002 Dr. Carrie Pagliano - Progressing the Conversation on Women’s Pelvic Health

In this episode, Whitney welcomes physical therapist and expert in women’s health, Dr. Carrie Pagliano. Carrie has been a dynamic and innovative leader in the areas of Women’s/Pelvic Healthy for over twenty years. She is a double board certified clinical specialist in orthopedics and women’s health. She served as past President for the Executive Board for the Academy of Pelvic Health Physical Therapy. Carrie speaks internationally in areas of postpartum return to sport and intercreative models of practice and pelvic physical therapy.

Today, Whitney and Carrie talk about the return to running after having a baby – how to do it, how not to do it – common misconceptions and mistakes and the hope that no matter your diagnosis, you can still have a future in this sport! Carrie is a wealth of knowledge and shares her expertise in a straightforward, practical and often humorous way. Whitney and Carrie discuss best practices and timelines for return to run postpartum, common myths about running postpartum and the importance of progressing the conversation about women’s pelvic health.

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Key Takeaways

00:34 – Whitney Hines introduces today’s guest, Dr. Carrie Pagliano who joins the show to share her background as a physical therapist and why she chose to focus on women’s pelvic health

09:04 – Carrie opens up about her first pregnancy and a realization she had shortly thereafter

11:42 – Why the perfect pregnancy doesn’t exist and what you can do

17:07 – Why it isn’t necessary for everyone to see a pelvic floor specialist postpartum

20:28 – Signs you should be aware of when running postpartum

23:11 – Timelines for return to run

26:42 – How to tell when you’re ready to run and what the progression can look like

30:47 – Myth busting

36:55 – Advice for leakage and running

39:05 – Progressing the conversation of women’s pelvic health

42:49 – Commons mistakes made by postpartum runners

46:47 – Whitney thanks Carrie for joining the show and lets listeners know where to follow her

Tweetable Quotes

“Fortunately, we’ve had some increases in postpartum research. We’ve had a lot of good education as far as return to sport, adding load and things like that. It’s all about just kinda taking everything that was around me and sort of mashing it up and seeing what we could come up with.” (10:40)

“We can go in with the best laid plans but be ready for things to change. And, I think that’s Parenting 101. You cannot control all of the variables. That’s the first lesson.” (13:05)

“I always tell people, ‘Worst case scenario, if we’re talking a surgical situation, you’re always gonna wanna go in stronger and more prepared so that you can protect the life of the surgery.’” (25:58)

“Somebody’s got an angle and a reason that they’re telling you that. And the fact of the matter is to drive from a position of fear as opposed to information on a vulnerable population is really shitty. It’s not ok.” (33:36)

“So much of this stuff we weren’t having these conversations because we didn’t have moms that were running and winning Olympic races or NYC marathons. We didn’t have role models that were doing these things and now we have this subset of people who are doing these things.” (39:58)

“I think getting back to running sounds so simple because you just walk out the door and do it. But it’s something that can be incredibly complex. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be if you can collaborate and work together with somebody that’s used to doing that.” (45:27)