations thing. That's good. Okay, so I wanna zero in on just this, you know, the person who is pregnant right now who's probably listening and say, right, yeah, this is all true. So what do I do? Especially that, I have no insurance, I'm not covered, but I wanna care about this and let's say I can't afford, the out-of-pocket cost of seeing someone like you.
So what do you say for those people, you know, where do they kind of start? I know, I know you've mentioned a few, a few ways to kind of just start with small things, but Yeah, maybe a little more on that. So what I
eally learning how to engage [:You can Google it. You can read blogs, you can go on social media, it's in the book. But really understand like what is a pelvic floor contraction that's gonna proactively support your pelvic floor and engage your abs. And what is pelvic floor relaxation, which is what we do when we urinate or have a bowel movement or push during a vaginal birth.
So kind of connecting with that part of your body during pregnancy. So I like to encourage more strengthening proactively of your pelvic floor. I. During pregnancy, the first and second trimester, and then the third trimester, focusing more on that relaxation. Learning how to push properly, peroneal massage, releasing the hips, like things that are gonna open up your pelvis and support mobility and relaxation because you know, one of my patients in New Orleans, she showed me this video of.
of pregnancy so you can push [:So when I tell women that, they're like, oh, well that actually like makes a ton of sense, right? And then I can coach them on how to push and bulge. And it's the same thing you do while you're pooping, like you're opening up those canals. And so using that third trimester to kind of push and relax and lengthen the muscles is where I like to focus.
And then doing some postpartum planning as well. So I think that that's just kind of explaining it to people and educating them in that way of like, Hey, this is, you know, what you kind of wanna think about. And also knowing that you have options so you don't have to give birth lying on your back if you have an epidural, you can be in your side, you can be in hands and knees, but like talk to your medical providers in advance so they know what your desires are and you also know that you're gonna get that support in the labor and delivery room.
ealthcare you have a menu of [:Lo: Right? I wanna zoom in on one thing you talked about really quick, because I saw someone post about this the other day. Hit pre. Peroneal prenatal massage. I fumble over those two words all the time. Okay. So I have heard that it is valuable. Yes. And you know, more valuable for first time mothers per the research.
And that less is often more, like a lot of people are, you know, you don't need to be getting in there and massaging yourself seven days a week. That it's more like a, one to three times a week is like some of the research that I've read and kind of looked into even more. That's what it's saying.
ause I feel like everyone's, [:Sara: Right. So to even pull back more like the perineum, the perineal body is the area between the vaginal opening and the anal opening. So it's often called the taint or the grundle, or the Gooch, like in urban dictionary terms. And the very base of the vaginal opening, the bottom is kind of where those muscles start.
And when you experience a perineal tear, it's at the base of the vagina. Straight down, like at six o'clock or towards the side. And then tearing kind of spontaneously is a better option than an app episiotomy, unless there's like a medical emergency. And so there are, it is supported in the research that are a handful of things you can do to minimize the risk of tearing severely.
So perineal massages, [:Imagine if you had a tight neck muscle and you kind of press on it and you're like, oh, that kind of feels like so good. It hurts. That's what you're doing to the base of your vaginal opening where your muscles lie, and then you just kind of, between three to six o'clock, the very bottom. You just press and hold, press and hold, and then you just do that for.
Two to five minutes, like it's not a ton. You can do it every other day. And then as it starts to get less and less burn, you don't have to do it as often. So it's like maybe you go to once or twice a week, maybe you have a partner do it for you. But I think what it does is it kind of just helps soften the opening and just kind of help you relax a little bit more.
nto birth, you don't need to [:It minimizes the risk of more severe tearing and severe tearings when it goes into what's called the grade three or four when it goes into the rectum or the rectal mucosa. So, and that can put you at a higher risk for incontinence of stool, things like that. So I think it's just. Helping women understand like, Hey, you might still tear if this happens.
We're just looking for less tearing, better healing, less pain. Okay. I'm so
Lo: glad you just said that because I say this a lot. And then earlier you said something where I thought, oh, I wonder if Sarah would disagree with me. So I think, you know, you talked about, you know, if we say, oh, you know, 93% tear almost, you know, sometimes it can be like, don't worry about it.
is not normal. I talk a lot [:And so the research, you know, often on a lot of this stuff does, it does include the idea of tearing less severely. It's not about, you know, you're going to have a 0% chance of tearing, or this means no tearing. And so I guess I, I guess maybe I should be like, do you disagree with the way I talk about this?
