Suffolk Woman's Wellness

Suffolk Woman's Wellness NHS Midwife Woman's Health Practitioner. Massage, Scar Therapy, Core Pelvic Floor Recovery, Exercise My drive has always been to care. Nina x
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Hello and welcome to my page, a place where I aim to keep you informed about what is happening and how I can help you in your health and wellness. I feel that women are exceptional in what they achieve and how they can make a positive difference to everyone around them, when they are feeling empowered and in control of their lives. I feel that the groundwork of happiness is health, and th

at is why I am committed to supporting women physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually through the feminine life’s cycles. My philosophy for caring for women during pre-conception, pregnancy, postnatally and through the menopause is that:
I care about the mental and emotional health of women. I hold the space for the women I support. I show kindness and compassion to women in my health community. I transform live using simple solutions that create powerful change. I create nurturing environments in which women feel safe to share and express themselves freely. I love to learn and grow from each other through constructive peer support. I embrace a supportive and collaborative community. I offer a wide range of massage therapies, fitness courses, classes, and workshops. Check out the website to find out more. www.swwcuk.com I hope to meet you soon.

We’re back!After the summer break, classes resume from Saturday 5th September and I’m really looking forward to seeing e...
06/09/2026

We’re back!

After the summer break, classes resume from Saturday 5th September and I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone again.

Whether you’ve been coming for years, you’ve had a little break, or you’re thinking about joining for the first time, you are so welcome. These classes are about so much more than exercise, they’re a chance to move your body, build strength, improve mobility, switch off from everything else for a while and enjoy being part of a friendly group of women.

Our September to December timetable is:

Saturday
Body Conditioning 8.00–8.45am
Stretch & Relax 8.45–9.45am

Monday
Barre 6.45–7.30pm
Pilates 7.30–8.30pm

Tuesday
Pregnancy Pilates 6.30–7.30pm

All classes are suitable for different abilities, and beginners are always welcome. You don’t need to be “fit enough” before you come, you just come as you are and build from there.

Classes are held at Sproughton Church Hall, Lower Road, IP8 3AS.

Booking is online at www.ninaparnham.com

I can’t wait to get moving with you again
Nina xx

One thing we need to talk about more when investigating women’s hormones is what supplements we are taking.We often thin...
04/09/2026

One thing we need to talk about more when investigating women’s hormones is what supplements we are taking.

We often think of vitamins and herbal remedies as completely separate from medication, but “natural” does not mean biologically inactive. Some supplements can genuinely influence hormone function, while others can interfere with the blood test itself, making results look abnormal when the hormone level may actually be different.

Biotin is a really important example.

Biotin, or vitamin B7, is commonly found in hair, skin and nail supplements, fertility products, pregnancy vitamins and multivitamins. Some laboratory hormone tests use biotin-based technology, and higher amounts circulating in the blood can interfere with the result.

This is particularly recognised with thyroid testing. Biotin can make TSH appear falsely low and T4 or T3 appear falsely high, creating a blood picture that can look like an overactive thyroid. It can also interfere with some prolactin tests.

Pregnancy and fertility vitamins, including products such as Pregnacare, may contain biotin alongside iodine and other nutrients. The amounts are usually far lower than dedicated high-dose biotin products, so this does not mean Pregnacare automatically causes abnormal results, but it shows why your clinician needs to know exactly what you are taking.

Other supplements can affect hormone physiology more directly too. Iodine and kelp can influence thyroid function, while some herbal products marketed for fertility, menopause, thyroid or “adrenal support” contain biologically active ingredients.

So when hormone results do not quite fit the woman sitting in front of us, it is worth looking beyond the numbers and asking what else she may be taking.

Supplements can absolutely have a place, but they are still part of the clinical picture. When we are trying to understand women’s hormones, everything going into the body matters. Love, Nina xx

A little business update for 2027 💛As we head towards a new year, I’m making a few changes to the way appointments are b...
02/09/2026

A little business update for 2027 💛

As we head towards a new year, I’m making a few changes to the way appointments are booked, partly to make things a little more manageable behind the scenes and partly to make it easier for you to plan your treatments and sessions with me.

