Women In Wellness: Meenal Mujumdar On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s… (2024)

Chest breathing is a key. Most people with Pelvic floor dysfunction are abdominal breathers.

Today, more than ever, wellness is at the forefront of societal discussions. From mental health to physical well-being, women are making significant strides in bringing about change, introducing innovative solutions, and setting new standards. Despite facing unique challenges, they break barriers, inspire communities, and are reshaping the very definition of health and wellness. In this series called women in wellness we are talking to women doctors, nurses, nutritionists, therapists, fitness trainers, researchers, health experts, coaches, and other wellness professionals to share their stories and insights. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Meenal Mujumdar.

Meenal Mujumdar is a pelvic rehabilitation physical therapist and creator of the M2 Method, a personalized approach to pelvic health through a guided 8 and 12-week individualized program for postpartum and menopausal women via one-on-one sessions and virtual group class support.

With more than 17 years of hands-on experience, Meenal is seen among her peers as a leader for her innovative, empowering, and steadfast approach to addressing the nuances of Pelvic floor dysfunction following childbirth, Stress urinary incontinence during postpartum and menopause, Pelvic organ prolapse, Constipation and digestive issues after pregnancy, Urge incontinence, public symphysis separation (SPD), sacroiliac dysfunction (SIJ) and diastasis rectus separation following childbirth through a combination of evidence-based practices and holistic approach.

Meenal received her pelvic rehabilitation training from the American Physical Therapy Association and Herman and Wallace Pelvic Rehabilitation Institute. She has her Australian manual therapy certification, a lymphedema certification with specialized training in pelvic floor. She is PRPC Certified which makes her an expert in treating pelvic floor dysfunction in Men, women, and children. Being a women’s health life coach, Meenal has spearheaded several pelvic health programs for hospitals and private clinics.

Throughout her tenure, Meenal has worked with political leaders, Silicon Valley technology leaders, professional athletes, television and film personnel, and Hollywood actors.

When Meenal is not treating patients, you’ll find her spending time with her husband, daughter, their two dogs Trisha and Bayden, and Mr Peabody, their family German Riding Pony. An oenophile, Meenal spends a great amount of time at their Napa and Rancho Murieta homes attending Horse shows, hiking, and visiting Wineries.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

My name is Meenal Mujumdar and I am a pelvic floor physical therapist, currently running my private practice in Los Altos California. My journey as a Physical Therapist started back in 2003 when I graduated from Physical Therapy school. I still remember the first day of my first job as an Orthopedic Physical Therapist at a small private clinic in San Jose California. I was mostly involved in treating athletes at that time. Little did I know, that many athletes suffer from incontinence, and due to embarrassment, they do not talk about it. I felt I was not able to address their incontinence issues fully as I didn’t have enough knowledge and skills. This wasn’t until one of my coworkers introduced me to the world of Pelvic floor Physical therapy. I started specialized training which gave me effective tools to address several issues related to Incontinence in athletes. I was then hired by a top hospital to start a Pelvic health program where I developed a very successful pelvic rehabilitation program from the ground up. After working in the hospital system for 5 years I felt I was not able to have professional satisfaction. My husband encouraged me to start on my own. I feel that was the best decision of my life. I am a very proud owner of a very successful Pelvic floor physical Therapy practice for 10 years.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

