OCTAVIA HAMILTON
About
My Journey
“I love forming relationships with clients and supporting them through to becoming mothers”
I have always been a keen sports woman. The moment I could walk I was competitive and loved a challenge. This has seen me through a very active childhood becoming county champion for hurdles at 16 and an U18 England Lacrosse player. This did not come without its injuries. I spent many an evening after school with the physiotherapist working on a sore knee, hip or ankle. But rarely did I miss a game whether that was advised or not.
I think this experience feeds into my understanding as a physiotherapist. No one wants to be in pain and no one wants to be grounded. There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to do what it is that you love.
Not sure what I wanted to do when I left university, I studied Sports Science. I like sports and science, so it made sense. Then having done some work experience as a physiotherapist I realised this was my calling.
I have worked in every sector. Community hospitals, huge busy teaching hospitals, the community, sports teams and the private sector. Each has come with its own rewards and lessons.
I loved my NHS career and it was a big decision to leave but following the birth of my daughters it felt the right thing to do.
At the time of writing this my children are now 2 and 4 or in other words a handful. They were a huge drive for me to leave full time work and set up independently allowing me to have more flexibility and spend more time with them.
Following the birth of my eldest I also became painfully aware of how uninformed women are before they embark on starting a family. The changes that occur during pregnancy, how to look after your body, the birth, and the recovery… Geez. All in all, my birth story wasn’t even that bad, but it was bad enough for me to have a complete career shift and start to move towards educating women to help prepare them for all to come.
I have loved the change. Its challenging and loaded as you are dealing with such a precious time of people’s lives. But I love it. I love forming relationships with pregnant women and supporting them through to becoming mothers. Many of my clients end up friends which makes it all the more fun to work with them.
I think it is safe to say my passion is working with and helping people. Knowledge is power and there is nothing better than travelling along a rocky road with an ally. And most importantly, it should be fun. As a client once said to me. “If you only travelled when the sun was shining, you wouldn’t get very far”. So, I hope that I can make a difference to that journey making the tough days a little easier and helping you towards your goal.
Pilates
Pilates
Elements of mobility, flexibility and strengthening. The aim is to work towards always coming back to the perfect posture thus retraining our bodies awareness of where it is (proprioception) and helping encourage this to feed into our daily lives.
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Antenatal Pilates
Challenging but safe classes, targeting the common problem areas in pregnancy, maintaining fitness, strength and posture.
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Postnatal Pilates
Specifically aimed at encouraging the pelvic floor and transverse abdominals to start to get back in sync and build your strength from the foundations. We also work through some lovely stretches to help relieve common tight areas such as upper back all whilst your baby plays on the floor next to you.
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Physiotherapy
MSK Physiotherapy
As a physiotherapist I strongly believe in movement as a form of rehabilitation. Often aches and pains come with muscle imbalances, whether tightness or weakness. Following a discussion, explaining my findings and helping you understand your condition we will plan your treatment and rehab program.
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Antenatal Physiotherapy
Pregnancy is an exciting but emotional time. So many changes and unknowns. Adding pain into the mix of that is worrying and can be very limiting. Your body is undergoing huge hormonal and musculoskeletal changes and it is important to maintain good strengthen and posture throughout.
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Postnatal Physiotherapy
Following the birth of your baby the support and advice seems to drop away. Coming to terms with the changes that have occurred to your body postnatally can be difficult. You may find you still have pelvic girdle pain, incontinence or are worried about having a diastasis. You might just want some guidance about how to return to sport safely.
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