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.

VIPS, I have successfully opened my brick and mortar Pelvic Floored location as of January 1, I have updated my website to be user friendly and amazing, and given my Instagram a face-lift….and I promise that I will tell you about all of that soon….but for now, I will ask you to spread the word about THREE EASY THINGS that are vital to improve maternal health.

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.

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.

3. Eat Some Veggies!

Eating Cruciferous Vegetables (leafy greens) has been proven to reduce your risk of developing pre-eclampsia.

It’s true, you can look it up: start with 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

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.  We are in this together, VIPs.  Together we can improve pelvic health worldwide.

K–more deets on the exercise and nutritional bits that current evidence recommends soon.

Did I mention I have a new Online Course Dropping Soon??

I’ve been a busy girl since my last blog post in October of 2022!  My new course “Your RAD Pregnancy”, proudly presented with Dr. Christina Clark, PT, DPT, WCS, CFL2, launches this coming Friday, March 24th.  Stay tuned for more deets on what’s included in this amazing course…and, of course, my VIPs (Very Important Pelvis) Newsletter Subscribers will receive the BEST COUPON DEALS for this course!!

The course includes all these tips, AND more, as well as 4 functional weight lifting workouts per trimester and 1 pelvic floor relaxation-meditation per trimester!  It is not to be missed!!