Pelvic Health Network

Occupational and Physical Therapy Early After Birth: ERAD® Info Session
2026-03-03 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Who are the leaders advancing early postpartum rehab in U.S. hospitals?
On Tuesday, March 3rd, we will meet the clinical leaders behind hospitals that provide occupational and physical therapy services on the maternity unit prior to discharge.
This live event will feature representatives from facilities listed in the Postpartum Recovery Hospital Directory, a growing national database of institutions offering inpatient rehabilitation after birth.
Each leader will briefly introduce:
• Their facility and setting• The structure of their postpartum rehab services• How referrals are generated on the maternity unit• The role of OT and PT in early recovery• Their purpose for building or sustaining these services
This event is designed for:
• Hospital administrators• Rehabilitation directors• Acute care therapists• OB service line leaders• Home health and outpatient clinicians seeking hospital collaboration
We will highlight the 120+ U.S. facilities currently offering OT and PT services after birth and open the door for future panel opportunities as maternity rehab services continue to expand.
Thank you for leading early recovery where it begins.
REGISTER HERE

We Can't Wait 6 Weeks: Early Rehab After 3rd & 4th Degree Tears
2026-03-17 19:00 - 20:30
Third and fourth degree perineal tears, also known as obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASIS), can significantly affect bowel function, pain, mobility, and participation in daily activities during the early postpartum period. Despite the functional impact of these injuries, rehabilitation is frequently delayed until the traditional six-week medical clearance, leaving a critical gap in early management. This course examines the clinical rationale for initiating rehabilitation within the first six weeks and outlines evidence-informed assessment and intervention strategies appropriate for acute and early postpartum care.
Participants will analyze tissue healing timelines, bowel protection principles, red flag screening, and early mobility considerations specific to severe perineal trauma. Instruction will emphasize functional assessment, symptom-guided progression, and interdisciplinary communication. The course also explores how to adapt early rehabilitation principles across acute care, home health, outpatient, and telehealth settings to support safe recovery and restore participation in meaningful activities while reducing risk of long-term dysfunction.
REGISTER HERE

They Started Rehab After C-Section in the Hospital. Here’s What Happened.
2026-04-07 19:00 - 20:00
What happens when moms get help recovering after a C-section…before they leave the hospital?
At Intermountain Medical Center, physical therapists started seeing patients during their hospital stay, not weeks later, and the difference was clear.
Patients shared:
• Less pain• More confidence getting up and moving• Feeling more prepared to go home• “Why wasn’t this a thing before?”
Nurses saw it too:
• Patients moving better• Smoother recovery on the unit• Strong support for making this standard care
The results were so strong, the team presented their work at a national conference in 2026.
In this session, you’ll hear directly from the team who built the program:
• How they made it part of everyday hospital care• What they’re actually doing with patients• What patients and nurses experienced
If you’ve been asking why this kind of support isn’t standard after C-section, Dr. Geanna Granger and Dr. Ginger Leibfritz are going to show you what it looks like when it is.
Free to attend. Register HERE to join live.

Cesarean Birth Prep & Postpartum Rehab Workshop
2026-04-08 19:00 - 20:30
The most important window for recovery after Cesarean birth is the first few weeks after surgery.
That’s when patients are getting out of bed, lifting their baby, and trying to move through pain and fatigue while still managing the demands of daily life.
They’re getting in and out of a car for the first time after surgery.They’re going to a pediatrician visit within the first week.Some are traveling back and forth to the NICU.They’re navigating stairs, standing long enough to shower, and caring for other children at home.
In some cases, they’re recovering from surgery without consistent help or managing newborn care as a single parent.
And most of them are doing it without a clear plan.
They’re told to “take it easy,” but the guidance is vague and not tailored to the actual demands of their day, so patients are left to figure out on their own how to move, lift, and function in a way that supports healing.
This is where recovery starts to break down.
Rehabilitation is often delayed or not introduced at all during this early window, even though this is when guidance has the greatest impact on mobility, pain, and return to daily activities.
This workshop is designed to help clinicians step into that window with more clarity and confidence.
In this 90-minute workshop, you will learn how to support patients before and after Cesarean birth using a structured, timeline-based approach to recovery. We will review how cesarean delivery impacts the abdominal wall and overall function, and how these changes influence movement, activity tolerance, and return to daily tasks.
You will leave with practical strategies to guide early mobility, positioning, breathing, and activity progression in the first days and weeks postpartum, along with a clear way to communicate expectations, identify when to refer, and provide education patients can use immediately at home.
Expand Your Practice

