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Yuka Polovina, PhD, MPH

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Mama on the Mend

All about postpartum women, minutes to years after giving birth. Keeping it real and body positive.

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Dissertation

“Playing the Games: Diasporic Identity, Athletic Entrepreneurialism, and Elodie Li Yuk Lo’s Journey to the Olympics”

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It still amazes me how people feel the right to ask about a woman’s fertility, plans for motherhood, or her body/womb. I hated the questions “when are you going to have kids?” My husband and I couldn’t get pregnant for four years. It was both physically and emotionally painful!! Thanks @longestshortesttime for bringing this issue to light in the media!! #Repost @longestshortesttime with @make_repost ・・・ While Margot Robbie has been doing press for her latest movie, Mary Queen of Scots, she's been asked a lot about playing Elizabeth I, who never produced an heir. Some journalists are using this historical fact to ask Robbie, when she’s going to have a child. According to Vogue, "Robbie doesn’t appreciate strangers asking after the status of her womb. “It made me really angry,” she told Radio Times recently. “How dare some old guy dictate what I can and can’t do when it comes to motherhood or my own body?” "Sadly, Robbie says this isn’t the first time she’s been pressed on when she will produce an heir of her own. “I got married and the first question in almost every interview is ‘Babies? When are you having one?’ I’m so angry that there’s this social contract. You’re married, now have a baby. Don’t presume. I’ll do what I’m going to do.”" Vogue adds, "Asking a woman when she’s planning to have kids also has the potential to be very painful: How is anyone to know if Robbie, or any woman asked about their reproductive status, isn’t struggling with infertility, actively and unsuccessfully to get pregnant, and/or recovering from a miscarriage? This a private world of hurt that is absolutely nobody’s business. Alternately, Robbie may not want children at all, which she has an equal right to keep to herself." "And finally, it’s a lazy question. Let’s not pretend any journalist should be at a loss for conversation topics when sitting down with Robbie. She’s about to play Barbie in a live-action film about the iconic doll. She’s Sharon Tate in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood alongside Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, for goodness sake. Ask her more, guys."
Just what I needed to hear today. My mantra for the year! Thanks universe and @yogitea #selfcare #selflove #mamaonthemend #motherhood
I'm really not a fan of posting bikini pics of myself online. It actually makes me feel very uncomfortable. Not because I think I look "bad" or "good" or whatever, but because it's just a lot of skin to show. It's a personal comfort thing. But I'm posting this pic to make a small point. I'll probably get a lot of flack for this post...oh well. So, this is me about 3 months postpartum. A LOT of people commented on my body, mostly about how "great" I looked or how quickly I "bounced back." I also got a lot of "no fair, I hate you, JK" comments. Everyone assumed I was fine because of how I looked. I did nothing intentionally. I just ate when hungry and fed my son when he was hungry. PEOPLE THINNESS DOESN'T EQUAL HEALTHINESS. My pelvic floor was a mess and I knew exactly where the closest bathroom was when I went to the beach this day. Very few people we concerned with my actual physical health because clearly my physique was back-ish. I felt excluded from a lot of these "real" postpartum images because I didn't have visible stitches or any stretch marks (again, nothing I did to prevent). The aesthetic of "realness" seemed kind of specific: stretchmarks, rolls, stitches/scars, etc. Those "before and after" pics didn't inspire me either. They weren't really about health in a holistic way. So, there's my rant. I think this postpartum "body positivity" movement needs to be about more than external physical aesthetics. Thoughts? What do you think of postpartum body pictures? Did you find inspiration or solace in them?...Check out my latest post about postpartum body pics:https://mamaonthemend.com/blog/this-is-how-i-feel-about-postpartum-body-pic#mamaonthemend #postpartum #postpartumhealth #postbabybody #postpartumbody #fitpregnancyjourney #postpartumjourney #motherhood #healthypregnancy #inspirepregnancy #3monthspostpartum #postpartumfitness #postpartumhealth #bodypositivity #bodypositivitymovement #stopbodyshaming #bodyimage #bodypos #bodyliberation
Some belated holiday cookies for my fave pelvic PTs @bodyconnectdc Sometimes you gotta bling out the vagina!! Thanks for the decorating help @billieleeps #vaginaart #vulvaart #holidaycookies #bodypositivity #mamaonthemend
From Toronto to Hawaii, and plenty places in between...with lots of struggles and triumphs along the way...many feelings were felt in 2018! Grateful for all the experiences and lessons, and super stoked for 2019!!! 🎉🥳🤩🏄🏻‍♀️🌈
SNOW! ❄️ ⛄️
First time at Lake Tahoe...not too shabby. #laketahoe #edgewoodtahoe #winterwonderland
Hoping for a snowy sprinkle for Christmas in Nevada ❄️ ⛄️ 🎄
