Well, Sh!t, Pelvic Floored Family!

This was NOT the Blog Post that I intended to start 2023 with....but as it's the middle of March, and I'm all spiced up about this, it is what it is, right?

Hey y'all, it's me, Dr. Kelly Sadauckas, DPT, OCS, WCS, one of less than one hundred Doctors of Physical Therapy IN THE WORLD who are double board certified in Pelvic Health AND Orthopedics, and I am here to begin to demystify some things related to the United States' abysmally high maternal death rates.

The New York Times just let the world know that, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Maternal Mortality Rates, 2021 (link here), the Maternal Mortality Rate increased by 40% in 2021 versus 2020.

Yikes.

And we know from prior blogs that women of color die of pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions at a rate 4-6x greater than whites, so this is something that we have to continue to talk about.

What am I doing, personally, to improve maternal mortality rates in the USA?  I'm glad you asked.  In December of 2019, I joined social media to provide kick-butt, accurate and FUN pelvic health information to break down financial, psychosocial and geographic barriers that exist around the world.  Between 2019 and 2022, I reached over 1M pelvises, and an average of 20K pelvises a month.  On January 1, 2022, I successfully opened my brick and mortar Pelvic Floored location to save the pelvises of Southeast Idaho (& the world), and between January 2022 and March of 2023, I grew my social media presence to reach more than 60K pelvises every month!!!  

And this website, and blog, reach at least 10K people every month!!  That's a lot of pelvises!!  So, in addition to you receiving this kick-butt info, and learning from it, to further spread the impact, I will ask you to spread the word about THREE EASY THINGS that are vital to improve maternal health, by sharing this article with at least 3 people you love, after you read it.  You, or a pelvis YOU LOVE, can do the following things TODAY, to save the lives of moms, and babies.  

Three Easy Things to Do to Reduce Your Risk of Dying While Pregnant

1. Sleep on Your Left Side

Studies abound to show that a pregnant human who lays on their left side has a CONSIDERABLY reduced chance of late-term (>28 weeks) stillbirth as well as reduced risk of pre-eclampsia.

It's true, you can look it up.  Check out these amazing studies:
* Stacey, et all, 2011 (BMJ 2011;342:d3403): Found that women who went to sleep on their backs or right side the night before their stillbirth, were more likely to miscarry than those who went to be on their left side.
* Owusu, et al, 2013 (PMID: 23507553): Found that people who went to bed on their backs had an 8x greater risk of stillbirth, and a considerably higher risk of pre-eclampsia than people who went to bed on their left sides.
* Warland, et al, 2011 (PMID: 24731396): Says that sleeping on your back or right side isn't the 'only' cause of a stillbirth, but it is likely "the last straw" in a stillbirth situation.
* The Sydney Stillbirth Study (Gordon, et al, 2015; PMID: 25568999): The supine (on your back) sleep position may be a significant contribution in late-stage stillbirth.

Bottom line: If you have a healthy pregnancy, and occasionally wake up on your right side or back, don't fret.  But if you are in a high-risk pregnancy, or have a "precious baby" from IVF or "rainbow baby" after loss...while nothing can guarantee  a pregnancy being carried to term, going to sleep on your left side is supported by literature to reduce the chances of stillbirth or miscarriage in these high risk pregnancies, so it's an easy step to take.  

2. Exercise

The study-summary on this one will be released by me soon, but PLEASE.  If you are pregnant, and ESPECIALLY if you are a beautiful woman of color (who is at higher risk of death just because of the color of her skin :( :( :( , I need you to exercise.  Unless you have a condition like placenta previa, or another condition that your medical team has expressly told you to not exercise, the evidence ABOUNDS that 20-30 minutes of exercise, even just 3 days a week, will significantly reduce your risk of serious health complications during pregnancy.

My Pregnancy Course gives you full workouts for each trimester, as well as information on how, and why, we modify exercises (or don't) as our body changes.  It also gives you a handy list of exercise substitutions if your workout/class is doing something you don't want to do.  It also includes Bump Lab, a pregnancy prep class that actually teaches you something, including nutritional recommendations, seggsy time recommendations and basic pelvic floor connectors.  But if finances don't allow for the purchase of a course, even something as simple as sitting and standing from your favorite chair 10x in a row a few times a day, can make a BIG difference in your overall health in pregnancy.

3. Eat Some Veggies!

Eating Cruciferous Vegetables (leafy greens) has been proven to reduce your risk of developing pre-eclampsia (a life-threatening condition of elevated blood pressure and protein in urine, later in pregnancy).

It's true, you can look it up: Start with Perry, et al, 2022  

Is it too hard to do those 3 things?

And if it IS, please tell me where you live and why it is too hard.  Or talk to your friends and family and get help.  We are in this together, VIPs.  Together we can improve pelvic health worldwide.  We might just save your life, or the life of a pelvis you love.

K--thanks for being here.  I am grateful that I get to be a part of your journey.  And if this is helpful to you, please help me to improve my impact and reach, by sharing it with your friends & family!! 

Thanks for reading!

XOXO

Dr. Kelly 

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References

Gordon A, Raynes-Greenow C, Bond D, Morris J, Rawlinson W, Jeffery H. Sleep position, fetal growth restriction, and late-pregnancy stillbirth: the Sydney stillbirth study. Obstet Gynecol. 2015 Feb;125(2):347-355. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000000627. PMID: 25568999. link here

Owusu JT, Anderson FJ, Coleman J, Oppong S, Seffah JD, Aikins A, O'Brien LM. Association of maternal sleep practices with pre-eclampsia, low birth weight, and stillbirth among Ghanaian women. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2013 Jun;121(3):261-5. doi: 10.1016/j.ijgo.2013.01.013. Epub 2013 Mar 15. PMID: 23507553; PMCID: PMC3662549. link here

Perry A, Stephanou A, Rayman MP. Dietary factors that affect the risk of pre-eclampsia. BMJ Nutr Prev Health. 2022 Jun 6;5(1):118-133. doi: 10.1136/bmjnph-2021-000399. PMID: 35814725 link here

Stacey T, Thompson JM, Mitchell EA, Ekeroma AJ, Zuccollo JM, McCowan LM. Association between maternal sleep practices and risk of late stillbirth: a case-control study. BMJ. 2011 Jun 14;342:d3403. doi: 10.1136/bmj.d3403. PMID: 21673002; PMCID: PMC3114953. link here

Warland J, Mitchell EA. A triple risk model for unexplained late stillbirth. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2014 Apr 14;14:142. doi: 10.1186/1471-2393-14-142. PMID: 24731396; PMCID: PMC3991879. link here