Meet Jess Walker – the Rural Women’s Physio

Jess Walker was told her postpartum injuries were part and parcel of having a child. Her response? Hell no. Since launching the Postpartum Recovery Program in November 2022, she’s determined to change the narrative.

What led you to launch the Rural Women’s Physio and Postpartum Recovery Program?

It’s a problem I’ve been trying to solve since having my eldest, Artie, who’s now 11 years old. We’d recently moved home to Glen Innes for his birth and had a great experience with our family doctor – but I ended up haemorrhaging and had a really high-grade perineal tear. It was internal, rather than external, so was missed at the time. Those two things combined led me to have a really difficult postpartum period. I was turning everywhere for support, but kept coming up against brick walls and outdated statements like ‘that’s just how it is’ and ‘these things happen’.

Ever since then, my career diverted straight into women’s health and I’ve been trying to solve the problem of how we can sustainably intervene in the postpartum recovery for our rural, regional and remote women. Fast forward to 2022 when I launched the Rural Women’s Physio and the Postpartum Recovery Program in November that same year. My goal? To help women prioritise their postpartum recovery and offer professional, guided support no matter where they live.

How can women join the program?

It starts with a very simple couple of questions that you can access on the website. From your answers you will be told whether the program is suitable for you. If the answer is yes – awesome, you’ve got a pathway to recovery. If it’s a no, it means that something significant has come up in your birthing history and a more thorough assessment is recommended prior to beginning. But don’t worry, hope is not lost – this is still something I’ll be able to offer as I’m expanding into telehealth consultations. So regardless of the answer you get, I’ll be there for you.

Could you describe the online format – what exactly is involved?

The program is broken down into four stages – from rest and recovery to active recovery, building functional strength and finally impact loading. It takes my clients through everything I would do face to face and includes education modules, self-assessment quizzes and self-treatment guides and workouts at each stage. When it comes to those quizzes, they’re designed to feel as though I’m sitting in front of you asking the questions, and all answers are reported back to me. This allows me to see your results at each stage so I can track your progress and know when I need to reach out and offer some extra support.

When it comes to the workouts, I get to step women through exactly what I want them to do, targeting the right areas for them personally, such as pelvic floor recovery and strengthening and abdominal separation rehabilitation. The program also ensures they’re getting all the additional benefits of exercise too, like those mood-boosting endorphins and regulated sleep.

The self-treatment techniques cover things like perineal scar massage, C-section scar massage and personalised pelvic floor muscle training.

What’s one thing you’d say to women considering giving the program a go?

I’d really want them to know that prioritising your recovery improves not only your outcomes in terms of health and wellness, but your long-term outcome in terms of subsequent injuries and pelvic floor dysfunction. There are a lot of symptoms that, as you gradually get back to being active, can lessen. But at the same time, if you rush your recovery, fail to target the areas in need of rehabilitation and are not guided back into appropriate activity, you are at higher risk of developing pelvic floor dysfunction, pelvic organ prolapse, incontinence and back and pelvic girdle pain either immediately or in the future. We know that if you prioritise your postpartum recovery, it sets the tone for your motherhood journey. If you can find that time, it’s going to be better for you and for your family in the long run. The biggest take home advice? Just because certain symptoms are common, doesn’t mean they’re normal. So please reach out for support anytime.

Hey mama… need some support?

Jess is here to guide you through your postpartum recovery – so you can get back to your strong, capable and playful self.

Website | Instagram | Photography Cara Yeo