Cecile Rost

I acquired this book through LT's Early Reviewers program.

As a healthcare provider I am very excited about a book addressing pregnancy related pelvic pain! It is very frustrating to have a woman in your office tearful and in pain at just the time she should be anticipating the joyous arrival of her new baby and feel that there are very few tools at your disposal to help her. Often at that point I find that women are so exhausted and aggravated by their condition that a referral to physical show more therapy is unwelcome – as she feels she “hurts too much to exercise” and that adding “another thing to do” merely adds to her burden. Reviewing the “symmetry” and “stabilization” exercises in the office will be a good starting point and hopefully provide some encouragement.

In reading straight through the book I have some suggestions that might make the next edition more user-friendly. The illustrations in the book are very, very helpful and necessary in instructing women who are not familiar with the “medical” terminology (transverse abdominals, internal rotation, abduction, etc). In several cases, however, the instructions for doing an exercise were located on a different page than the illustration and necessitated flipping back and forth, which is especially aggravating if you are following along and actually attempting to physically DO the exercise at the same time (which I was). Similarly, adding an “Exercising at Home” summary at the end of the book (like the “How to Test Yourself” section) that women could refer to would be helpful – perhaps even a tear-out mini-poster to tape to the wall?

Aside from a few nit-picky details (such as “In Figure 6.1C should we really be having her look UP, exaggerating the cervical lordosis, rather than tucking the chin downward and continue the stretching and straightening of the spine?” ) I found the information in the book to be good and useful. I think that the passages describing the exercises and methods to ease daily activities would be more “patient-friendly” if the explanations of how the different bones are interacting were left for the end. Also, I would have liked to see a few examples of how NOT to do the exercises (avoiding common pitfalls – i.e. “Make sure you bend from HERE and not from THERE”) as the author has instructed many clients I am sure she has seen all the ways people can do them WRONG.

Tomorrow I will be giving this book to my sister – who IS pregnant AND suffering from pregnancy related pelvic pain. show less

Having suffered with Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (a.k.a. SPD, Diastis Symphysis Pubis, pelvic girdle pain, and pregnancy-related pelvic pain) for most of two pregnancies now, I was very intrigued by this book that my sister gave me for Christmas. It was written by a physical therapist from the Netherlands who has had pelvic problems during her own pregnancies, and developed exercises to reduce the pain of SPD.

One of the most interesting things about this book is that it goes counter to what show more I've often read (mostly on the Internet, since this is the first book I've ever come across that discussed this issue). Most advice runs along the lines of "keep your knees together ALL THE TIME." Rolling over, getting out of the car, when seated, etc. The author of this book says that this only exacerbates the problem (which is caused by misalignment in the sacro-iliac joint) and that symmetrical and stabilized movement is most important. Many of the exercises involve a knees-apart posture (which I would have thought would be excruciating to me, but I've found they actually help!), stretching and strengthening the muscles around the hips to help stabilize them.

I like the author's methodology (large-scale research, well documented) and personal approach. I do have some beefs with the book, including a less-than-ideal layout (illustrations for exercises on different pages than the explanations) and some vagueness in the directions for the exercises (how long do I hold it? how many repetitions? how far away from me should my feet be? should I hold my back flat to the floor? Etc.) Overall, however, I felt the book was both a good overview of the causes of pregnancy-related pelvic pain that included an in-depth look of how it affects the lives of those who live with it. It has sections for both the layperson/patient and for physical therapists (I'm taking it with me the next time I go to PT). It's a good resource for those of us who have SPD and don't want to end up in a wheelchair or on crutches by the end of our pregnancies.

I've tried the basic Symmetry and Stabilization exercises, and found them to be very helpful in relieving pain when I feel "out of whack." Also, as a result of the section on how SPD affects lifestyle, I have tried not to limit my range of motion while limiting the stress that I put on my pelvis. (One of the effects that SPD often has is to make you feel as if you will really hurt yourself if you go beyond a very limited range of motion, which is why I would have appreciated more explicit directions for the exercises.) Some of the basic "body mechanics" techniques I have found particularly helpful, especially the "how to roll over in bed" maneuver. I can now roll in bed relatively pain free (!) - which was impossible without outside assistance in my last pregnancy.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has had pelvic pain during or after pregnancy - I wish I'd had it with my first pregnancy. show less

This book is very well written. It is meant for parents and teachers and is done in an easy to read and succinct manner. It touches on every aspect of sensory integration. You will find information here on smell, taste, touch, vision, the effect of the environment in general, and more. It won me over with the sentence All children need discipline. It has been my experience that many parents whose children receive a diagnosis of anything that affects behavior, simply throw up their hands in show more resignation and say “There is nothing I can do, he/she has¬¬ _______________. This benefits no one, least of all the child. I always wonder if these parents have ever considered that their child will one day be an adult, with these same issues and their lives will be more difficult than it has to be. It is hard work to raise any child, more difficult when the child needs a little extra help. The information in this book will help the parents identify possible problems and give suggestions on how to begin to help their child.

There is a lot of very useful information here, as well as explanations. It is not a book that says do this, because I say so, it is one that says do this, and here is why. It tells you how to do it, when to do it and gently guides you through the difficulties that you will face while you do it.

I work in a special needs school. None of my own children had issues of this kind. I see sensory issues on a daily basis, often exhibited in the most extreme ways. I have attended in-services on sensory integration, and work with it every day.

Helping Hyperactive Kids- A Sensory Integration Approach is a book is meant to address these issues in typical children, but I feel that it is also a valuable resource for me, and the team that I work with. I have already benefited from the information provided. show less

A good instructional guide for women suffering from this affliction, I feel that it leaned a little too heavily on letters written from patients of the author. While always interesting to read from those with firsthand experience, this seemed to have more than usual and grew a little tiresome. On the other hand, the information the author had about this condition and the hope women could have was interesting and full of incite on exercise to relieve the condition. For those curious as to how show more widespread pelvic pain is and what some of the underlying causes may be, the last part of the book did a great job. show less