Your pelvic floor is a supportive sling of muscles, ligaments and tissues that stretches across your pelvic bones. It does the important job of supporting your pelvic organs, which include your: womb (uterus) vagina, bladder and bowels. After giving birth the pelvic area is stretched, overworked and incredibly vulnerable to injury.
According to the Women’s Health Foundation, 70% of U.S. women who’ve just given birth find that certain symptoms of childbirth (like urinary incontinence and accidental bowel leakage) go away after a few months. However, Physical therapy and pelvic floor exercise are crucial to preventing — and healing from — injury.
Pelvic floor exercises during and after pregnancy and physical therapy can help mitigate the stress that pregnancy and delivery places on the body. In one study, women who received pelvic floor therapy during their third trimester and after giving birth were less likely to report urinary incontinence. Doctors universally agree that Kegel exercises are vital to keep the pelvic floor muscles strong during and after pregnancy, and more comprehensive treatment can be given by a physical therapist.
Be kind and forgiving to your body! Spend the first 4-6 weeks post pregnancy focusing on light walking and basic pelvic floor exercise. Give yourself 5-10 minutes each day to integrate the following exercise - Kegels, breathing, pelvic floor exercises and pelvic floor openings/stretches!
Here is a basic pelvic floor routine to do post giving birth.
You can do these exercises lying down, sitting or standing. With practice, they can be done anywhere and at any time:
Squeeze and draw in your bottom as if you're holding in wind.
Squeeze around your vagina and bladder (urethra) as if you're stopping the flow of urine or squeezing during intercourse.
Long squeezes – hold for as long as you can, but no longer than 10 seconds, then relax.
Short squeezes – quickly squeeze the muscles and then let them go immediately. Do this until your muscles get tired.
Aim to build up to 10 repeats of each exercise, at least 3 times a day.
It's important to keep breathing normally while you do these exercises. Make sure you don't pull in your stomach when you squeeze.
Contact me for more tips on how to improve or watch my post pregnancy pelvic floor exercise video. Do these every morning to strengthen my body and nurture my mental health. These exercies will improve incontence, your sex life and your ability to do the exercises you love!
Thank you for reading
Emily Weeks
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