Briony

Oct 17, 2023

QLD

After years of fertility treatments then giving birth to her three children at North West Private Hospital, Briony O’Conner is now a senior Physiotherapist within the Ramsay Health Allied Health team, servicing the maternity and gynaecological patients that she herself once was.

“I am responsible for helping women manage the physical demands of pregnancy, early parenting and aging through providing hands-on treatment, exercise prescription and education,” said Briony.

“There is a specific focus on pelvic health including management of conditions such as incontinence, prolapse, abdominal wall rehabilitation, pelvic pain, and post-surgical recovery.”

Along with her work at North West Private Hospital, Briony established her own Physiotherapy business, Be In Blossom in 2012, which specialises in providing exercise classes including pilates and functional conditioning to pregnant, postnatal and women beyond this phase. Then, in 2019 Briony founded a community group called the Hills Women’s Collective.

“I am driven to support vulnerable women in our community. The purpose of our group is to fundraise for domestic violence charities and to run events that unite our local community. So far we have raised over $36,000 for charities doing wonderful work in this space.”

It was for this work that Briony was recently named in the Courier Mail’s SEQs 50 most inspiring women list.

“This was such a surprise and I was really touched that I had been nominated. It is always nice to be acknowledged by people you have interacted with,” said Briony.

“I want to contribute to improving care practices to birthing women. I would love to collaborate with other health professionals to see how we can progress care to have a more wholistic approach that incorporates more mental health support and community programs for the postnatal population.”