As a Minneapolis newborn and family photographer, I spend a lot of time with moms in the middle of real life. And the more I talk to women, the more I realize how much of motherhood gets normalized that really shouldn’t be. The leaking, the pelvic pressure, the pain that shows up years after you thought you were fully recovered. The stuff nobody really talks about.
That’s why I started the Made for Minnesota Moms. Real conversations with Minnesota women who actually support pregnancy, birth, and postpartum with resources you can use.
Today’s guest is Sarah Glesmann, a board-certified pelvic health physical therapist and owner of Sakura Pelvic Health in St. Paul. Sarah has over 20 years of experience as a pelvic health specialist, and her practice is built on something that feels rare in healthcare right now: taking enough time to actually get to the root of what’s going on. We covered a lot of ground in this conversation, from what pelvic health physical therapy actually does, to how pregnancy and birth affect your body in ways that can show up years later, to what recovery really looks like after both vaginal and C-section deliveries.
She also shared something I want every Minnesota mom to hear: listeners of this show receive 25% off their initial consultation at Sakura Pelvic Health. More on that below!
Meet Sarah Glesmann, Pelvic Health Specialist at Sakura Pelvic Health
Sarah Glesmann is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and board-certified Women’s Health Clinical Specialist (WCS) with over two decades of experience in pelvic health physical therapy. She trained in New York City’s specialized pelvic health clinics alongside faculty from the Herman & Wallace Pelvic Rehabilitation Institute, mentored physical therapy residents at the University of Pittsburgh, and taught midwives in Eritrea through the United Nations Population Fund on pelvic floor rehabilitation. She also spent six years living in Japan, where the vision for her own practice took shape.
She named her clinic Sakura, which means cherry blossom in Japanese, as a nod to that chapter of her life and to what she believes about healing: renewal is possible, even after big transitions.
Sarah sees patients from across the Twin Cities. Every session is one-on-one with Sarah from start to finish. No aides, no hand-offs, no rushing.
What a Pelvic Health Physical Therapist Actually Does
Before we get into the Q&A, let me set some context, because when I first heard about pelvic health physical therapy, I honestly didn’t fully understand what it covered.
The pelvis is a small area of the body with a lot going on inside it. The bladder, bowel, uterus, hips, and spine all live there and all influence each other. A pelvic health specialist looks at all of those systems together, not just the one causing symptoms. That’s why the work Sarah does can address such a wide range of concerns, including:
- Pelvic pain (including endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, tailbone pain)
- Pregnancy support (pelvic girdle pain, birth positioning, labor prep)
- Postpartum recovery (leaking, diastasis recti, C-section scar tissue, prolapse)
- Bladder and bowel dysfunction
- Perimenopause and menopause changes
- Sexual dysfunction
- Pediatric pelvic health
- Male pelvic health
- Female athletes
- Non-binary and gender-affirming care
Everyone has a pelvis, and a good pelvic health therapist knows how to work with all of them.
Watch the Full Interview
If you want to hear Sarah explain all of this in her own words, press play. Her calm, knowledgeable way of walking through things is hard to fully capture in writing, and there are details in the conversation worth hearing directly.
If you’d rather read, keep scrolling. I pulled out every question and the moments that stuck with me most.
Q&A with Sarah Glesmann, Pelvic Health Physical Therapist
1. How did you get into pelvic health physical therapy?
Sarah graduated from PT school in 2000 and was working in an orthopedic clinic when her boss asked her to specialize in pelvic health. Her honest reaction? She almost cried. At the time, it felt completely disconnected from what physical therapy was supposed to do.
She agreed to take one class, with the caveat that if she didn’t like it, she was done. She liked it. A lot. Sitting in that first class, patients she’d worked with for years started coming to mind, and she finally understood what had been driving their symptoms. That was 2005, when pelvic health physical therapy was still at its infancy. She’s spent the last 20 years going deep, and she’s not stopping.
One thing she mentioned that I want to highlight: there’s now an explosion of research on women’s health specifically. For a long time, recommendations to pregnant women were based on anecdote, not evidence. That’s changing. And the data is showing clearly that staying active during pregnancy, for most women, is beneficial, not risky. Women who exercise regularly tend to have better labor outcomes because, as Sarah put it, labor is an endurance event.
2. How did Sakura Pelvic Health come to be?
Sarah’s husband recently got a job at Macalester College as a basketball coach, which brought them to Minnesota. Sarah finally had the opening she’d been waiting for. She’d always wanted her own clinic but couldn’t make it work financially in New York City. Minnesota gave her the chance.
She opened Sakura specifically because she wanted to practice differently. In a lot of clinical settings, session times are getting shorter, and it’s harder to provide thorough care. At Sakura, she made the intentional decision to go the other direction: longer appointments, one provider, and enough time to understand each person’s full story before putting together a plan.
3. How does pelvic floor therapy support women during pregnancy?
The most common reason pregnant women come in is pelvic girdle pain, which is pain in the pelvis, hips, or low back during pregnancy. But Sarah does a lot more than manage pain. She also educates women on labor positioning, specifically what positions open the pelvis to help baby move through, and what to try if something isn’t comfortable. It’s not a prescription. It’s a toolkit. She gives women options and teaches them to connect with their own bodies so they can make decisions in real time during labor.
She also talks through what’s normal postpartum and what’s worth getting checked. Some leaking right after delivery is expected. But it shouldn’t be permanent, and it doesn’t have to be. That’s a message she wants every new mom to hear.
