Pelvic floor exercises help to strengthen the muscles of your pelvic floor. These come under great strain in pregnancy and childbirth.
Having a strong pelvic floor helps you:
- support the weight of your growing baby
- control unintentional peeing (urinary incontinence)
- support your pelvic organs
All pregnant women should do pelvic floor exercises. Doing pelvic floor exercises during pregnancy can reduce problems with bladder control (urinary incontinence) after the birth.
Where the pelvic floor is
The pelvic floor is a layer of muscles that runs from your pubic bone at the front of your body to your lower spine at the back. Think of these muscles as a hammock or trampoline that support and hold your pelvic organs in place.
Your pelvic organs include your uterus or womb, vagina, bowel and bladder. The muscles should react automatically when you cough or sneeze by squeezing and stopping you from leaking urine.
If your pelvic floor muscles are weak, you may leak pee when you sneeze, cough and exercise during pregnancy or afterwards.
Pelvic floor exercises help to strengthen these muscles. These are sometimes called Kegel exercises. These exercises will help you to control the urge to empty your bladder and make it to the toilet on time. You should not have to keep going to the toilet ‘just in case’.
Pelvic floor muscles come under a lot of strain during pregnancy and childbirth. They can sometimes be slow to squeeze well after birth and become less effective at controlling your bladder.
If you are experiencing urinary incontinence, talk to your GP, obstetrician or midwife. They can refer you to a specialist physiotherapist at your local maternity hospital.
