Q&A with Pelvic Health Physiotherapist: Anna Ellingham of Rua Pelvic Health
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We sat down with Pelvic Health Physiotherapist Anna to ask meaningful questions about pelvic health in general and what she enjoys most in her private practice, Rua Pelvic Health in Pāpāmoa New Zealand.
You'll love what she has to say about breath work, psychological safety, cesarean scar management and so much more, below.
Q: What’s your favourite part about having your own pelvic physiotherapy practice?
I think my favourite part is having the freedom to practice pelvic health in a way that genuinely feels like me. I love creating a space where people feel safe to talk about things they may have never felt comfortable talking about before, and then seeing that shift in their confidence and understanding of their own body. Being able to take the time to actually listen, educate and tailor care to the individual is really special to me.
Q: What do you think is the most important part of any given session?
Making someone feel heard and understood. You can have all the knowledge and clinical skills in the world, but if someone doesn’t feel safe enough to tell you what’s really going on, you’re missing a huge part of the picture. I want people to leave a session understanding their body better, knowing why we’re doing what we’re doing, and feeling like they have some control over their symptoms rather than feeling like their body is failing them.
Q: What is something you look at during sessions that has nothing to do with the pelvic floor?
Breathing. It sounds simple, but I look at how someone breathes, how they move their ribcage and abdomen, and how they’re holding tension throughout their body. The pelvic floor doesn’t work in isolation, so sometimes something that looks like a pelvic floor problem is actually part of a much bigger movement or pressure-management pattern.
Q: Tell us about the coolest training you’ve completed recently & how you are now applying it to your practice.
One of the coolest trainings I’ve completed recently was the cesearean section release method through body lane academy earlier this year which has been such a valuable addition to my practice. I’ve loved learning more about how scar tissue and trauma can influence movement, sensation and the surrounding tissues, rather than just looking at a C-section scar as something that’s healed on the surface. I’m now able to incorporate much more specific scar, trauma and abdominal work into my postnatal care, particularly for women who feel like something still doesn’t quite feel right long after their C-section.
Q: What is something you’ve adapted in your own life since becoming a pelvic physio?
Probably how I think about my body. Becoming a pelvic physio has made me much less focused on how my body looks and much more interested in how it functions, moves and feels. I’ve also become much more aware of things like breathing, pressure management, how I lift, how I train and how much tension I carry. I think the biggest shift has been realising that your body doesn’t need to be perfect to be healthy, it needs to be understood.