Hold It Mama

Finally, a book for women who want the best of both worlds – children and a strong, vibrant pelvic floor and core. Practical, easy to read and thoroughly informative, HOLD IT MAMA gives women the power to reclaim their fitness and pelvic health during pregnancy, birth and well beyond birth.

Australian women’s health physiotherapist Mary O’Dwyer provides a practical, information packed, logical guide for women, their partners and those involved with pregnancy and birth. It also contains detailed advice on recovery following vaginal and caesarean births. Like many pregnancies, this invaluable floor– and core–centred book is well overdue… Hold It Mama will help you — - recover core strength and shape - improve pelvic floor and abdominal control - stay safely active during pregnancy - practice skills for an empowered labor - protect the pelvic floor during birth - self-check for prolapse or muscle damage - recover after C-section birth including scar minimization - follow the ‘Shrink the Jellybelly’ program - enjoy vital pelvic floor and core fitness throughout life

Mary O’Dwyer is an Australian women's health physiotherapist who trained at the Universities of Queensland and Melbourne. With over thirty years clinical experience and consulting in women’s health, she is now an international teacher and author alongside her role as a Senior Teaching Fellow at Bond University. Mary conducts practical and informative one-day workshops for women and delivers workshops for fitness professionals, teaching safe training strategies to prevent pelvic floor problems related to over-challenging exercise. Mary has become an advocate for introducing new assessment protocols and safe exercise guidelines into the Fitness Industry to identify and protect women with, or at risk of developing, pelvic floor dysfunction. Having witnessed the effects of pelvic floor dysfunction from her patients’ stories, Mary is committed to educating women about their pelvic health, and to enlighten and empower them in the management of relevant problems, while giving them the confidence to make informed decisions. Hoping to reach more women than her professional practice allows, ‘Hold it Sister’ is set to transform women’s knowledge of their pelvic floor and its central role in the female body.