Pregnancy Fitness by Julia Di Paulo, Samantha Montpetit-Huynh, and Kim Vopni. Human Kinetics Publisher; 2019, soft cover, 277 pages, $24.95 each.
This helpful pregnancy book was authored by 3 women who are passionate about working with pregnant and postpartum population. Di Paulo, Montpetit-Huynh, and Vopni started the company Bellies Inc, a global company dedicated to educating and empowering women throughout the childbearing experience. Julia Di Paulo is a well-known physiotherapist in the Toronto area who received her degree from the University of Ottawa in 1997. Her practice is focused on the prenatal, labor and delivery, and postpartum patient care. Samantha Montpetit-Huynh received her fitness leadership certificate from Seenca College in 2002, has been a personal trainer for over 15 years, and is known for pregnancy and postpartum fitness. She has been featured on a number of TV news shows in Canada. Kim Vopni has a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Western Ontario and a postgraduate degree in health and fitness from Simon Fraser University. She has over 15 years' experience as a certified personal trainer, prenatal and postnatal fitness consultant, and fitness for fertility specialist.
The authors state in the introduction that the book is written for lay pregnant or postpartum women, and the clinicians who support them. The majority of the time this is the case; however, occasionally anatomical terminology is utilized that the layperson may not be familiar with. The book is well-organized into 3 parts. Part I explains the effects of pregnancy on multiple bodily systems, and highlights the function of the core musculature, including the pelvic floor. Part II provides exercises to prepare for and recover from birth. This section includes clear photographs and accompanying explanations of pregnant women performing the exercises. Sample exercise programs for each phase of pregnancy and recovery are provided in Part III. Particularly helpful are the photographs related to handling the baby and common equipment such as strollers and car seats, in an ergonomically correct position.
The content largely reflects current concepts in women's health physical therapy and is supported by 73 peer-reviewed references. References are occasionally cited through the book but are mainly provided in the bibliography. The book concludes with a topical index.
Overall, this is a well-written, easy-to-follow book that I would recommend purchasing. The exercise recommendations are thorough and appropriate, and the content nicely summarizes the changes that take place across the childbearing year, as well as how to respond to these changes proactively. This book could be utilized in a number of ways: as a congratulations gift to an expecting mom, a recovery gift to a newly postpartum woman, or a reference book for physical therapists or exercise physiologists working with clients through the childbearing year.
Heather Kindel, PT, PhD
Loretto, Pennsylvania
The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Meet Me: A Journey Through Pelvic Pain by Amy Watkins. Tusla, OK: Yorkshire Publishing; 2018, soft bound, 242 pages, $14.95.
Amy Watkins is a first-time author who has written this book to share her journey through pelvic floor dysfunction. She is happily married, with children and grandchildren, and shares her appreciation for her family throughout her story. During the writing of this book, she retired from her primary education career to become a self-described "Journey Walker." The author suggests that she has chosen to share her story to humanize the experience of being a woman with severe pelvic floor dysfunction.
This book is composed of 100 chapters, many of which are quite brief. In addition to a short preface, the author includes reference and resource pages, which direct the reader to several texts and Web sites specific to pelvic pain and dysfunction as well as self-help and spirituality.
Although brief, the large numbers of chapters sometimes leave the reader feeling disjointed-moving abruptly between topics and personal experiences. The end of most chapters is punctuated with a text box titled "Random Thought," which often is brief reflections of the author.
Through the author's story, readers are exposed to her personal trials with diagnosis, treatment, and day-to-day life with pelvic floor dysfunction. While the treatments described are not particularly novel, she does a good job showcasing the myriad of options that are available for management of pelvic pain and other associated symptoms. Treatments that are listed include medication, acupuncture, physical therapy, massage, yoga, and other modalities. The author makes a point to state that journaling and the use of talk therapy are not appealing to her as components of treatment. The author calls on her religious faith frequently and, throughout the text, there is increasingly more reference to prayer as a method of coping.
The text is autobiographical in nature and written for the layperson. The writing style is casual with simple, but descriptive language that makes it an easy read. This book may be a good resource for patients, family, and caregivers of women with pelvic floor dysfunction, as it provides an intimate view into a complete patient experience. The author's frequent reference to her family, age, and hormonal status may make this book more relevant to the mature female patient.
This book would make a worthwhile addition to a clinician lending library or as a suggested resource for mature female patients and their families looking for more insight and seeking a sense of community in the journey toward healing.
Jennifer Miller, PT, DPT, CLT, WCS
St Louis, MO
The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Biomechanics of the Female Pelvic Floor by Lennox Hoyte and Margot Damaser. London, England: Elsevier Inc; 2016, hard cover, 468 pages, $200.
This text delivers exactly what it claims-an up-to-date text book on the biomechanics of the female pelvic floor, with entire sections devoted to stress, strain, viscoelasticity, and tensile loading, as they relate to the pelvic floor across the lifespan. Intended to provide a shared language for those who research and report on the pelvic floor, this book is multidisciplinary and aimed at clinicians of all types interested in female pelvic floor dysfunction: physical therapists, urologists, urogynecologists, obstetrician-gynecologists, and maternal fetal medicine specialists. Consisting of sections with contributions from experts in a variety of related fields, this book is edited by Dr Margot Damaser, biomedical engineer, Cleveland Clinic Department of Biomedical Engineering, who maintains a Urological Biomechanics Laboratory where they investigate the causes of, and treatments for, female pelvic floor disorders, and Dr Lennox Hoyte, urogynecologist, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of South Florida, Director, Urogynecology and Female Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery, USF College of Medicine, and Medical Director, Urogynecology and Robotic Surgery, Tampa General Hospital. Both editors have spent their careers devoted to the function and optimization of the female pelvic floor.
This text is a valuable resource for the advanced practitioner or the ambitious student, interested in breaking down the subject to its smallest components from molecular and biochemical properties of pelvic floor musculature and connective tissue. This includes changes in the biomechanical properties of the pelvic floor with pregnancy, delivery, rehabilitation, and with the implementation of prosthetic materials such as synthetic meshes. It also provides a thorough review of different textile properties for synthetic mesh, and offers a biomechanical explanation for why many meshes cannot accommodate the same forces that native pelvic floor tissue can, ultimately resulting in failure and mesh exposure.
This text examines the pelvic floor from many different lenses: animal models, MRI, ultrasound imaging, tactile imaging, as well as 3D anatomical models. The 3D anatomical models serve as an excellent visual representation of the pelvic floor under ideal circumstances, as well as with various types of dysfunction including muscle atrophy, muscle tears, and pelvic organ prolapse.
In summary, this book would serve as an excellent reference text for a physical therapy department and for the clinician who would like to delve deeper into the tissue ultrastructure and biomechanics of the pelvic floor. It is especially useful for those who are interested in tissue changes that are associated with pelvic organ prolapse, urinary incontinence, pregnancy, delivery, and the postpartum period.
Rachel Wolk, PT, DPT
Melrose, MA
The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.