My Top Tips for a ‘Baby Pelvic Physio’

Pelvic Physio Mentor

I had the loveliest phone call recently with a brand new pelvic floor physio - fresh out of her first training course, buzzing with excitement, and full of great questions.

She asked me:

“What are your top tips for a baby pelvic physio?”

I loved that she asked. Because nobody tells you this stuff when you’re starting out. So here it is - the honest version.

1. Expect the Learning Pit

You will hit a wall. Probably more than once.

There’s a concept called the “learning pit” - that uncomfortable place where you know enough to realise how much you don’t know, but not yet enough to feel confident. It’s disorienting, it can feel isolating, and it makes a lot of new pelvic physios question whether they’re cut out for this.

You are. The pit is part of it.

What matters is that you see it coming. When you’re in it, you’re not failing - you’re learning. Naming it makes it so much easier to sit with, and so much easier to climb out of.

2. Get a Mentor - Properly

Not a Facebook group. Not a podcast. A real, dedicated mentoring relationship where someone sits with you regularly and helps you work through your clinical thinking.

Having a space where you can say “I saw this patient and I have no idea what I’m doing” - without judgement - is one of the most powerful tools for your development. It normalises the learning pit, accelerates your growth, and gives you a sounding board that no course can replicate.

Invest in it early. It will shorten your learning curve more than anything else on this list.

3. See Patients - Not Just Courses

There is a temptation - especially when you’re feeling uncertain - to sign up for another course. And then another. It feels productive. It feels like progress.

But knowledge without practice is just information.

Commit to at least a year of real clinical work before you layer in more formal learning. See patients, practice, and reflect on that practice. The courses will make so much more sense once you’ve sat with real patients and felt the gaps for yourself. You cannot shortcut the reps.

4. Slow and Steady - One Thing at a Time

You don’t need to do everything in every session.

Implement one small thing per visit. Let your patients come to you early in their journey, when the complexity is lower and your confidence can build alongside your skills. Trying to tackle everything at once - for you and for them - leads to overwhelm on both sides.

Small, consistent steps forward. That’s how good clinicians are built.

The learning curve in pelvic health is real - but it doesn’t have to be as hard as many of us made it. With the right support around you from the start, you can skip a lot of the unnecessary struggle.

Good luck. You chose one of the most meaningful and under-served areas of physiotherapy. Your patients are lucky to have someone who cares enough to ask the right questions from day one.

We’re cheering for you.

Karina is the founder of Pelvic Physio Mentor, supporting pelvic health physiotherapists at every stage of their career.