, I'm, I'm air quoting right [:You know, obviously lots of things can increase your risk of tearing. We can talk about that another time. Of course. But it, it can be normal to not tear severely because the body is designed to make space for our babies in this way. So, you know, what
Sara: do you think to that? Yeah. And we don't you, I think that that's a great explanation.
I also think like if you have a baby and they're. Hand is next to their head or they're in a certain position. Like we, we cannot control all the variables. Like you just can't. And this is also what I tell women who, they're like, I want an unmedicated birth. And they ended up getting epidural. They're like, I feel like I didn't make it.
I wasn't strong enough. I'm like, oh no girl. Like you made it to seven centimeters and then you got that epidural and then you rested. You felt had you had more strength going into birth, you had a vaginal birth, which was ultimately your goal. Like the reason you didn't want to have an epidural was 'cause you wanted a vaginal birth.
ultimately, like, that was a [:Like it's so variable how our bodies gonna respond that like. To say a hundred percent of women aren't gonna tear is just not possible. It's just not. But what I do say is like, okay, if you do tear, like one a less severe tear is optimal. Two, how are we caring for you? Are we giving ice? Are we doing some pelvic floor contractions to help, you know, increase blood flow and healing to the area?
t's a whole kind of holistic [:Lo: Right. Right. And I think that's so crucial. You know? You know, let's say a lot of us are going to have first degree tear, and that's quote unquote normal, and that's okay. And we do beautifully, whatever. But also we still need to care for those people, like you said, like they still need you. Don't go, it's just a second degree.
Those are normal. It's not severe. Yay. Good job. You can be glad you didn't have a more severe tear. But also, I still need care. I just tore my perineum and like you said, that that little stuff about, you know, being able to sit and breastfeed or whatever, we, we still need to follow up. I. We still, you know, have this injury, I guess to tissues in our body and it still needs to care.
t comes next? 'cause there's [:Sara: yeah. Correct. And I think that that's where a lot of us feel very left behind.
You know, like after birth it feels very much like forgotten. Like, we're forgotten because nobody did tell us how to care for our C-section scars or, how to care for our pelvic floors or per perineal tear. So I think it's, you know, I really think that. Some of these things, like c-sections are still gonna happen even if we put in all the, the measures to kind of decrease the risk of them.
They're still gonna happen. But again, like what kind of care are we offering to that mom afterwards? And that's where I think we need, it's like, let's look at the before and the prevention. Let's look at the during, but we also need to look at the after. But if you've had a C-section, I mean you cut through seven layers of muscle and tissue.
reating a more holistic care [:Y'all trust me.
jenn: Yeah. Yeah.
Lo: Okay. That brings me to one last question I wanna ask, and then we can wrap it up. So if you're listening, present day, I was gonna say recently had my fourth baby, but she just turned a year. But I had my fourth baby and I remember sitting at my prenatal appointments with my mid midwife, and I'm saying like, after I have this baby, I'm going to get all of my nutrition panels done.
I wanna know where my vitamins, you know, my mineral levels are, and I'm gonna go see pelvic floor PT and just, make sure that. I'm good moving forward into this next stage of my life, all of that, and I told my midwife, if we're being honest, I'll be honest with all of you guys, I have not been good about any of this type of stuff.
whatever. But I've never had [:Okay. So I feel like maybe I'm a good example of a person out there where you're like, Hey, you know, you probably. Yeah, I'm not even what I teach you to be if we're being honest. You know, I teach people to do and care more, and I haven't even given my own body that time and space. So I'm talking to my midwife, I'm saying I'm gonna do it this time because this is.
Moving forward. And, and she told me this story of one of her best friends who had had four kids as well. Beautiful birth, whatever. Things went, really well, whatever that means. And then like five years later, so this was recently, they went skiing together and her friend had a, a prolapse in the middle of skiing, you know, was in all this pain, like, I don't know what's going on.
after her last baby. And so [:Our pelvic floors have to support us for the rest of our lives. It's not always just about how we feel today. And so I guess there's not a great question in that, but just kind of your thoughts on that. Or obviously, like I'm going to get in front of someone being done having babies.
courage us to care about it, [:Sara: I. So I think that it's a really interesting and great story and that that mom is not alone and you're not alone.
Like I didn't, I'm like embarrassed to tell
Lo: you that, but two whatever months
Sara: after my second baby that I was like, I think I could use some therapy. So one, I think we don't know what we don't know. So a lot of folks are like, oh, I don't have pelvic floor issues, but like, oh, a certain time of the month sex hurts.
