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Sinead Dufour, PT, PhD
Dr. Sinéad Dufour is Assistant Clinical Professor in the Faculty of Health Science at McMaster University. She completed her MScPT at McMaster University in 2003, her PhD in Health and Rehabilitation Science at Western in 2011 and returned to McMaster in 2013 to complete a post-doctoral fellowship. She contributes to both the Master of Science in Physiotherapy program and the and Midwifery Education Program at McMaster University. Her current research interests include: conservative and lifestyle approaches to manage pelvic pain, conservative approaches to optimize pelvic health, technologies to support pelvic floor rehabilitation, and interprofessional collaborative practice models of service provision in women’s and pediatric health. Sinéad currently collaborates with faculty from both the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Pediatrics on various research projects. She was the recipient of one of the International Continence Society Research Awards in 2017, the Elaine Meadows Research Scholar award (American Physical Therapy Association, Section on Women’s Health) in 2018 and is an invited speaker at conferences around the globe.
Sinéad stays current clinically through her work as the Director of Pelvic Health Services at The World of my Baby (the WOMB) in Milton, Ontario. Her clinical practice focuses on optimizing women’s and children’s pelvic health. She is also an associate of Pelvic Health Solutions, an active member the Urogynaecology Committee of the Society of Obstetricians of Gynaecologists of Canada and a proud mother of twins.
Media
Blogs
Elvie Pelvic Floor Trainer is your Friend – Snuggle Bugz
What you need to know about post-partum Doulas – The WOMB
What everyone should know about cesarean birth – The WOMB
Trimester Specific Exercise Training – Huffington Post
Unexplained Fertiliy Explained – Huffington Post
Videos
What Mama Didn’t Tell Us – The Belle Method
Healing your Body After Birth – The Belle Method
New Developments in DRA - Femfusion
Potty Learning and Peadiatric Pelvic Health – The WOMB
A new perspective on DRA – Connected yoga teachers
Pelvic Girdle Pain – Connected yoga teacher
Fertility and Pelvic Health - Get pregnant Naturally
Potty learning - Mabels Labels
Recovering from Cesarean Birth - Mabels Labels
Published Research
Association between lumbopelvic pain and pelvic floor dysfunction in women: A cross sectional study
Exploring the Impact of a Mobile Health Solution for Postpartum Pelvic Floor Muscle Training: Pilot Randomized Controlled Feasibility Study
Pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain: understanding practice patterns and clinical decision making
Establishing Expert-Based Recommendations for the Conservative Management of Pregnancy-Related Diastasis Rectus Abdominis: A Delphi Consensus Study
Understanding Clinical Decision Making: Pregnancy-Related Pelvic Girdle Pain
Pregnancy-related Pelvic Girdle Pain: Embrace the Evidence and Move beyond Biomechanics
Pregnancy-related diastasis rectus abdominis: Impact of a multi-component group-based intervention
Enhancing Pelvic Health: Optimizing the Services Provided by Primary Health Care Teams in Ontario by Integrating Physiotherapists
Current Research Endeavours
1) Urinary Incontinence
Dufour S, Wu M (SOGC Urogynecology Committee CPG). Conservative care of urinary incontinence among women. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Canada (In Press).
Dufour S, Wu M, Clancey A (SOGC Urogynecology Committee CPG). eHealth technologies for conservative care of urinary incontinence among women - In progress.
Dufour S, Best C. Upstream approaches to prevent urinary incontinence in women: A systematic review - In progress.
Managing Bladder and Bowel Incontinence: RANO Best Practice Guideline – in progress
*Expert panel member
International Continence Society – ICI 7th edition
Prevention, Continence Promotion, Models of Care and Education
Chairman: Dr. Angela Rantell
Committee member and chapter author (Canada): Dr. Sinéad Dufour
2) Interprofessional Care for Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
Alaniz G, Dodds M, Erceg H, Moreira K, Mascola M, Dufour S. Knowledge of pelvic health physiotherapy among pre-Licensure students. Physiotherapy Canada (In Press).
Alaniz G, Dufour S. Can an interprofessional pre-licensure workshop increase knowledge related to conservative care of common pelvic floor conditions? – In progress
Dufour S, Patel T. Evaluation of a pelvic health modules within a family medicine program maternal rotation – In progress
Enhancing Pediatric Functional Constipation Care: leveraging enhanced primary care and community-based pelvic health physiotherapy
*This HANSO funded project engages collaborators within the community, primary care and tertiary care.
Primary Investigators: Dr. Ellyanne Ratcliffe and Dr. Sinéad Dufour
3) Diastasis Rectus Abdominis
Bernard S, Hills N, Petrusevski C, Dufour S. Assessment of diastasis rectus abdominis beyond inter-recti distance: A scoping review – In progress.
4) Pain Science and Pelvic Pain – Focus on Pregnancy-related Pelvic Girdle Pain
Clark-Smith M, Titchband L, Dufour S. Pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain: Are Irish physiotherapists evolving their care to align with advances in pain science? - In progress
Pregnancy-related pelvic girdle Pain: Stress resilience, pain neuroscience education and novel movement -a feasibility study. *This DIFA funded study (Ireland) engages collaborators from different disciplines across different countries. Primary Investigator: Dr. Siobhain O’Mahony University College Cork Clinical Pain science leads: Dr. Sinéad Dufour and Ms Mags Clark-Smith,
Improving pain education across entry-level physiotherapy programs in Canada: An integrated knowledge translation study
*This CIHR-funded study (Canada) engages leads from each of the 13 Canadian universities with an accredited physiotherapy program.
Primary Investor: Dr. Timothy H Wideman McGill University
McMaster University Pain Science Leads: Dr. Sinéad Dufour and Dr. Lisa Carlesso.
Courses
Bia Formations – Pregnancy-related Diastasis Rectus Abdomins
level 1 – pre-natal
level 2 – post-natal
https://biaformations.com/formations/
Pelvic Health Solutions – Perinatal Care
Day 1 – pregnancy and the pelvic floor
Day 2 – pelvic girdle pain