From January 2027, I’ll be changing my booking system so that appointments are released one month at a time.

Each new month will open approximately four weeks beforehand, giving existing and new clients the opportunity to book the appointments that suit them rather than me opening several months of availability at once.

I know many of you like to plan ahead, so I’ll always give plenty of notice when the next month is about to open and remind you here and through my usual channels.

I’m also looking at introducing something new… Postnatal Pilates 🤍

This would be a class specifically designed for women after having a baby, with a much gentler and more considered approach than simply returning to a general Pilates class.

We would focus on rebuilding connection with the breath, core and pelvic floor, improving posture and mobility, gradually restoring strength and confidence and supporting the changes your body has been through during pregnancy and birth.

I’m currently gauging interest before deciding exactly how and when this would run, so if Postnatal Pilates is something you would be interested in, please comment below, message me, or simply leave me a ❤️ so I can get an idea of numbers.

Babies would of course be very welcome too!

There are lots of exciting ideas bubbling away for 2027, while still keeping the heart of the business exactly where it has always been, supporting women through the different stages and changes of their lives.

Love Nina xx

Have you ever looked back and thought, “If only I had done that sooner,” “Why didn’t I listen to myself?” or “Maybe thin...
31/08/2026

Have you ever looked back and thought, “If only I had done that sooner,” “Why didn’t I listen to myself?” or “Maybe things would be different if I had made another choice.”

This is called counterfactual thinking. It is when the brain imagines an alternative version of the past and compares it with what actually happened.

Sometimes this helps us learn. But when we are grieving, recovering from illness, processing trauma, navigating fertility struggles, pregnancy loss, relationship changes, menopause or diagnosis, it can become incredibly painful.

The problem is that hindsight gives us something we did not have then: information.

We look back knowing how things turned out and judge the woman we were then using knowledge that belongs to the woman we are now.

That is where thoughts like “I wasted all that time,” “I should have known,” or “I should have put myself first” can begin to take hold.

But she did not know what you know today. She was making decisions from the circumstances she was in, the information she had, the hopes she carried and what she believed might still be possible.

Sometimes self-blame can also create a sense of control. If we believe we made the “wrong” choice, we can convince ourselves there must have been a “right” one that would have protected us from the pain.

Sometimes there simply wasn’t.

Two things can be true at once: I wish I had made some different choices, and I made the best decision I could with what I knew at the time.

So perhaps instead of asking, “Why did I do that?” we could ask, “What was I hoping for, needing or trying to protect?”

And then, “Knowing what I know now, what do I need to choose for myself next?”

We cannot go backwards and care for our past self differently, but we can stop punishing her.

Sometimes healing is recognising that the woman you were then was doing her best to find her way through something she could not yet see the ending of.

Love, Nina xx

What if your body is still holding onto things your mind has already moved on from?Have you ever noticed that even when ...
30/08/2026

What if your body is still holding onto things your mind has already moved on from?

Have you ever noticed that even when life is technically “fine”, your body doesn’t always seem to have got the memo?

You might feel tired but struggle to truly relax. Your shoulders stay lifted, your jaw is clenched, your tummy feels tight, you hold your breath without realising, or you wake in the night with your mind already busy.

Sometimes we become so used to living like this that we think it is simply our personality.

“I’m just a worrier.” “I’ve always been tense.” “I’m terrible at switching off.”

But what if some of this is your nervous system doing exactly what it was designed to do?

When we experience stress, pressure, fear, grief, trauma, overwhelm, childbirth, illness, relationship difficulties, hormonal changes or simply years of pushing through, our nervous system responds.

We brace. We tighten. We prepare. We keep going.

And sometimes, long after the stressful experience has passed, the body is still carrying some of that activation.

This is one of the reasons I love **TRE, Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises** so much.

TRE works with the body rather than asking you to analyse everything that has ever happened to you.

