Tending to Your Womb: Pelvic Floor Therapy, Grief in the Body, and Pregnancy After Loss with Anietie Tia Ukpe-Wallace

In today's episode, Anietie Tia Ukpe-Wallace, a pelvic health physical therapist and author of Tending to Your Womb, shares how relocating from Northern California to Lisbon, Portugal will shape her continued work virtually and internationally. She recounts chronic infections and pelvic pain that led her to pelvic health, then details her first pregnancy in 2011 complicated by fibroids and ending in a 20-week loss, followed by a second loss six months later.

She explains how grief can manifest physically through posture, breathing, reduced movement, nervous system effects, and pelvic floor tension, and defines pelvic floor therapy's functions and common symptoms. Wallace describes how pelvic therapy after loss may begin with external work (breath, abdominal touch/massage, education) before any internal exam, emphasizes finding therapists comfortable with loss, and discusses surgery, therapy, and practices that supported her later pregnancy and ongoing anxiety.

She highlights body literacy as a core takeaway from her book and shares where to buy it and how to connect with her and her retreats. Key Takeaway: Body Literacy The core mission of her book, Tending to Your Womb , is to cultivate body literacy —empowering individuals to deeply understand, listen to, and advocate for their own reproductive and pelvic health.

Connect & Learn More: Listeners can purchase Tending to Your Womb through major book retailers and connect with Anietie online to learn more about her virtual pelvic health consulting and upcoming international wellness retreats. 🔗 Important Links: Learn more about Sisters in Loss and our Doula Training: Take the Healing Archetypes Quiz: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok: @sistersinloss Join the private Sisters in Loss Facebook community: Join Us Time Stamps 00:00 Meet Tia Wallace 01:00 Yoga to Pelvic Health 04:26 Loss and Fibroids Story 06:47 Grief Becomes Pelvic Pain 08:44 Books That Changed Everything 13:50 What Pelvic Floor Therapy Is 18:54 How Grief Lives in the Body 25:59 When to Seek Pelvic PT 29:21 First Visit What to Expect 32:58 Belly Work First 33:51 Pain Without Aggravation 35:30 Cranial Nerve Connection 36:42 Book And Body Betrayal 38:24 Touch And Pleasure Practices 42:22 Trying Again After Loss 43:15 Her Loss And Surgery Story 47:38 Readiness And Anxiety Tools 50:09 Body Literacy Takeaways 54:59 Where To Buy And Work 57:56 Rapid Fire Reflections 01:00:39 Connect And Closing