There are way too many interesting stories in this profession mainly related to what symptoms patients are presenting with. I feel I am not at liberty to discuss those stories here but I would like to share my personal story which created a deep impact on my professional life. This is when I became a mother and gave birth to my daughter. My own birthing experience was very challenging and I feel it has channeled my thought process as a Pelvic floor Therapist. I would like to begin with my first few days postpartum. I had an emergency C-section after trying for 40+ hrs to give birth naturally. Suddenly, it dawned on me that I had to be responsible for this tiny living being while trying to recover. I was an established Pelvic floor expert by then. While recovering at the hospital, I was under the impression that talking about basic pelvic health post-birth is a norm. I kept waiting for someone to show up and teach me basic postpartum pelvic and abdominal care. In the end, I left the hospital 4 days later with no mention of Pelvic or abdominal care, DRA, or the possibility of incontinence. Nobody even asked me, “How are you doing” while all the care was geared towards the baby. Mothers need as much care as babies. If mothers don’t feel well, how are they going to take care of their children? I learned something new that day, Most women will leave the hospitals with no information on how to take care of themselves or their pelvic floor. Most women are clueless about the right and evidence-based methods to address postpartum pelvic and abdominal dysfunction. We are expected to self-learn or rely on social media. Unfortunately, There is tons of misinformation on social media which might not be the best thing for you. Every woman giving birth should receive a visit from a Pelvic floor PT and 6–8 postpartum visits should be part of their routine postpartum care. The seed to develop the M2 Method was planted during my postpartum period.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I always say, I have made several mistakes and have learned from my mistakes. When I started my business I was trying to do everything by myself and had a hard time distributing the work to others. I was so protective and type A about my work that I didn’t believe someone else could do this work other than me. That included patient scheduling and billing. I believe when one is talking to a patient who has severe pain or seeking help for a very sensitive issue, the person talking to them should have an empathetic tone. I feel trying to do everything by myself was a mistake as it pushed me to the limit. Now I first train my front desk on how to talk to patients and distribute the responsibilities.

Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

The work I am doing helps women and women are the main building blocks of society. Women always prioritize their family and kids when it comes to health. There has to be a platform that helps women prioritize their health. Eight of ten women experience incontinence, Abdominal muscle separation, and pelvic girdle pain following childbirth. But only two out of ten women would seek help and the rest of them would push this on the back burner. Some would seek the internet to look for an easy fix and some would just accept that “ It is normal to leak after giving birth”. Every postpartum mom I see in my clinic has either been through the rabbit hole of following random exercises on the internet or has pushed this on the back burner for several years. When they go through the treatment they realize how important Pelvic floor rehabilitation is for their health. Pelvic floor rehabilitation helps women prevent issues like pelvic organ prolapse, Chronic lower back pain, and Sciatica. Prevention is better than seeking a cure for these issues. If women prioritize Pelvic floor rehabilitation after giving birth, they can prevent many issues in their later life.

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better pelvic floor health?

1. Breathe- Many people suffering from pelvic floor dysfunction are abdominal breathers. Breathe from your chest.
2. Pelvic floor exercises are not “squeeze” but they are “lifts” and you don’t have to do them 200 hundred times. 40 gentle lifts with 10 sec hold is just enough
3. Abdominal muscle stability is as important as pelvic floor exercises. If you are experiencing urinary incontinence you need both abdominals and pelvic floor to address it
4. Abdominal muscle separation is normal during pregnancy. It is not necessary that you can only have DRA if you have given birth. Even Men can develop abdominal separation as a result of poor posture in sitting. This issue is easily fixable with simple exercises.
5. When you are trying to treat pelvic floor dysfunction it is important to look into your digestive health. Treating the underlying constipation/IBS is vital.

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I will say Every postpartum mother should get mandatory pelvic health physical therapy as a part of their well-visit package. During the postpartum period, women typically attend several pediatric visits and 6-week check-ups at the OBGYN. So typically women get one quick visit with an OB and they are told “You are doing good, stitches are healing and you are good to go. A Movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to most people would be — Postpartum pelvic floor physical Therapy for every mother for 6–8 visits regardless if they have any adverse symptoms or not.

This movement will prevent issues like pelvic organ prolapse, stress urinary incontinence, and several other issues in later life.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

1. Facilitating deep abdominals with a soft ball squeeze cause automatic deep abdominal stability.
2. Men have pelvic floor too and they have issues like stress incontinence, pelvic pain and rectal prolapse
3. Abdominal separation is 100% treatable with right exercises
4. Your Pelvic floor muscle is working all the time. It works when you are standing, sitting or lifting weights. Unfortunately, with childbirth you lose your ability to automatically lift your pelvic floor muscle.
5. Chest breathing is a key. Most people with Pelvic floor dysfunction are abdominal breathers.

Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.