Founder of Bodhi Fit

Chelsea Siegel

I’ve been working with pregnant and postnatal women for years but got my pre & postnatal qualification in personal training before becoming pregnant myself and then continued to get my specialist pre & postnatal certificate in yoga while pregnant.

It was while completing this certificate that I realised every woman should have access to this information and decided my purpose after maternity leave would be to help get this information out there.

During my second trimester I started to develop SPD (symphysis pubis dysfunction) which is a severe type of pelvic girdle pain. It completely shifted my perspective of what my pregnancy journey would look like - I’d pictured myself continuing CrossFit, running, jumping and maintaining my dynamic yoga practice until the very end but very quickly had to adjust my mindset and the way I moved so that mundane tasks weren’t excruciating. So, I shifted my focus to gentle yoga asana, breath work and meditation. Turns out that’s exactly what my body and mind needed for my own personal journey.

The good news is that as soon as I gave birth, the pelvic pain disappeared! Yay! Except, a few weeks after as my nether regions were starting to heal, I became aware of a new pelvic problem and a medical professional confirmed my suspicions that I had pelvic organ prolapse. Honestly, I was gutted and google was not my friend over the next few days but I was determined to improve my symptoms and after 3 months I no longer had a cystocele and at 11 months postpartum the rectocele was 95% healed.

Having a prolapse scared me initially being such an active person - exercise is my job! But it also motivated me even more to help other women in the same or similar boat. I only recognised the symptoms of prolapse thanks to my pre and postnatal training and it saddens me that a lot of women will have pelvic issues such as prolapse and/or incontinence and accept that’s just part of pregnancy and giving birth. It IS a normal part of pregnancy and birth, as well as general ageing, however, it’s not something we have to live with.

Oh, did I mention that I also had diastasic recti?!

The really positive news is that I am now able to use everything I have personally experienced and learnt along the way to help other women and am now focusing my work energy on empowering women through each stage - from the moment you discover you’re growing life to the moment your little one is Earth side.

From my heart to yours x