Today we are featuring Nicole Bulow; physical therapist, mother of two, and owner of SolFuel Wellness in Seattle specializing in perinatal physical health and healing. I am delighted to have known Nicole for a number of years and am blown away by the incredible work she does helping birthing people "rewrite their bodies' history".
Nicole, how did you get into this field? I have been a PT for 13 years and initially focused on sports medicine and orthopedic injuries. Over the course of my career, two things happened. 1) I spent a lot of time supporting people with hip, low back and pelvic pain who all traced their injuries back to their pregnancies/child birth...for many of these people that was 15-20 years earlier!! I believed that if I could have supported these peoples healing back when the dysfunction or inefficiency started that we could quite literally save them years of pain!
2) 5 years ago I was pregnant and delivered my beautiful baby boy. I was blown away by how much I didn't know. I felt, if I don't know this and I'm a physical therapist, then how does anyone know how much the body changes and shifts during pregnancy and birth. My true passion for this work came from my own journey and realizing how much pelvic health work and manual therapy changed the trajectory of my recovery and how I felt (and feel) in my body!. What is your favorite part of what you do? Two of my favorite client experiences are: 1) helping people learn how to effectively push! When it clicks, it's just magic. 2) working with people postpartum to help them be stronger and fitter than they've ever been. Pregnancy is a magical time when you get to start over and really build your body back even better than it was before!
My true passion for this work came from my own journey - Nicole Bulow
How should people find you? I work with an incredible team and can be found at www.solfuelwellness.com. People can schedule directly via a link online or call (425) 448-2567 or email me nicole@solfuelwellness.com Together we can re-write your body's history!
What are your top 5 recommendations for new parents? 1) Work with a pelvic health physical therapist during pregnancy and postpartum! 2) Trust your intuition. 3) Go slow in the early days - it takes a full 6 months for your tissues to return to their pre-pregnancy position, length and tension. 4) The only thing that magically happens at 6 weeks, is that your cervix closes...you need to build strength and stability prior to returning to impact activities. 5) You can start stretching and moving your body in supported ways as soon as feels good to you (think sitting or lying down and stretching) - the body loves movement!