Through a series of simple exercises, we invite the body’s natural tremoring response to begin. Shaking and tremoring are instinctive responses seen across the animal world after periods of threat or stress, and TRE gives us a safe and intentional way to explore this natural mechanism.

For many women there is something incredibly powerful about realising: I don’t have to think my way out of everything. sometimes the body needs a way to release too.

Women often describe feeling calmer, lighter, more grounded, more spacious in their body and deeply relaxed after TRE. For some, it feels like finally being able to exhale.

I’ll be running another **women-only TRE workshop** soon, and over the next few weeks I’m going to share more about what TRE is, why we tremor, what happens during a session and how it may support the nervous system. love, Nina x

Do our ovaries retire after menopause?The ovaries have largely been described as reproductive organs, releasing eggs, pr...
27/08/2026

Do our ovaries retire after menopause?

The ovaries have largely been described as reproductive organs, releasing eggs, producing hormones and then, once menopause arrives, becoming far less relevant.

But fascinating new research is beginning to challenge that idea. A 2026 study looking at ageing mouse ovaries found that once reproductive function had ended, the o***y did not simply become inactive. As follicles disappeared, the ovaries developed a much stronger immune and inflammatory profile, with increasing numbers of immune cells including T cells and macrophages. The researchers described the post-reproductive o***y as becoming increasingly immune-like.

Another 2026 study using detailed single-cell analysis also found growing populations of inflammatory immune cells within ageing ovaries and complex communication between immune cells and ovarian cells.

So perhaps rather than viewing the o***y after menopause as a redundant organ, we need to think of it as an organ that changes function as it ages.

This research does NOT yet prove that human ovaries become immune organs after menopause. Much of this work has been carried out in mice, and we need further human research before knowing exactly what this means clinically.

But it raises some fascinating questions.

Could the postmenopausal o***y still communicate with the rest of the body?

Could it continue to influence inflammation, ageing and endocrine signalling?

And could this help us better understand why ovarian conservation may still matter beyond our reproductive years?

We already know that menopause does not mean the ovaries suddenly stop doing everything. Hormonal activity changes dramatically, but ovarian tissue remains biologically active.

Perhaps one of the biggest shifts we need in women’s health is moving away from thinking about female organs purely in terms of reproduction. Our ovaries may have a story that continues long after our periods stop. Once again, women’s bodies are proving to be far more complex than we were taught.

Converse et al., *Molecular Human Reproduction*, 2026; Galligos et al., Communications Biology, 2026.

There was so much more to Dolly Parton than the rhinestones, the extraordinary voice and the songs we all know. ❤️Behind...
26/08/2026

There was so much more to Dolly Parton than the rhinestones, the extraordinary voice and the songs we all know. ❤️

Behind that huge career was also a woman who lived with endometriosis, experienced fertility difficulties and eventually underwent a partial hysterectomy. She had once imagined that she and her husband Carl might have children, and she spoke about the sadness that came with realising that motherhood would not happen in the way she had expected.

And yet, look at what she did with her life.

Singer. Songwriter. Actress. Businesswoman. Trailblazer. Philanthropist. A woman who came from poverty in rural Tennessee and built an extraordinary career while refusing to lose her warmth, humour or sense of who she was.

Perhaps one of the most beautiful parts of her story is that although she never became a mother herself, she poured so much love into other people’s children. Her Imagination Library has sent hundreds of millions of free books to children around the world, opening doors to literacy, imagination and possibility.

There feels like such a lesson in that. Sometimes life does not give us the path we thought we would have, and still, a life can expand in ways we could never have imagined.

Dolly showed us that femininity has no single shape, that motherhood is not the measure of a woman, that you can be soft and incredibly powerful, glamorous and intelligent, funny and wise, successful and generous.

And perhaps most of all, that what happens through us can reach far beyond what happens to us.

What a woman. What a legacy. What a beautiful soul to have shared this world with. 🌸

Rest well, Dolly. You certainly left it brighter than you found it. ❤️ xx

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE PELVIC FLOOR DURING PREGNANCY AND BIRTH?The pelvic floor is a group of muscles and connective tissue...
24/08/2026

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE PELVIC FLOOR DURING PREGNANCY AND BIRTH?

