Rochelle Cowan is a qualified physiotherapist with over 17 years’ experience. Having obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Physiotherapy from the University of Melbourne in Australia, she later lived and worked in Israel for 7 years, before moving to the UK in 2012. Throughout her career she has worked across various areas of physiotherapy, but for the past 6 years has become more specialised.

“I have always been interested in the subject of women’s health, and the fact that many women are needlessly living in pain. I hope to be able to empower them to be able to understand their own bodies”.

During her time working in Israel, she treated women with a range of conditions, in particular age-related issues, such as menopause. Since moving to the UK, she has set up her company, ‘A Mother’s Touch’, specialising in pre and post-natal treatment for women. As a mother of five children, she is well placed to use her own experience, as well as her medical training, to help other women in the same situation. “I have had 5 natural births, not because I am a hero, but because I have the understanding and knowledge about my body that helped me to deal with the pain. It is this knowledge that I want to share with others, so that I can help them, and in turn, they can learn to help themselves”.

Rochelle works with women at every stage of their pregnancy, treating pre-natal conditions such as back pain, or pelvic discomfort when rolling over or getting dressed, through to post-natal issues relating to lactation, or carpal tunnel syndrome, and even beyond this in terms of pain during intimacy. Rochelle offers clients the chance to have either home visits within the North London and Hertfordshire area, or to attend her North London clinic.

Through one to one sessions with clients, she is able to create treatment tailored to the individual, and their needs. “Every session is different, and is based on specific areas that the client is having issues with. I offer treatment based on this, aswell as tips, advice and other exercises, so that they are able to manage their own pain. As much as these things may be common during pregnancy, it does not mean that they are normal, and there are a lot of women in pain, when there is no need to be. Knowing how to treat these issues, will help many women avoid suffering in silence”

A consultation begins with a discussion with the client about their key concerns and issues, and Rochelle looks at previous medical history in order to try and find the root of the problem. She also offers an objective assessment where she looks at the client’s posture, and tries to pinpoint pain relating to this. Based on this information, Rochelle is then able to advise the best treatment going forward throughout her client’s pregnancy.

Many find that it is actually once they have the baby and are discharged from hospital that they really need additional help. “Labour can be considered to be a trauma for the body, and it is essential that it is given time to heal properly. Women are made to leave hospital so quickly, that often there is not time for some basic things to be explained to them, and this can lead to problems when they are back home”.

Rochelle often visits women just after they have had their baby and offers some simple exercises and advice to help them. “They may feel embarrassed if they are experiencing leakage when laughing or lifting their baby, or pelvic heaviness either during lifting or at the end of the day when they are tired, but these are common symptoms to experience. Rochelle is able to teach a series of exercises and advise women on how to make simple changes that will enable them to overcome these issues, so that they are able to live symptom-free. It also helps to avoid suffering in the future if they have more children.

Many women with young babies may experience back pain, and Rochelle recommends that the best way to avoid this is to always make sure that when lifting your baby, you bend at the knees rather than at the back to avoid straining. It is also important to engage and contract the core muscles – pelvic floor and deep abdominals to avoid putting pressure on the back.

Rochelle is proud to have her own business, which not only educates women about their own bodies, but also gives them key tools, through exercise and advice to be able to help avoid pain in future.

“People seem to know more about how their mobile phone works, than their own bodies, and it is easy to avoid experiencing pain if you know the right way to do things. Being in pain impacts on every area of a person’s life, and if there is a way I can help this, then that is a good thing. I feel like I have been given a gift that I want to share, and I enjoy being able to help women in some way”.

If you would like to contact Rochelle about help relating to pre and post-natal issues, please contact her on rochellecowan99@gmail.com or on 07415 505 858. Rochelle is kindly offering all Jewish Weekly readers a 15% discount on their first home visit. Please remember to quote Jewish Weekly when making an initial booking.

Do you know anyone who specialises in an area of female expertise and would like to be featured on this page? Let us know by emailing
micaela@thejewishweekly.com