4. How does pelvic floor therapy support postpartum recovery after vaginal birth vs. C-section?
This one surprised me. A lot of women assume that if they had a C-section, their pelvic floor is untouched. That’s not necessarily true. Pregnancy itself puts load on the pelvic floor regardless of how you deliver, especially if baby was carried low.
For vaginal deliveries, the pelvic floor muscles stretch up to four times their normal length during birth. Recovery varies a lot depending on each person’s connective tissue and how their body heals.
C-section recovery involves its own set of challenges. Sarah shared from personal experience: she had a C-section with twins and spent her hospital recovery in a reclined position the entire time. There’s now research showing that lying flat after a C-section can actually support healing better, because the abdominal muscles need to be at full length to function properly. A shortened position can affect posture, core function, and even cause pain down the road. To this day, Sarah says she still gets a sharp sensation when she coughs or sneezes.
She also addressed diastasis recti, the separation of the abdominal muscles that’s common during pregnancy. It’s normal while pregnant. For some women, it closes on its own. For others, it doesn’t, and they end up frustrated months later when their abdomen still protrudes. A pelvic health therapist can help rebuild strength in those tissues and support the abdominal wall in getting back to function.
One more thing she mentioned that I hadn’t considered: when a baby pushes up into the rib cage during pregnancy, the ribs can flare open. If they stay that way postpartum, the abdominal muscles can’t activate properly, no matter how many core exercises someone does from Instagram. Sarah said she hears this constantly from clients who’ve been trying to “get their core back” on their own without progress. Sometimes the rib cage needs to move first.
5. What about pelvic health concerns that show up years later?
This is the part of the conversation that really stayed with me. Sarah talked about women who feel fine after giving birth, power through the postpartum period, and don’t reconnect with their pelvic floor or abdominals. For years, they manage. Then perimenopause hits and things start to unravel, and they don’t understand why.
In an ideal world, Sarah said, a woman would see a pelvic health therapist once or twice during pregnancy for education, then come back for a check-in at six to eight weeks postpartum, and again around three to four months out. Because it takes about a year for your body to fully recover from pregnancy, even when you feel okay.
She also shared a practical tip she gives postpartum runners: if you feel urgency after a long run, that’s a sign your pelvic floor muscles are fatiguing. Her suggestion is simple. Lie on the floor after your run, put your legs up the wall with a small pillow under your hips, and let gravity help those muscles rest and recover. That’s the kind of small, doable thing that makes a real difference.
6. Does pelvic health physical therapy help kids too?
It does, and it looks completely different than what you’d imagine. Sarah is currently working with a boy who was potty trained but still leaking during the day. His mom thought it was behavioral. It turned out to be constipation. The pressure from his bowel was pushing on his bladder without him feeling it. Once they addressed the constipation and created a calmer bathroom environment, the picture started to change.
Pediatric pelvic health physical therapy is non-invasive and age-appropriate. It’s just not talked about much yet.
The Real Life Rescue Kit
At the end of every episode, I ask guests for three Minnesota-specific recommendations that help moms in real life. Here’s what Sarah shared:
- Takeout rescue: Punch Pizza. Sarah has a picky eater at home, and Punch is the spot where everyone is happy and quiet at the table. She tries a new pizza or a salad, the kids eat without complaining. Done.
- Kid-friendly outing worth the effort: Sky Zone. Sarah has two kids with ADHD, and Sky Zone is a winter lifesaver. She brings her laptop and works in the corner while they jump. Everyone goes home calmer.
- Local resource for moms: Facebook local mom groups. Sarah is newer to Minnesota, and she’s found Facebook to be the most reliable place to discover activities, festivals, and outings she wouldn’t have heard about otherwise. She mentioned a kite show on the ice on a lake up north that she never would have found without it.
The 25% Discount for Made for Minnesota Moms Listeners
Sarah wants listeners of this show to be able to access pelvic health physical therapy without a big barrier at the door. Listeners of Made for Minnesota Moms receive 25% off their initial consultation at Sakura Pelvic Health.
The initial evaluation is 90 minutes. You fill out a health history form ahead of time, and when you come in, Sarah starts with a full conversation before anything else. She wants to know your goals, your history, what you’ve already tried, and what you want to be able to do. Treatment starts that same visit.
Sakura is an out-of-network practice. You pay at the time of your visit and receive a superbill to submit to your insurance for potential reimbursement. HSA and FSA cards are accepted. Before your visit, it’s worth calling your insurance to ask about your out-of-network physical therapy benefits.
Where to Find Sarah and Sakura Pelvic Health
- Visit her website to learn more
- Book a free consult
- Follow her on Instagram
A Note from Me
I started this series because I genuinely believe Minnesota moms deserve real conversations and real resources. Not generic internet advice. Not the bounce-back narrative. The real stuff.
What Sarah said about women who feel fine after birth but struggle years later in perimenopause really hit me. So many of us just keep going, normalize what we’re feeling, and don’t connect the dots until much later. Having a pelvic health therapist in your corner, even for a session or two, can change that picture entirely.
If you’re pregnant or postpartum, if you’re dealing with leaking or pelvic pain or just want to understand your body better, Sakura Pelvic Health is the place to start.
If you’re still preparing for baby and looking for local resources, grab my free Minneapolis Pregnancy Guide. And if you want more conversations like this one, join my newsletter so you don’t miss the next episode.
Because you deserve care that actually listens.
If you’re ready to document this season of your family’s story, I’d love to connect with you.
Disclaimer: This blog post is for educational and informational purposes only and does not provide medical advice. It is not a substitute for professional medical care, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek advice from your physician, midwife, or other qualified healthcare provider with questions about pregnancy, labor, postpartum, or your health.
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