The pelvic floor is a group of muscles and connective tissues forming a supportive base underneath the pelvis. It helps to support the bladder, bowel and uterus, contributes to continence and works alongside the diaphragm and abdominal muscles as part of our core.

During pregnancy, the pelvic floor is already adapting long before labour begins.

It carries the increasing weight of the uterus and baby, while hormonal changes affect the tissues supporting the pelvis. Constipation, coughing, reduced movement, changes in posture and increased pressure through the abdomen can all add to the demands placed upon it.

During a vaginal birth, the pelvic floor must then soften, lengthen and open to allow the baby to pass through.

Research using biomechanical modelling suggests that the most stretched areas of the levator ani muscles may reach more than three times their original resting length as the baby is born. That is an extraordinary amount of change for any muscle to accommodate.

This does not mean that vaginal birth inevitably causes lasting damage. The body has a remarkable capacity to adapt and recover, and many women regain good function with time and appropriate support.

However, it does help us understand why recovery should not be reduced to simply being told to “do your pelvic floor squeezes.”

Some pelvic floors may feel weak or less responsive after birth. Others may remain tense, guarded, painful or unable to relax fully. There may also be changes to sensation, bladder or bowel control, pelvic support and confidence with movement.

Pregnancy affects the pelvic floor regardless of how your baby is born, so women who have had a caesarean birth may also benefit from pelvic health assessment and rehabilitation.

A postnatal MOT assessment can look at breathing, abdominal recovery, pelvic floor strength and relaxation, symptoms, scars and how everything works together during movement.

Your body has undergone an enormous physical transition. It deserves time, understanding and individual support as it recovers. Love, Nina x

Classes resume after Summer break. Tuesdays 6:30pm Sproughton Church Hall, near Ipswich If you’re pregnant in Ipswi...
23/08/2026

Classes resume after Summer break. Tuesdays 6:30pm Sproughton Church Hall, near Ipswich If you’re pregnant in Ipswich, Sproughton or the surrounding Suffolk area and looking for a safe, supportive way to keep moving through pregnancy, come and join my Pregnancy Pilates classes.

Pregnancy brings so many changes to your body, your posture, core, pelvic floor, hips, back and breathing all adapt as your baby grows. Pregnancy Pilates can help you stay mobile, build strength, support your changing body and prepare physically for birth and postnatal recovery.

It’s also a lovely hour each week to slow down, connect with your body and baby, and meet other local mums-to-be.

Classes are taught by me, Nina — an experienced midwife, women’s health practitioner and specialist pregnancy and postnatal exercise instructor, so you can feel confident that your pregnancy and individual needs are always at the heart of the class.

Pregnancy Pilates – Sproughton, Ipswich
Tuesday evenings at 6.30pm
📍 Sproughton Church Hall

There is free parking on the road outside, or additional parking just a two-minute walk away down Church Lane, so it’s nice and easy to get to.

Suitable throughout pregnancy, with exercises adapted as your pregnancy progresses. You don’t need any previous Pilates experience and you certainly don’t need to already feel fit — just come as you are.

If you’ve been searching for Pregnancy Pilates in Ipswich, pregnancy exercise in Suffolk, prenatal Pilates, antenatal exercise, pelvic floor exercise during pregnancy or safe pregnancy fitness, I’d love to welcome you into the class.

Book via my website or send me a message if you’d like to know more. xx

PrenatalPilates AntenatalExercise PregnantInIpswich PregnantInSuffolk IpswichMums SuffolkMums MumsToBeIpswich MumsToBeSuffolk PelvicFloorPregnancy BirthPreparation PregnancyFitness

Address

Fen View Washbrook
Ipswich
IP83EU

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 8:30pm
Tuesday 9am - 9:30pm
Wednesday 7pm - 8:30pm
Thursday 9am - 9:45pm
Friday 9am - 9pm
Saturday 9am - 2pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+447985220333

Website

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