The Maternal Rehab Project
Supporting the OTs and PTs providing rehab in the first week after birth
Occupational therapists and physical therapists are bringing rehabilitation into maternity care so more women can have access to recovery support in the earliest days after birth
Pelvic Health Network created the Maternal Rehab Project to find, support, and learn from the clinicians changing what recovery looks like in the first week after birth.
Our first phase has focused on the OTs and PTs bringing rehabilitation onto hospital maternity units. The Maternal Rehab Project is designed to support early maternal rehabilitation wherever that care happens, including hospital, outpatient, home, and virtual settings.
Our first four Maternal Rehab Contributors each received a $500 honorarium to show us how their hospital programs were built, what barriers they faced, and what helped them make rehabilitation part of maternity care.
Now we’re going further.
Through our partnership with InspireHer | Global Women’s Health Initiative, a 501(c)(3) public charity and fiscal sponsor of the Maternal Rehab Project, we can support the next phase of this work.
That means helping clinicians and teams measure outcomes, publish what they are learning, pursue grants, receive mentorship, and compete for other opportunities that can help promising maternal rehabilitation programs grow.
Pelvic Health Network directs 50% of membership revenue to the Maternal Rehab Project.
Four hospitals programs documented. Our first contributors are showing what it takes to bring rehabilitation onto hospital maternity units and what other teams can learn from them.
See What Clinicians Are Building
Salt Lake City, Utah – Acute Care Maternal Rehab
Intermountain Medical Center increased C-section PT orders by 520%. Hear from the therapists behind the program and how they expanded access to rehabilitation on the maternity unit.
Maternal Rehab Contributor · $500 honorarium
Watch Time: 1:04:22
Morgantown, West Virginia – Acute Care Maternal Rehab
WVU Medicine offers occupational therapy to mothers on the maternity unit. Hear how the program works, how it was established, and what the team has learned.
Maternal Rehab Contributor · $500 honorarium
Watch Time: 1:06:41
Waukesha, Wisconsin – Acute Care Maternal Rehab
ProHealth Care went from occasionally calling PT after birth to including physical therapy in the order set. Meet the rehabilitation manager behind the change.
Maternal Rehab Contributor · $500 honorarium
Watch Time: 1:03:09
Gilbert, Arizona – Student Led Hospital Program
When an automatic OT/PT referral order was denied, an occupational therapy doctoral student found another way to build the program offering rehab after birth at Banner Gateway Medical Center.
Maternal Rehab Contributor · $500 honorarium
Watch Time: 53:17
The next phase:
help strong programs build the evidence
Starting a maternal rehabilitation program is only part of the work
Clinicians and teams also need opportunities to measure outcomes, publish what they are learning, compete for funding, and make successful models visible beyond their own organizations.
Through the Maternal Rehab Project and our partnership with InspireHer, we want to help promising programs move further through grants, mentorship, publication support, and pitch competitions.
Whether that work begins on a hospital maternity unit, in an outpatient clinic, at home, or virtually, the goal is the same: help strong maternal rehabilitation programs build the evidence and visibility they need to grow and give others something to learn from.
Help us find What Comes Next
Are you providing or building rehabilitation in the first week after birth?
We want to know what you are doing, how you built it, what barriers you have faced, and what other clinicians and organizations could learn from you.
You can also help us recognize more clinicians, document more programs, and create more opportunities for promising maternal rehabilitation work to grow.
Pelvic Health Network × InspireHer | Global Women’s Health Initiative
The Maternal Rehab Project
An initiative of Pelvic Health Network
Fiscal sponsorship provided by InspireHer | Global Women’s Health Initiative
Pelvic Health Network directs 50% of membership revenue to support the Maternal Rehab Project