Or I can't, run more than five miles without leaking. Or every time I get sick and I cough a lot, like I do have a little bit of leakage, but it goes away. Or my hip hurts, my back hurts, or my tailbone hurts. So I think we don't know what we don't know. And so I think that's one thing that I'm like, it's like going to a dental hygiene checkup.
Like you go, you get checked out. And if I'm like, Hey, things are great. Come back and see me if you need me, then you're like, awesome. Or if it's like, oh, actually I'm finding that this is like, there's a little bit of weakness here and this is something we could work on and integrate it into your strengthening workouts.
hat birth. And pregnancy are [:ina is showing up. Go and. In:I like did a quick sidestep and I was like, oh my God, I feel like I just leaked. And it was like my hormones were changing, right? So you, my hormones are changing what I'm doing, an activity that I'm asking something different of my body than what's usual. I have less estrogen, testosterone, collagen, and less muscle strength.
able to support you in that [:Yeah. You can't. You really can't. I know. And so then I started doing more consistent strength training work. I was like, everything I've been telling everybody to do for two decades, and I started doing it myself, and I'm like, I can feel a stronger contraction. You know, like I feel more confident playing tennis.
I'm taking proactive steps because. I'm 42. I'm entering the second phase of my life where. , I'm not gonna have any more babies, but I'm also like, my body's changing. So I think it's important for women to know, like, one, it's fine to be proactive. Two, you don't know what you don't know. So getting a checkup is always helpful.
fferent life stages, and you [:Lo: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, tell us a teeny bit more about the book. Just, you know, like what are they going to get if they pick this book up and start reading?
Sara: Oh my gosh. So I, this book is called floored , a Woman's Guide to Pelvic Floor Health at Every Asian stage. And so I really address everything from like periods to pregnancy and birth to postpartum recovery and menopause.
But also there's a chapter in Bladder health pooping. Sexual pain and, pelvic pain. So I wanted the first chapter and the last chapter are my favorite. So I just read the audio book for this. So I was like, oh, those are two really good chapters. So I'm like, start there. And then if you're pregnant, you're like, I wanna read the pregnancy chapter and the birth chapter, right?
e for you for whatever stage [:And I just want to demystify this part of our body. I feel like we can't see it, so it's really kind of hard to like know what to do. I even go as far as to like tell women to like take a mirror and look at your vulva. Like more people have seen your vulva than you've seen it sometimes. And so I'm like.
Connect with it and then do a contraction, relax, like kind of start knowing how to work with it so that when you're exercising or giving birth or having sex, like you can just understand your body better and know what to look out for so that if you do need pelvic floor care, you've got some of the resources in the book or you go see someone in person.
Lo: Yeah. Perfect. I am still waiting for my pre-order copy, but I am, yeah, I'm excited to get into it. And I just wanna reiterate that it is really for, full stage of all stages of life. So if you're pregnant and you're thinking, well, I don't really care about my bladder, whatever, right now, , you can zero in on the chapters and the stuff that you do want.
And if you're done having [:Well, you decided to write yours. So Yeah, I'm really excited.
Sara: Yeah, thank you. And I'm really excited for everybody to, to, to read it and share it. And, thank you for sharing this with your community. I always love chatting with you and, being able to kind of chat more about how the pelvic floor changes during pregnancy and birth.
So thank you.
Lo: Absolutely. It's a privilege to talk to the woman in the Vva costume. Okay. Tell people where they can find you, Sarah. And then I want you to answer just one quick question. I just like asking people this. So what's one thing that's just, you know, sparking joy and bringing you life in your life right now?
So where can they find you? And then that question.
ind my website is the vagina [:And I'm on the. Instagram as the vagina whisper and TikTok as the VA whisper. 'cause TikTok doesn't like the word vagina. And the thing that is really sparking joy in my life right now is spending time with my kids. Like we, you and I are having this conversation the day after Mother's Day, and normally I'm trying to like hide for my kids and take a break on Mother's Day.
But I've been working and traveling so much the past six months and even two years writing. Just being around them is so awesome, and I'm just really like soaking in that time because one, I realize how quickly it goes, but two, when I'm not with them, I miss 'em. And so just like hanging out with them and swimming and playing tennis or just eating with them at the table, like those small everyday moments, I'm really enjoying right now.
s on Instagram. They make me [:So I would love for you guys to get a copy, not just to support Sarah, but honestly to support yourself. So I'm really excited for you.
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ep hanging out together. And [:Additionally, the information you hear on this podcast or that you receive via any linked resources should not be considered medical advice. Please see our full disclaimer at the link in the show notes.