Have you looked between your legs lately? I know, I'm asking a really personal question here. Truth is TONS of women have never fully looked at themselves or ever consider doing so during their postpartum time. This is obviously a very personal choice, but I'm a huge advocate for it. Turns out, more and more women's health professionals are integrating the mirror into their practice! . . Not only did I see that my perineum was intact and not a crazy stitched up mess I thought it might be, I felt more confident at my 6-week postpartum check up. I was able to tell my OBGYN exactly what didn't feel right and what I wanted him to check. . . Fully looking at myself also felt empowering and gave me another way to re-connect with my postpartum body. I had felt resentful for the physical pain I was experiencing, but looking at my vagina, vulva, and perineum I grew so appreciative and proud of what I had accomplished giving birth to my son. . . In the spirit of keeping it real and personal, I share yet another intimate story. (See link in bio.) . . . . . . . . . Have you ever considered taking a mirror "down there"? Did a health professional every recommend that? #mamaonthemend #postpartum #postpartumhealth #postpartumcare #postpartumbody #postpartumvagina #postpartumhealing #postpartumcheckup #OBGYN #pelvichealth #selfcare #selfdiscovery #pregnancy #childbirth #laboranddelivery #fourthtrimester #postpartumjourney #postpregnancy #takebackpostpartum @discovherhealth
Oh, this! Repost @pregnantchicken
This. Video. So. Good. 🌷 🌷 🌷 Repost via @theladypartspt
Don’t be fooled by the pretty image. I struggled to carry my little guy for a long time. Look how far my right hip is shifted over. Getting better and healing from injuries is as much a matter of will as it is "know how." I knew how to mend my postpartum body and weak pelvic floor, but I let life get in the way of making progress. I'm sure this sounds familiar to you. We've all made health goals and resolutions to ourselves in the past, but too often we fall off the wagon. Recently, I shifted my view on my pelvic floor injury. It wasn't going to be my badge of honor or battle scar from giving birth. And it sure as hell wasn't going to be my "new normal." I decided I want to thrive after, not survive, giving birth. My plan of action? Rededicate myself to small but daily pelvic PT exercises with the help and guidance of my therapists. Check out my newest post on what that looks like! #mamaonthemend #postpartumbody #postpartumhealth #postpartumhealing #pelvicphysicaltherapy #pelvicphysiotherapy #womenshealth #mombody #selfcare #selflove #pelvichealth
Foam rolling my glutes and Kiwi cat wants in 🐈 #mamaonthemend #foamrolling #postpartumhealing #postpartum #pelvicphysicaltherapy #catmom
How many of us were told this after giving birth when we left the hospital with stitches? I wasn’t even told this at my 6-week check up. Well past the 6 month mark it felt uncomfortable to sit. My perineal scars pulled in weird ways and didn’t heal evenly. The skin was tight and irritated. I felt upset and worried it would feel “not great” forever. Thankfully, Lauren @bodyconnectdc taught me otherwise. I learned to massage the area and “train it” to be supple again. Sometimes the skin still gets grumpy, but I know how to help it now💕 #mamaonthemend #postpartum #postpartumbody #postpartumhealing #pelvicfloor #pelvicphysicaltherapy #pelvicphysiotherapy #scarcare #csection #perinealscar
Couldn’t have said it better. There’s like this badge of honor or some crap like that when women do everything and burn out. I’d also add to this quote “mothers are expected to bounce back as if a human being was never grown in her body.” #mamaonthemend #postpartum #postpartumhealth #postpartumdepression #ppd #womenshealth #leanthefuckout #secondshift #motherhood #repost @research4moms
I had several stitches from giving birth. They turned into scars, and bumpy granulation that I eventually had to remove. Even after removing the granulation, the skin at and around the scar didn't feel right. It was tight, stretched out, and irritated for almost a year. This scar was hidden between my legs (perineum to be exact) and believe, I avoided riding bikes that first year postpartum! . . Plenty women have scars after childbirth. About a third of US women have c-sections. That's major abdominal surgery. But among us who are left with childbirth scars how many received instructions for scar care? Yeah, me neither. . . Isn't it amazing that someone with minimally invasive knee surgery more commonly gets referrals to physical therapy and instructions on mobilizing scar tissue than postpartum women who've have a human being exit her body!! Just sayin' here. . . Did you have scars from childbirth? How did they heal? Anyone give you instructions for scar care? . . Check bio for new post on scar care. . . . . . . . #mamaonthemend #postpartumhealing #postpartumcare #postpartumscars #postpartumhealth #postpartumphysicaltherapy #pelvicphysicaltheraphy #pelvicphysiotherapy #cesarean #csection #episiotomy #perinealtear #perinealscar #pregnancy #postpartumbody #childbirth #laboranddelivery #postpartumPT

About Yuka Polovina, PhD, MPH, CHES

Welcome to my website. I’m currently working on two projects. The first is my dissertation on a Chinese Mauritian Canadian woman who competed in beach volleyball at the 2012 Olympics. Her story is fascinating because she represents many issues that confound what we think about sports, the Olympics, immigration, and multiculturalism. This story isn’t another clichéd rags to riches or hard work always wins kind of account, typical in sports narratives. I’m starting off by simply asking, “How did a Chinese immigrant from Canada come to represent an African nation in the 2012 Olympic Games?” The second is a website for and about postpartum women, an under-recognized segment of our population. The goals are to provide resources on postpartum care and raise awareness on issues women face after giving birth. Both projects draw on my education and training, and are also deeply personal. I passionately work on the two almost everyday. Thanks for stopping by!

~Yuka

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