PHYSICAL THERAPY IN OBSTETRIC AND GYNECOLOGIC CARE

Introduction In your role as a woman’s health physiotherapist, you will need to have a sound knowledge and understanding of the anatomy of the female pelvis in order to be able to competently assess a woman’s progress in labor. This involves you being able to identify the relationship between the position and descent of the woman's fetus and the relevant landmarks of her pelvis to facilitate appropriate referral to a medical practitioner (obstetrician), or emergency procedure when you recognize any deviations from normal physiology and acceptable labor progress. The composition of the bony pelvis The Bony pelvis or pelvic skeleton or pelvis, so called from its resemblance to a basin, is a ring structure that comprises four bones. It made up posteriorly by the sacrum and the coccyx and laterally and anteriorly by a pair of hip bones.