East Hants Women in Business – Maria Gehue

Maria Gehue B. Kin(Hon), MScPT, ACCDN, launched The Wellness Initiative as the first orthopaedic and pelvic floor physiotherapist specialist in East Hants. Since opening, she has expanded her business to work alongside six other talented women at the clinic. The Wellness Initiative offers orthopaedic and pelvic floor physiotherapy, specializing in bowel and bladder dysfunction, pre/post-natal care, pelvic organ prolapses, pelvic pain, labour and delivery preparation and recovery, along with muscle/joint injuries.

Through her education and experience, Maria has a wealth of knowledge about human movement patterning, cross-referencing her anatomy and biomechanics skillset to truly understand each individual patient’s structure. She sees patients of all ages and fitness levels, focusing her treatment on accurately diagnosing the injury and creating individualized treatment plans.  Maria is also a trained support person for women during labour and has recently started attending births and offering breastfeeding support for women and infants.

Maria is an active member of the Women’s Health Division of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association and a strong advocate for orthopaedic and pelvic floor physiotherapy. She believes no mechanical dysfunction should go undiscussed, no matter how sensitive the issues appear.

When asked about the challenges she faced starting her clinic as a young woman, her reply was easy – you need to have confidence in yourself and not be intimidated. “Just take the leap” is Maria’s advice to other women looking to start their own business.