Mel Mazzarino
“The mind-body connection Pilates affords enables women to prepare for childbirth, heal from trauma and experience vitality and wellness. Pilates enables women to embrace themselves with confidence and self-assurance, which has a far-reaching effect on women’s sense of resilience, wellness and love of self during all life stages.”
Mel Mazzarino has been working as a clinical registered Nurse and Midwife for 20 years. She has worked in many senior roles including clinical midwifery education, maternity services management and university lecturing.
Mel’s passion for reducing fear of childbirth and helping women to holistically prepare for childbirth and postnatal recovery led her to study active birth movement including a Diploma of Studio & Rehabilitation Pilates with Polestar Pilates. Mel has worked privately as a hypnobirthing practitioner, childbirth educator and was one of the first midwives in Australia to integrate childbirth education with the Pilates method of exercise. She has travelled to Mexico to work with midwives and doulas to learn traditional rebozo techniques for relaxation, comfort and movement that promotes a vaginal birth.
Mel is committed to evidence-based practice. She completed a PhD thesis in Pilates for Pregnant Women, with published studies in high level peer-reviewed journals. Her feasibility study found that Pilates may improve women’s quality of life during pregnancy. Mel works co-currently as a hospital midwife as well as a Pilates practitioner to empower women’s physical preparedness and confidence in their bodies and to have a positive mindset on self. She has a special interest in pelvic floor birth preparation and recovery, movement that facilitates an easier vaginal birth, strengthening pelvic biomechanics for an active birth, and recovering from a caesarean section.
Education:
- Bachelor of Nursing and Midwifery
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment
- Masters of Clinical Midwifery
- PhD – Thesis by publication titled “Pilates for Pregnant Women”
- Polestar Pilates Certificate IV of Matwork
- Polestar Pilates Diploma of Studio & Rehabilitation Method
Experience:
- Current Clinical Midwife and Nurse – 20 years and counting
- Mat and Studio Pilates – 5 years and counting
Pilates Publications:
- Mazzarino, Kerr, D., & Morris, M. E. (2022). Feasibility of Pilates for pregnant women: A randomised trial. J Bodyw Mov Ther, 32, 207-212.
- Mazzarino, M., Kerr, D., & Morris, M. E. (2021). Pilates for low-risk pregnant women: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 25, 240-247.
- Mazzarino, M., Kerr, D., & Morris, M.E. (2018). Pilates program design and health benefits for pregnant women: A practitioners’ survey, Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies. 411-17.
- Mazzarino, M., Kerr, D., Wajswelner, H., & Morris, M. E. (2015). Pilates Method for Women’s Health: Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 96(12), 2231–2242.