Pelvic Floor Exercises During Pregnancy

The pelvic floor is made up of a collection of muscles and ligaments that stretch from the pubic bone to the end of the backbone. The pelvic floor is a supportive hammock and gets put under a lot of strain during pregnancy as it stretches to accommodate the growing baby.

Why do I need to do pelvic floor exercises?

The pelvic floor comes under a great amount of strain during pregnancy and childbirth. By exercising the muscles, you can strengthen your pelvic floor. This reduces your risk of suffering from stress incontinence after the pregnancy. With weak pelvic floor muscles, you may find that you leak urine when you laugh, cough or sneeze.

How to do pelvic floor exercises

  1. Tense your anus as if you’re holding in a bowel movement.
  2. At the same time, tense your pelvic muscles as if you are holding in a wee or gripping a tampon.
  3. Release.

The pelvic floor workout routine:

  • Repeat the above steps quickly, eight times.
  • Then repeat the above steps again, but this time hold step two for 10 seconds before releasing. Repeat this eight times.
  • Tighten the muscles (in steps one and two) in stages. So tighten a little bit, hold for 10 seconds, then tighten a bit more, hold for 10 seconds, then tighten fully and hold for 10 seconds. Repeat this staggered process as you relax the muscles too. This exercise is the hardest of the three, so be warned! Repeat this eight times (you might want to build up to this number slowly if you’re a beginner).

Try to repeat your pelvic floor workout three times a day for the full length of your pregnancy. Many women find they forget to do the pelvic floor workout, so try to incorporate it into your daily routine. You do your workout while you sit down to enjoy your three meals of the day, or you could do them each time a particular advert comes on the TV. Find a routine that works for you, and stick with it.

When should I stop?

You can continue these exercises right up until the very end of your pregnancy, unless told not to by your healthcare provider.

Don’t give up your pelvic floor routine at the end of the pregnancy, you should continue these exercises for the rest of your life. Not only could they help to heal and strengthen the muscles after the birth, but they could reduce your risk of suffering incontinence in the future. Pelvic floor exercises can also help to reduce your risk of suffering from a prolapsed uterus or bladder.

Over the last few years, whether or not to practice pelvic floor exercises during pregnancy has become controversial. Pelvic floor exercises, however, do seem to be the most useful when they are part of an overall fitness routine and when they are done correctly. So be sure you are getting the recommended amount of exercise each day (most experts recommend 30 minutes of moderate exercise each day for pregnancy) and learn more about the best methods to exercise your pelvic floor muscles.

Written by Fiona, proud owner of a toddler, @fiona_peacock

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general information basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice. All contents copyright © Health & Parenting Ltd 2017. All rights reserved.

Tighten and Tone, Ladies! It’s Time for Kegels!

Can you imagine what it would be like if men had to go through even half the body destruction and embarrassing moments women endure from pregnancy to childbirth? If they had to face the pain of contractions, the soreness of milk coming in, and the humbling nature of pooping on a table in front of a room full of doctors and nurses?

Surely, if it were men who had to give birth, we would be facing a world-wide population shortage.

But, it’s not men going through all that. It’s us. And you want to know the best part? The fun doesn’t end just because the baby is out!

That’s right. Now that you’re a few weeks post-partum, you’re probably starting to take stock of your body and what still isn’t working exactly as it should. Your abs may have a long way to go before they are back in pre-baby shape, but that’s not even the worst of it. The worst is the fact that you may be peeing a little every time you laugh these days.

Have no fear, post-partum incontinence (the medical term for “pissing yourself”) is pretty normal stuff. And there are at-home measures you can take to start getting those muscles back in fight form; or at least strong enough to hold your pee in.

Remember the Kegel exercises you were hopefully encouraged to do during your pregnancy as you prepared for labor? Resuming those now should help you to start building your pelvic floor muscles up once more.

If you’ve never done Kegels before, there’s not much to them. The goal of this simple exercise is to strength the muscles that hang between your hips to support your bladder and uterus. They tend to get a little messed up during labor, but Kegels can help.

To successfully perform a Kegel, try stopping the flow of urine the next time you are peeing. Pay attention to the muscles you use to do that, and then practice constricting those same muscles throughout the day when you aren’t using the bathroom. Tighten the muscles for five seconds at a time, extending that duration as it gets easier to hold your Kegel. Try to do at least 20 Kegels a day.

You can practice your Kegels when you are sitting at your desk at work, as you are cooking dinner, and even when you are watching your favorite shows at night. Don’t worry, no one will be able to tell, and you’ll be well on your way to laughing without leaking in no time!

Written by Leah Campbell, infertility advocate, adoptive mama, writer and editor. Find me @sifinalaska on Twitter.

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general information basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice. All contents copyright © Health & Parenting Ltd 2016. All rights reserved.