Pelvic Floor Exercises During Pregnancy

What happens during pregnancy?

• The pelvic floor muscles sit between the pubic bone and tail bone and sit around the back passage, the vagina and the opening of the bladder, maintaining bladder and bowel control and supporting the pelvic organs.
  
  
• Pregnancy increases the load on these muscles so strengthening the pelvic floor muscles during and after pregnancy is essential whether you’ve had a vaginal or a caesarean birth.

• Stress urinary leakage is when stress on the bladder causes you to leak urine eg when coughing or sneezing or vomiting. Very often this is because the pelvic floor muscles, which support your bladder, are weak.
  
  
• Up to 40% of women will experience leakage of urine during pregnancy.

Due to hormonal changes in pregnancy some women do experience the urge to pass urine more frequently whilst pregnant.

However, there are some things you can do to help keep your bladder happy.

• Drink 1.5-2L per day
• Try and reduce fluids that may irritate the bladder eg drinks containing caffeine such as tea, coffee, green tea, hot chocolate. Fizzy drinks and citrus drinks may also irritate your bladder.
• Try to avoid constipation
• Avoid “just in case” visits to the toilet
• Take your time when passing urine. Don’t hover. Practise simple deep breathing to help your pelvic floor muscles relax.

Doing pelvic floor exercises during pregnancy has been shown to help prevent ongoing leaking of urine after the birth of your baby.

How do I squeeze my pelvic floor muscles?

• Squeeze and lift the back passage as if you are trying to stop yourself breaking wind. Continue to squeeze and lift to the front as if you are stopping the flow of urine.

Try not to hold your breath or tighten your buttock or leg muscles. Then let go fully.

There are two types of pelvic floor exercises you should do:

• Fast squeezes (quick and strong).

Squeeze as hard as you can and then let go completely. Rest a second and then repeat. Aim to build up to 10 in a row. This exercise will help you to contract your muscles quickly when you laugh, cough etc.

• Slow holding squeezes (for endurance)

Squeeze as before but this time try to hold it for up to 10 seconds before releasing. Give yourself 5-10 seconds to rest. Aim to do this up to 10 times or until your muscles get tired. This exercise helps to prevent prolapse.

How Often?

You should aim to do these exercises at least 3 times a day.

An extra tip

 Try “the knack”. This means tightening your pelvic floor muscles before an increase in intra-abdominal pressure. For example, just before you sneeze or cough or lift. Often this will help Prevent you leaking during these activities.

A final note

Generally, it takes 3-5 months to strengthen these muscles so being consistent is key to seeing improvement.

www.squeezyapp.com  has further hints and tips on how do your pelvic floor exercises.

Alternatively, you can scan this QR code which will take you to the NHS Borders Pregnancy Physiotherapy Information page.

Need further advice?

If you have read the information in this leaflet but feel you need further advice on managing your symptoms then you can self refer to the physiotherapy team in the Bladder Bowel and Pelvic Floor Service.

Details on how to do this can be found on the NHS Borders website. Search for “Bladder, Bowel and Pelvic Floor Service”.

Alternatively you can scan the QR code below to be taken directly to the appropriate page.

Return the form to:

Admin.BladderBowelService@borders.scot.nhs.uk