Become the clinician patients and providers trust for early recovery after Cesarean birth

Step into a gap in care that is currently underserved in most hospitals and communities

Offer guidance during the most critical window of recovery instead of waiting until weeks later

Build confidence addressing early postpartum needs, even without a specialty certification

Strengthen your role within your team by providing clear, actionable recovery plans

Improve patient outcomes by addressing mobility and function when it matters most

Differentiate your services by offering structured, timeline-based recovery support

Position yourself as a leader in early maternal surgery care within your setting

ENROLL HERE

C-Section Rehab: My Experience with Home Health Occupational Therapy
2026-05-05 19:00 - 20:00
Dr. Jenna Segraves, PT, DPT, NCS shares her experience with home-based OT services after C-section complications

Four days after a C-section, Jenna couldn’t lie flat.
She was short of breath. She felt pressure in her chest. Her blood pressure had climbed far from her normal.
She went to OB triage. Her concerns weren’t taken seriously. She was told to go home and rest. With ongoing chest pressure, she was sent to the main emergency department.
While in the ED, her systolic blood pressure rose over 180 and her BNP registered at 1650. She was treated for postpartum fluid overload and acute heart failure.
Jenna is an ultra-endurance athlete who knew her baseline well. That didn’t stop this from being missed early. In this session, you’ll see exactly how this unfolded and what was missed, including the role of home health OT in the first few days after Jenna’s postpartum readmission.
Patients are discharged. Symptoms start. They go back in. They’re told it’s part of recovery. They come back again when things get worse.
We’ll talk about what therapists should be paying attention to right away after C-section, what patients are dealing with at home, and where rehab fits in before complications escalate.
If you work in acute care, home health, or outpatient, this will give you a clearer picture of what happens after discharge and what early intervention can look like in practice.
REGISTER HERE

Build it by 2027: Physician-Led Postpartum Recovery Program
2026-05-19 19:30 - 21:00
Duke University Health System saved over $815,000 in 24 months by adding physical therapy to their maternity unit and via telehealth. The program could not have launched without a physician order.
127 maternity units in the United States currently offer occupational and physical therapy during postpartum admission. The hospitals reducing postpartum readmissions fastest have one thing in common: a physician who decided to build a recovery team.
This session is designed for OBGYNs, MFMs, and OB hospitalists who want to understand how a postpartum recovery program works, what it requires of the physician, and how to build one inside their own health system before 2027.
You will leave this session with:
1. A clinical algorithm and outcome measures for identifying postpartum patients who would benefit from rehabilitation during hospital admission or through telehealth and home health follow-up after discharge.
2. Rehab practice guidelines that include assessing physiological response to activity after hemorrhage, Cesarean hysterectomy, preeclampsia, and other major birth events.
3. Program outcomes that address the metrics that payors and health systems measure including length of stay, patient satisfaction scores, preventable complications, and avoidable readmissions.
Presented by: Rebeca Segraves, PT, DPT, PWCS | Founder, Enhanced Recovery After Delivery®. Developer of the only global directory that tracks inpatient postpartum recovery programs across maternity hospitals.
Dr. Katherine Sylvester, PT, DPT | Founder, MommyMonitor. Acute care women’s health physical therapist and remote postpartum monitoring specialist.
This session is free. It is built for the physician who already suspects something is missing in the recovery window between discharge and the six week visit and wants to do something about it.
Register to attend live or receive the recording.
REGISTER HERE

