Lo Mathias (talltrees.care) is an endorsed midwife based in Canberra specialising in internal pelvic release work — a deeply embodied approach to preparing the body for birth and healing postpartum. Lo also offers scar work and closing the bones ceremonies to women preparing for birth and recovering postpartum.
A few days before recording this conversation I had my first session with Lo, seven months postpartum.
I want to be honest about what that was like , because I think a lot of women will hear the words internal pelvic release and feel exactly what I felt. A combination of curiosity and apprehension. After everything my body had been through in labour and birth, the idea of anyone going near that space again felt confronting.
But what Lo does is not what you experience in a standard clinical setting. It is slow. It is guided entirely by you. And for me it was less about fixing something and more about reclaiming something , reconnecting with a space that had been poked and prodded and monitored, on my own terms.
Lo also introduced me to an idea that softness is a skill. That the body’s ability to yield and release tension is something we actually have to learn , because most of us have spent our whole lives being told to be strong, to hold it in, to tighten up. And then we arrive at birth and wonder why we can’t let go.
CONNECT WITH LO
talltreespelviccare.com.au
Lo is also on Instagram. Details on her website.
Instagram: @talltreespelviccare
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
- Fiona Hallinan — Lo’s initial internal pelvic release teacher; her website includes a directory of trained practitioners
- The Pelvic Space, Melbourne — Fiona Hallinan practice; directory of practitioners who have completed her training
- Naomi Vinavar — Mexican midwife and closing the bones teacher; Art of Birth website
- Tracy Anderson-Askew, Transform Parenting — mentioned in conversation around nervous system work and outsourcing wisdom
- Dr Rachel Reed — referenced in conversation around mixed messaging women receive from the hospital system
- Spinning Babies — mentioned in the context of breech presentation
