Sivan Navot, B.P.T., M.Sc.PT (Hebrew: סיון נבות) is a physiotherapist specializing in pelvic floor rehabilitation. She has been in practice since 2000 and treats women and men at her private clinic in Herzliya, Israel, and at a second clinic in Ramat HaHayil, Tel Aviv.
She is the developer of Pelvic Floor Fascial Mobilization (PFFM), an internal manual therapy approach to the fascia of the pelvic floor, and the lead author of the two peer-reviewed publications on the technique, both in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies (2016, 2024). Read more about PFFM.
Career
After graduating from Tel Aviv University in 2000, Sivan worked for eight and a half years at Rabin Medical Center (Beilinson), followed by three years in the pelvic floor unit of Sheba Medical Center (Tel Hashomer), before opening her own clinics.
Education
- M.Sc.PT, University of Haifa, 2019. Thesis: The influence of pelvic floor fascial mobilization on the function and strength of the pelvic floor muscles in multiparous pregnant women, a randomized controlled trial.
- B.P.T., Tel Aviv University, 2001.
Selected training
- Fascial Manipulation® (Stecco method), Levels I to IV, Israel and Italy (2011 to 2023).
- Abdo-Périnéo-MG concept with its developer, Luc Guillarme, Paris (2011).
- Advanced Visceral Urogenital Manipulation, Levels 1 and 2 (2019).
- Rehabilitative Ultrasound Imaging, and Advanced Topics in Pelvic Rehabilitation, Herman & Wallace Pelvic Rehabilitation Institute (2017).
- Advanced Course: Muscle-Fascial Anatomical Dissections, University of Padova (2015).
Research, teaching and lectures
- Fascia Research Congress: poster, Washington (2015), and oral presentation, New Orleans (2025).
- Invited lecture on pelvic floor function in the perinatal period, international conference on cesarean section, Vilnius University, Lithuania (2018).
- Teacher of the A.P.E (Abdo-Périnéo Expiratoire) abdominal and pelvic floor rehabilitation method in Israel since 2013.
Fascial Net Plastination Project
In June 2018 and January 2020 Sivan was a member of the dissection team of the Fascial Net Plastination Project at the Plastinarium in Guben, Germany. The project, initiated by Dr. Robert Schleip and co-directed by Prof. Carla Stecco in partnership with the Fascia Research Society and Body Worlds, set out to reveal the human fascial net through plastination, the technique invented by Dr. Gunther von Hagens. Sivan worked on the abdominal fascia cross-section specimen, one of the plastinates first exhibited as "Fascia in a New Light" at the Fifth International Fascia Research Congress in Berlin (2018). In her words at the time: "It was a dream come true, to light up the night, by looking into the area which I palpate in complete darkness almost every day." The project culminated in FR:EIA (2021), the world's first whole-body fascial plastinate, now on display at the Body Worlds museum in Berlin.
Cesarean birth accompaniment (2017 to 2024)
In 2014, at a Luc Guillarme conference, Sivan first encountered the French Ambulatory Cesarean Section (FAUCS) and the use of the expiratory mouthpiece during surgery, which lets the mother generate the expulsive force herself. She went on to help bring the technique to Israel, and from 2017 to 2024 accompanied women throughout the entire operation in a role she created and shaped: abdominal birth coordinator. The model was later adopted in France as well.
The accompaniment was built as a complete model: preparation in advance (a video call with the mother and detailed instructional videos on each stage of the surgery and the sensations to expect); real-time guidance during the operation; and bonding in the operating room, with the newborn placed skin to skin on the mother's chest, breastfeeding and meeting both parents while the surgery was still under way. For women who required general anaesthesia, the model included preparing and accompanying the father, and ensuring the baby was still placed on the mother's chest immediately after birth.
Sivan is a co-author of the 2024 study on the safety and recovery profile of FAUCS, published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada.
Sivan lectures and teaches in Hebrew and English.
Publications
- Navot S, Carmeli E, Mohr-Sasson A, Hendler I, Kalichman L. Effect of pelvic floor fascial mobilization on pelvic floor dysfunction in multiparous pregnant women – A randomized pilot study. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2024;40:437-442. PubMed | DOI
- Hendler I, Karram J, Litmanovich A, Navot S, Awad Khamaisa N, Jadaon J. The French Ambulatory Cesarean Section: Safety and Recovery Characteristics. J Obstet Gynaecol Can. 2024;46(8):102606. PubMed | DOI
- Navot S, Kalichman L. Hip and groin pain in a cyclist resolved after performing a pelvic floor fascial mobilization. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2016;20(3):604-609. PubMed | DOI