Learn How They Pitched It: Your Maternal Rehab Presentation Template
2026-06-16 19:00 - 20:00
I was in a Zoom meeting with the lead OT and PT of the acute care maternal rehab program at one of the leading academic medical centers in the U.S.
They were explaining how they started a service line that offers rehab to mothers during hospital admission after birth when they noticed another need: OB nurses wanted to learn what they were teaching patients in the hospital room with their anatomical pelvic model.
During a treatment session, a nurse had observed the therapist use the pelvic model with a new mom after a perineal tear and discuss the pelvic health treatment plan she created for her. The nurse left the room and when the therapist ended her session, she was met with a team of OB nurses at the nurse’s station on the mother baby unit. They wanted to see the pelvic model and learn the pelvic floor education that the therapists were providing to women after vaginal delivery before discharge. What started as an acute care maternal rehab program expanded into an interdisciplinary postpartum recovery model led by occupational therapists, physical therapists, OB nurses, and OB/GYNs.
The Pelvic Health Network’s Postpartum Recovery Hospital Directory tracks 128 facilities that offer rehab services on the maternity unit. These programs have quickly grown into a movement that is expanding access to early recovery care after birth in hospitals, home health, outpatient clinics, and virtual care. In every setting where a therapist was willing to build the referral pathway, clinicians have learned the fundamental skill that gets buy-in from the maternal care team: how to communicate the value to mothers earlier after birth.
In our workshop on Tuesday, June 16 at 7 PM ET, therapists will receive the presentation template to communicate their role, and learn what to include, who to invite, and how to build the case for early maternal rehab in every setting for moms who want access to postpartum recovery care.
See you then,
Rebeca Segraves, Pelvic Health Network
REGISTER HERE

What Happens When Recovery Waits 6 Weeks? How Early OT and PT Can Support Mental Health After Traumatic Birth
2026-06-30 18:00 - 19:00
What Happens When Recovery Waits 6 Weeks? How Early OT and PT Can Support Mental Health After Traumatic Birth
Most patients after traumatic birth are discharged from the hospital without occupational or physical therapy. If postpartum rehab is recommended at all, they’re told to wait six weeks or more. In that early window, the hardest parts of recovery happen alone.
Pelvic pressure. Tailbone pain. Incontinence. Neck, back, and shoulder discomfort from hours of feeding. Lactation challenges. Sleep deprivation. Partner fatigue. Hypertension. Uncertainty about what’s normal and what isn’t. Growing distress that has nowhere to go.
128 hospitals have decided that’s not acceptable.
From rural to large metropolitan health systems, 128 maternity hospitals offer OT and PT to address functional recovery during postpartum admission. Therapists visit mothers in their room, while holding their baby, with their families present, to develop a recovery plan after an unexpected birth event. Mothers share what they feel is needed before they go home, before questions compound, before complications grow into anxiety that affect their mental health, and before they spend 6 weeks wondering if what they feel is their fault.
Join Rebeca Segraves, PT, DPT, PWCS and Jenna Segraves, PT, DPT, NCS, co-founders of Enhanced Recovery After Delivery®, for a live discussion and Q&A on what early OT and PT actually changes for postpartum women. Learn how inpatient and outpatient practitioners and practice owners are building the referral pathways to reach moms sooner.
We’ll talk about the clinical model, the scheduling structures that work inside and outside of the hospital, and the one thing you can do in your practice to stop waiting for a referral that was never coming.
This event is for the therapist who knows this is your pathway to build. If you’re watching patients get referred to rehab months after birth, wondering why no one told them sooner, it’s time to accept that you’re the only clinician who’s going to change it.
Build something that meets mothers where they actually are.
Join Live.
REGISTER HERE

What Program Will You Build in 2027?
2026-07-21 19:00 - 20:00
Somewhere in your career, you’ll watch a patient wait weeks for care they needed in the first 48 hours, and you’ll wonder why nobody built a faster way to reach them. That question is where program development starts.

