Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Bailey.
Ryan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My journey to becoming a PT began my senior year of college, right after my father passed away. I felt pulled to switch my career path from early childhood education to the medical field. I wanted to continue working with kiddos but now in a healing way. After a lot of soul searching and researching what options were available, physical therapy was the discipline that struck the deepest cord with me. I loved the idea of being able to help people stay or return to activity and be functional. I went to the University of New England for my Doctoral degree in Physical Therapy and while attending school is when I fell in love with working with moms. To receive my degree I had to go through three internships at different practices. At my first affiliation I worked with two women whom I will never forget. One was a first time mom who was experiencing severe pelvic pain. She couldn’t pick up her son, couldn’t walk with him, had pain rolling in bed (so on top of sleep deprivation from getting up to care for her son, she couldn’t sleep well because of pain) and more things she just couldn’t do. I worked with her over the course of my stay at the practice, and by the end was leaving with her being able to care, walk and play with her son without pain! The other women was not a mom, but a women in her twenties who had two hip replacements for congenital hip displasia (her hips were formed properly). So she was with us for rehab several months after her second hip replacement. She was having terrible pain, couldn’t walk regularly, and worst of all she had just gotten married and was afraid to try to be intimate with her husband. This is what struck me the hardest. I knew I needed to figure out a way to help her beyond the regular orthopedic rehab. So I did my homework and figured out ways to boost her confidence while improving her flexibility, mobility and pain levels. When I left she was a new women who felt I had really listened to her concerns and empowered her. These two women were the start of my journey to becoming a women’s health physical therapist. When I returned to grad school, a local PT who specializes in pelvic floor therapy guest lectured about treated women during pregnancy. This intrigued me because of the mom I had worked with at my first affiliation. Even though I was still planning on working with kiddos I wanted to learn more about helping women. I took a weekend intensive with this PT and decided then and there I was going to work with moms. I loved the idea of incorporating physical therapy for moms and babes together! After graduation I started my career at a private practice that specialized in pelvic floor therapy, ironically filling the position of the PT who guest lectured at my school. To be able to see clients fully I went on for more training to learn how to properly perform an internal pelvic floor examination and treatment. I developed my skills by mentoring with amazingly skilled pelvic floor therapists and seeing incredible clients. After several years my husband and I decided to move back to NH, which meant finding a new job. I got a position in the outpatient department of a local hospital after a good friend mentioned the pelvic floor therapist was leaving. So now I was “on my own” working with women (and some men) who were having pelvic floor issues. I continued to fine tune my skills to work with women who were pregnant and new moms, as I ultimately knew this was the path I wanted to take. In 2014, we had our daughter and I knew I wasn’t ready to return to full time work. This is when I decided it was time to transition to working on my own. It took me a year to figure out the logistics and finally start to see clients. After 2 years of working in an office and treating women of all ages, I knew it was time to focus on expecting and new moms. After so many years working with women in all stages of life I felt drawn to helping women during the stage of life that is the catalyst for so many issues later in life. I wanted to help moms be proactive and change the way women experience pregnancy and postpartum recovery. So during my second pregnancy, I transitioned to a concierge service, seeing expecting and new moms in their homes. This has been a great transformation for my business as now I can help moms in their own space. Since I’m a new mom again, it also means I can bring my babe with me to work.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Going out on my own has not been a smooth road. As a physical therapist I was used to a particular model of work. Market to medical doctors for referrals, see patient, bill insurance. Working by myself, this was a lot of work for little reward. I didn’t feel I was giving my clients 100% of my ability because of insurance restrictions or limitations. I would fight with the insurance companies to get what my client needed and still not be able provide the quality of care I strive for. In the end I moved away from the traditional model and work directly with my clients…market direct to moms and make financial and care related decisions with my mom’s.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Expecting Pelvic Health – what should we know?
Expecting Pelvic Health is a concierge service for expecting and new moms. This means I visit these moms in their home during pregnancy and postpartum. I am a certified women’s health physical therapist who specializes in maternal pelvic health care. This means I help moms who are concerned about or experiencing peeing their pants, back or pelvic pain related to pregnancy or being a new mom, abdominal separation (diastasis recti), pelvic organ prolapse (when a pelvic organ drops out of normal position), and painful sex. These are the most common concerns I help moms with, but in general I help moms live without worrying about bladder, bowel or pain issues related to pregnancy and postpartum recovery. This may look like do manual therapy in the form of myofascial release to align the pelvis and reduce muscle tension during pregnancy to alleviate pelvic pain. It may be pelvic floor corrective exercises to improve bladder control and alleviate peeing pants with sneezing, coughing, jumping running, etc. It may be doing scar massage to a C-section incision to alleviate deep pelvic or abdominal pain with sex. The possibilities really are endless how I can help. For all my clients I bring a mix of hands on care, usually in the form of myofascial release, supported by awareness and corrective core exercises, balanced with functional and postural education to link everyday tasks. This combination gets moms to reach their goals on a higher level and promotes a deeper understanding of self-care that lasts for years.
What sets me part from other pelvic health PTs is I bring my services online. I’ve created a self-paced, online program, Expecting Pelvic Fitness, which combines pelvic health education modules and exercise videos into each trimester of pregnancy. I compiled my professional knowledge and personal experiences to develop a program that expecting moms and new moms can use on their own to broaden their pelvic health knowledge base and continue safely exercising. Each trimester comes with specific tips for common concerns and focuses on exercises that are most beneficial in that stage of pregnancy. The 4th trimester is all about reconnecting to the core and pelvic floor using exercises moms can do with or without baby, a lot of education on safe body mechanics including posture while nursing and lifting baby, and how to functionally use their “new” body. In addition to the individual trimesters I’ve also created add on topics, such as Prepare Your Pelvic for Birth or All About C-section Recovery. A bonus to my program is one-on-one virtual coaching with me. For those who want a little extra support I’m available to do live coaching. And I can’t forget the Facebook group so moms can connect, ask questions, and support each other.
I’m most proud of seeing my mom’s thrive once I’ve helped them through their concerns and reach the goals they set out for themselves. It is the most amazing thing to see a new mom holding her baby after she wasn’t able to comfortably sit while pregnant, or be able to play on the floor with her baby without pain, or go for a walk with baby without peeing her pants. My mom’s enjoying motherhood is what I’m most proud of.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Compassion. Expecting and new moms need to know they are being listened to. It is such as vulnerable time, to be growing another human being, birthing a baby and then having another a little person be totally dependent upon you. All while our bodies are shifting and changing, and possibly not responding the way we want them to. So having someone who understand and listened to their concerns, even if I can’t address them, can make a huge difference in their healing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.expectingpelvichealth.com
- Email: ryan@expectingpelvichealth.com
- Instagram: @expectingpelvichealth
- Facebook: @expectingpelvichealth
Image Credit:
Raya on Assignment – Raya Al-Hashmi
Lauren Bodwell Photography
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