Ibbie from The Mama’s Physio

06/15/2018

Welcome back to Feature Friday! This week we’d love to introduce you to Ibbie. She’s a pelvic physiotherapist who loves to help out women. We’d like to thank Ibbie for her thoughts and for taking the time to answer our questions. So enjoy!

How do you help people?  

Myself and the other physios in our practice help women who have pelvic health challenges  – such as incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, diastasis recti, pain with sex, or other issues that affect “down there”.   Although I work with women of all ages, I have a definite passion for women who are pregnant or have young children. I want them to realize early on that many of the physical issues that they may experience during pregnancy or postpartum do not have to be the norm and that there is something they can do about it.

What’s your favourite part about what you do?  

Besides getting to cuddle cute babies (major perk of the job!) I really enjoy seeing women reach their goals.  They come in thinking that they may not be able to run again, for example, due to constant leaking or some other pelvic issue.  It is tremendously fulfilling for them AND for me when they get to the point that they go for a full out run with no leaking. Or when they are able to be intimate again without any pain.  The direct impact on their quality of life and ability to do what they want to be able to do.

What are some of your hobbies?  

I’ve got to be honest. Hobbies have taken a back shelf in this season of life. I have a 4-year-old, a 3-year-old, and a 1-year-old – and I’m running a busy physiotherapy practice.  I used to love reading, cooking, sewing and international travel.  Now I hardly make it through a chapter. Cooking is for survival at this point, not so much for pleasure. And sewing with all those pins, hot irons, and sharp scissors is just asking for trouble. Traveling….we will eventually get back to that!  Hahaha. My husband and I really love meeting new people though. We’re both outgoing and like to socialize. So we have a lot of people and families over.  We also try to go for date night almost every Friday night once the kids are in bed. So I guess that’s our new “hobby”.

What do you do to unwind after work?  

Unwinding usually involves a long hot shower. And my bed.

Where do you see yourself in five years?  

Professionally – In 5 years I would love to see The Mama’s Physio be the go-to place for pelvic health care in our community. We’re working on increasing the visibility of pelvic health in London and surrounding areas. I would love for all doctors, specialists, and families to be aware that women don’t have to live with embarrassing problems and that there is a lot that can be done to prevent and treat issues. I would love it to become standard care where every.single.woman who is pregnant gets the opportunity to have a pelvic physiotherapy assessment both PRE-natally and POST-natally.

Personally – I think in 5 years I’d love to take a sabbatical and go over to Europe or Latin America with my family. We’d spend 1/2 a year learning a new language and being immersed in a new culture. I’d love to homeschool during that time and also use the experience to teach our children about other places and people and truly have them become better citizens of the world through exposure.  That would be an absolute dream.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?  

I believe that there is tremendous value in having your pelvic health checked.  You may have problems you’ve never shared about. Or you may be just fine.  Either way, you will learn something new about your body and how to help it get to (or stay at) great functioning.  I feel that we owe it to ourselves to take care of the areas of our body that work the hardest for us during pregnancy and afterward as well.  One of the best ways to ensure that we can continue to do what we love as we get older as women are to keep our bladder, bowel, pelvic floor and core happy and functioning.  Pelvic physiotherapy is covered if you have benefits for physio, so I feel you might as well take the opportunity. If you have any questions, please feel free to check out our website https://www.themamasphysio.com or feel free to contact me directly as well: ibukun@themamasphysio.com