During my women’s health physical therapy residency, I watched my residency director build rehab’s presence in a world where we were part of prehab before prostatectomy and part of the first week of recovery after mastectomy, entirely through relationships she spent years building and trust she never stopped earning.

When our waitlist was five to six weeks out, she always found a way to get a patient seen sooner.

That same health system later reported saving $815,000 in avoided readmission costs across over 8,400 deliveries by offering PT in the hospital and via telehealth after birth. That result started with relationships, one conversation at a time.

Program development is a relationship skill before it’s anything else. Before you build one, you have to know what you’re building toward: a pathway for birth recovery, starting in the hospital and following patients home, or a pathway for pelvic surgery more broadly, covering common procedures like hysterectomy for patients who never got automatic referrals the way orthopedic patients do.

Both replace the same outdated standard: the 6-week wait built around medical practice, not tissue healing, mental health, or function.

This session kicks off our new ERAD cohort and it’s the third in a series that’s followed the arc of building a program from the ground up: first to physicians on leading one, then to therapists on presenting it to their maternal care team, and now to you on deciding what you’re actually building and where to start.

We’ll cover how to identify which direction fits your setting and how to build the pathway that gets patients seen in week one instead of week six.

You don’t need it figured out before this session. You need to show up with questions on where to begin.

See you soon.

– Rebeca Segraves, PT, DPT, PWCS

Register HERE.

OTD Capstone: Why I Chose Acute Care Maternal Health
2026-08-04 19:00 - 20:00
Most mothers leave the hospital with instructions for their incision, bleeding, and medications. Few leave knowing whether they can safely care for themselves or their newborn.
For her OTD Capstone, Dr. Marley Sisler, OTD, OTR/L decided to ask different questions before discharge:

Can this mother safely get in and out of bed after birth or surgery?
Can she transfer on and off the toilet without increasing pain or risking injury?
Can she bathe, dress, and complete daily activities independently?
Can she safely lift, carry, soothe, and feed her baby?
Does pain, dizziness, weakness, swelling, or fatigue limit her ability to care for herself or her newborn?
Does she understand body mechanics and energy conservation for the first days and weeks after birth?
Are there functional barriers that could make recovery more difficult once she gets home?

These questions are rarely answered during a routine postpartum discharge, yet they often determine whether a mother feels prepared when she walks out the hospital doors.
At WVU Medicine Children’s, Dr. Sisler identified this gap and helped develop a program where occupational therapists evaluate every patient admitted to the Birthing Center using a preventive, functional approach beginning on postpartum day one.
The goal wasn’t to find more problems.
The goal was to identify barriers before they become complications, improve a mother’s confidence caring for herself and her newborn, and ensure she leaves the hospital with the knowledge and skills needed for recovery at home.
As more hospitals look for ways to improve maternal outcomes, reduce preventable complications, and deliver patient-centered care, functional rehabilitation is becoming an important part of the conversation that Marley will be having with us.
REGISTER HERE

OT Student Capstone: Initiating OT and PT after Cesarean Section
2026-09-15 19:00 - 20:00
We’re highlighting what can happen when an OT student is taught to do more than treat the next patient on the schedule.
Emily Gill used her doctoral occupational therapy capstone at Banner Gateway Medical Center in Arizona to help initiate both OT and PT after Cesarean birth.
She worked with nursing leadership, OB providers, and rehabilitation staff to build support for the service, promote referrals, and expand access to rehabilitation for mothers during their hospital stay.
Since January 2026, the program has generated 43 referrals, and hospital leadership plans to continue the work after her capstone ends.
During this session, Emily will share what she did, who she approached, what helped move the program forward, and what she learned about building an interdisciplinary maternal rehabilitation pathway inside a hospital.
Emily is a recent occupational therapy graduate from A.T. Still University whose work focuses on education, program development, and improving access to OT and PT after Cesarean birth.
Join us on September 15th at 7 PM ET to hear how one capstone project helped create a pathway for an entire patient population.
REGISTER HERE
