Help & Advice

During pregnancy and childbirth, the pelvic floor muscles weaken as they adapt for the growth of your baby. They can become over-strained and damaged further during childbirth, leading to pelvic floor disorders such as incontinence and pelvic organ prolapses developing.

Even if you had a C-section, or an uneventful vaginal childbirth, your pelvic floor will suffer. However, you may find it more comfortable doing your manual Kegels and your nerves may be unaffected.

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Stress Incontinence After Childbirth

Stress incontinence is common amongst mothers, with 45% still suffering from urinary incontinence 7 years after giving birth. Regardless of its prevalence, it will always be embarrassing when you are unable to prevent urine leaks when you cough, sneeze, laugh, or lift objects. The good news is that it is easily reversible.

Ensure you perform

It's no news that childbirth is painful - its called labour for a reason. No matter how much you prepare, it's something that you won't have full control over. However, you are able to choose methods that can minimise and control labour pain.

Many mum-to-be's understandably opt for a natural, drug-free form of pain relief during labour, as the thought of being injected with a series of drugs can be quite off-putting. Drugs, especially epidurals, can sometimes result in a prolonged second stage of labour, and increase the risk of having an instrumental delivery (with forceps or ventouse). Other drugs can also make it difficult to push, and if they are administered too close to birth, they can affect the baby's breathing.

Even if you choose to use medical pain relief, unforeseen circumstances may make it not possible, so it's best to have an alternative and know what

Approximately 10% of women between 20 and 39 suffer from at least one pelvic floor disorder. By keeping the pelvic floor strong, Kegel exercises help prevent pelvic floor disorders occurring and existing conditions from worsening throughout your pregnancy.

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Why Do You Need To Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor Before and During Pregnancy?

Your pelvic floor is made up of muscles, ligaments, and tissues, that stretch from the base of your spine to your pubic bone. It's main role within the body is to support the function of your bladder, bowel, and uterus. This is made more difficult during pregnancy as the muscles are under extra stress from the weight of your growing baby. During pregnancy, the muscles can become exhausted and weaken, which can lead to a pelvic floor disorder.

Pelvic floor muscles are also important for:

• Sexual function - In women, the squeezing of the pelvic floor muscles is responsible for sexual

Exercising your pelvic floor before and during pregnancy should be a top priority for expectant mothers. However, it's no surprise if you approach the intimate exercise with caution. Firstly, it's important to know which muscles you should be exercising. If you are unsure on how to locate your pelvic floor muscles, head over to our How To Find Your Pelvic Floor Muscles page.

Besides being good for you and your baby, working out during pregnancy can leave you feeling more energised. Read on to learn about the different exercises you should be doing throughout the course of your pregnancy.

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How Do You Exercise Your Pelvic Floor During Pregnancy?

Kegels (otherwise known as pelvic floor exercises) are the leading prevention and treatment for all pelvic floor disorders. Despite their popularity, a Kegel8 study revealed that

Deciding that you are ready to have a baby is a big step for you both mentally and physically, and getting your body ready for the event should be your top priority. The muscles of the pelvic floor work tirelessly during pregnancy; supporting the weight of your growing uterus, maintaining your posture, and gently rotating your baby into the correct birth position.

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How Will Pregnancy Affect Your Pelvic Floor?

Your pelvic floor is pushed to its limits during pregnancy and becomes weakened as a result. It's not uncommon to feel discomfort as the muscles are extremely vulnerable due to the extra pressure placed on your abdomen. If you are not prepared and your pelvic floor muscles are weak, you are likely to become one of the many women that suffer from pelvic floor disorders during and after pregnancy. Conditions include:

• Urinary incontinence
• Bowel

Experiencing pregnancy is one of the most challenging and rewarding processes to go through as a woman. With all the changes that you experience both emotionally and physically, it's no surprise that your pelvic floor is not exempt! In fact, the pelvic floor muscles help to rotate your baby's head into the correct birthing position, whilst also supporting the weight of the growing uterus.

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Contents

1. Preparing for Pregnancy

• Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor
• Safe Pelvic Floor Exercises During Pregnancy
• TENS

"You're having a baby, it's too late for your pelvic floor!"

"Expect to leak when you laugh, its inevitable!"

Don't believe what you hear! It is common to develop a Pelvic Floor Disorder (PFD) after having children, but the damage caused to your pelvic floor by pregnancy and childbirth can be minimised and often reversed. You don't have to accept urinary incontinence and other pelvic floor disorders as part of becoming a mother.

Even if you had your last child many years ago, there are steps you can take to reverse the pelvic issues you may have developed. They may indeed only become present several weeks or even months, after your child is born.

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What Happens to Your Pelvic Floor During Pregnancy?

As your baby grows, its weight is added to your pelvic floor, along with any extra weight you gain. Add that to the effects of the hormonal changes that you will experience, and you will likely become aware that your

A total hysterectomy is the irreversible removal of the uterus (womb) and cervix through surgery. It is carried out to treat a variety of female reproductive issues, such as:

• Unbearable pelvic pain
• Otherwise untreatable heavy periods (menorrhagia)
• Fibroids - benign (non-cancerous) tumours
• Gynecologic cancer - of the female reproductive organs including the ovaries, uterus and cervix
• Endometriosis

Obesity levels have risen over 20% in men and over 25% in women during the past 40 years. It is no secret that carrying excess body weight is detrimental to your health. But did you know the impact it has on your pelvic floor? Studies show the likelihood of developing urinary incontinence increases by 7-12% for each 1kg/m² unit increase in BMI.

"The skeleton is perfectly designed to cope with a healthy weight. But if you're excessively heavy or obese, hips, knees and ankles may all suffer. Excess weight can be particularly damaging to your pelvic floor, which supports all of your crucial internal organs." Tam Fry, chairman of the National Obesity Forum.

As our pelvic floor is out of sight, it is difficult to self-diagnose its condition. However being aware of the symptoms that suggest you have a weak pelvic floor can allow you to begin treatment early. Forget your misconceptions; it is not just older women that experience problems associated with a weak pelvic floor. You may be in your teens or early twenties and experience some of the tell tale signs that your pelvic floor has weakened.

The three most common issues that occur as a result of a weak pelvic floor are:

• Urinary incontinence - Inability to control urine flow.
• Faecal incontinence - Inability to control bowel movements.
• Pelvic organ prolapses - The movement of a pelvic organ out of its natural place, it droops (prolapses) into