Lynn Schulte | The Pelvis-Neck Connection Every Postpartum Therapist Needs to Know
Show Notes:
Could your postpartum client’s neck pain actually begin in the pelvis?
The postpartum period places extraordinary demands on the entire musculoskeletal system, and sometimes the area carrying the symptoms isn’t the one driving dysfunction.
In this episode, Lynn Schulte, PT explains how birth mechanics, pelvic instability, and the physical realities of caring for a newborn influence the head, neck, shoulders, and nervous system. She discusses the role of the Open Birthing Pattern, pelvic weight transfer, upper cervical mechanics, the ocular and vestibular reflex systems, first rib mobility, scalene function, and gentle treatment strategies that help restore balance throughout the body.
Whether your clients present with headaches, neck pain, shoulder tension, thoracic outlet symptoms, or persistent postpartum discomfort, this episode offers a broader clinical framework that connects the dots for what you may be missing in your treatments.
Key Takeaways from this Episode
- Common mistakes to avoid with postpartum clients.
- Clinical blind spots that allow postpartum neck and shoulder pain to persist.
- The relationship between the pelvis and upper body function.
- The first rib and scalenes as contributors to postpartum pain.
- Tips and exercises for postpartum clients to help alleviate neck and shoulder pain.
- Reassessment ‘musts’ that can improve long-term clinical outcomes.
Clinical Application
After listening to this episode, you’ll be able to begin incorporating several practical concepts into your postpartum evaluations.
Consider assessing:
- Pelvic stability before treating upper body symptoms
- Shoulder weight-bearing patterns
- First rib mobility
- Scalene tension
- Upper cervical alignment
- OA (occiput-atlas) positioning
- Head posture during breastfeeding
- Caregiving movement habits
- Dural tube restrictions following significant pelvic corrections
You’ll also learn simple home strategies to teach postpartum clients, including gentle scalene stretching, anterior neck mobility exercises, and exercise ball positioning to restore thoracic extension after months of infant care.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do postpartum clients often develop neck and shoulder pain?
Pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, infant carrying, and pelvic instability all change posture and load transfer throughout the body. These changes frequently increase stress on the cervical spine, shoulders, and upper thoracic region.
Can pelvic dysfunction contribute to headaches?
Yes. Pelvic instability can create compensation patterns that alter spinal alignment and upper cervical positioning, increasing muscular tension that may contribute to headaches.
What should pelvic health therapists assess beyond the pelvis?
A comprehensive postpartum assessment should also consider shoulder loading patterns, cervical alignment, upper cervical mobility, first rib mobility, scalene tension, caregiving posture, breathing mechanics, and overall movement compensation patterns.
Where can I learn more?
The Holistic Treatment of the Postpartum Body teaches a whole body approach to working with the postpartum body and includes 40+ hands-on treatment techniques. The next step (which includes most of the techniques discussed in this podcast) is the Advanced Postpartum Techniques course which dives deeper into working with the nervous system as well as additional hands-on techniques that help when clients plateau or return in pain.
Interested in learning more, but don’t know where to start? Check out our FREE Common Postpartum Patterns course and learn exactly what to look for with postpartum clients to get to the root of their most common complaints.
About The Speaker
Lynn Schulte, PT is a pelvic health physical therapist with more than 30 years of experience helping practitioners understand the biomechanical, myofascial, and nervous system influences affecting pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery. Through the Institute for Birth Healing, she teaches evidence-informed continuing education courses focused on practical techniques that help clinicians achieve meaningful outcomes for their clients.
Connect With Lynn
Have a comment or question about today’s episode? Message Lynn on Instagram or Facebook, or Email Lynn.
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Love Dr. Rachael! She is such a gem in the Metro Detroit area. She was my pelvic floor PT during my first pregnancy and postpartum and inspired me to pursue pelvic health certification (coming from an Ortho PT clinic). I’m now working through Holistic Treatment of the Pregnant and Postpartum Body.
Thank you so much for this presentation…I am an osteopath and also trained in SER (love love Upledger!)…the piece about ‘freeze’ related to transgenerational trauma was very informative and a reminder to look further…I have had a client who lost a baby and when I treated her she felt she needed to give birth to this child…and then went back several lives and saw that she had also lost a baby many lives prior! This relieved her of some stress…so every piece of the puzzle counts…keep the nuggets coming, so appreciative! Best, Judith
Great interview, Lynn and Susanne, for pushing us beyond “hands on, hands in”, confirming our need as therapists, for wide, grounded personal presence for our clients to feel safe and then willing to bring forth those physical/emotional/transgenerational, traumas/beliefs that lead to more complete healing and return to function. Appreciate the shout out, and listened delightfully to two of my favorite teachers and mentors. All of this was gold!