Pregnancy and the Pelvic Floor

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.

What Happens to Your Pelvic Floor During Pregnancy?

Whilst the pelvic floor muscles do a great job in aiding pregnancy, they're also put under an extreme amount of pressure. Your pelvic floor muscles are vulnerable to weakness due to the extra weight from the baby. This weakness can become dangerous as early as 12 weeks into pregnancy. It's not uncommon to experience discomfort during this period, or even a pelvic floor disorder such as urinary incontinence starting to occur. You may continue to suffer during later stages of your pregnancy and unless dealt with it can continue after the birth.

It's also important to note that the risk of developing a pelvic floor disorder increases both with age, and each birth, due to the weakening of the pelvic floor.

What Happens to Your Pelvic Floor After Childbirth?

The risk of developing a pelvic floor disorder following a traumatic vaginal birth - where instruments such as forceps or vacuums are used, if your baby was large, or delivery was prolonged - is significantly higher than those who undergo a caesarean (C-section) delivery.

In terms of C-sections, don't assume that because you didn't have a vaginal delivery that you aren't susceptible to pelvic floor disorders. 43% of women that undergo a caesarean delivery still experience one or more pelvic floor disorders due to the changes that happened throughout the pregnancy.

Even the most uncomplicated vaginal deliveries have a negative effect on your pelvic floor, but it's important to remember that these damages can be reversible!

What Can You Do to Help Your Pelvic Floor During and After Pregnancy?

It's important to work on improving and maintaining your pelvic floor strength both whilst you are expecting and after the birth. Whether you're a mum-to-be or a mum of three, you'll have probably heard about pelvic floor muscles. But you may not be aware of how important they are.

Before and during pregnancy, you should begin pelvic floor (Kegel) exercises regularly. These can often be a preventative measure towards pelvic floor disorders that can develop in later pregnancy and after birth. Kegel exercises are easy to do whilst you are resting during pregnancy; you can even do them whilst watching TV (multi-tasking at its finest).

It's important to know what muscles you should be using, as 50% of women do not, making weaknesses even worse.

What Should You Do If Something Is Not Right With Your Pelvic Floor?

Pelvic floor disorders, such as incontinence and pelvic organ prolapses, can be distressing and unfortunately they are very common in mums to be. However, improving and maintaining the strength of your pelvic floor muscles can reduce your risk.

Most mild and moderate pelvic floor damage can be reversed through pelvic floor exercises alone. However, you should speak to your GP if:

• You're having problems with your bladder or bowel.
• You think you might have suffered a prolapse.
• Sexual intercourse is painful.
• You are having difficulty with pelvic floor muscle exercises.

Start the healing process & regain strength in the pelvic floor post-partum in as little as 12 weeks, with the help of the Kegel8 Ultra 20 & Amanda Savage!

Amanda Savage is one of the UK’s leading specialist pelvic floor and women’s health physiotherapists, who has worked in the field for over 20 years offering supervised pelvic floor muscle training and support for the recovery of pelvic organ prolapses, incontinence and pelvic surgeries. With post-graduate qualifications, including a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge, she has also gained full membership of the Professional Network of Pelvic, Obstetric & Gynaecological Physiotherapy (POGP). As a Kegel8 ambassador, Amanda Savage has worked alongside us for many years in the development of our best-selling device, the Kegel8 Ultra 20 V2 Electronic Pelvic Toner, to ensure its efficacy. In addition, she has been integral to ensuring all supporting information and instructions are medically accurate so that the device is used correctly/effectively, and treatment is tailored to the specific condition of the user.

Find out more about Amanda Savage, her qualifications, experience, knowledge, and affiliations here. 

Comes complete with an easy exercise plan, created by Amanda Savage, to get results in 12 weeks!
Welcoming your little bundle of joy into the world is likely to be the happiest moment of your life. But it can also be the most challenging, in many ways! Indeed, you are now responsible for a little life. But, as daunting as that sounds, it’s important to remember that to take care of them, you need to take care of yourself!

Since giving birth, you have probably noticed many differences in your body! That’s because the pelvic floor muscles must stretch to accommodate your baby during delivery, which can result in weakness and damage. However, this damage/weakness is certainly not irreversible and is, by no means, an inevitability of childbirth. By simply performing regular pelvic floor exercise, it is possible to re-build the strength and endurance of the muscles to ensure optimum bladder and bowel control. That means no more annoying ‘leaks’ when you sneeze or laugh! In addition, by building strength and tone in the pelvic floor, your organs will be better supported, which will prevent prolapse and stop your symptoms from worsening over time.

In the first 12 weeks after your baby is born, you’re encouraged to do pelvic floor exercises but, as the body is still very fragile, it’s not advised to use a muscle stimulation machine until after 12 weeks have passed. Until then, use traditional Kegel exercises without the assistance of a device. After 12 weeks, you can use a muscle stimulation machine to help improve circulation to the pelvic floor and perineum and to help exercise the muscles. We recommend using the Kegel8 Ultra 20 V2 Electronic Pelvic Toner once the initial 12 weeks have passed. Removing the guesswork and essentially acting as a Sat-Nav for your pelvic floor muscles, it correctly targets and stimulates a contraction within them using a small electric current. These contractions build strength and tone in a matter of weeks! With 20 clinically proven pelvic floor exercise programmes which vary in frequency, intensity and duration, the Ultra 20 is proven to treat a variety of different conditions, including bladder and bowel weakness post-partum and pelvic organ prolapse. And, in addition to tailored programmes, the specific 12-week exercise plans created by Amanda Savage advise exactly how the device should be used, depending upon the condition, to ensure the very best treatment.

The included 12-week treatment plan for postpartum recovery has been specifically created to re-build the strength and endurance of the muscles to ensure optimum bladder and bowel control following pregnancy and labour. It also calms the nerves responsible that can cause sensitivity in the bladder and builds strength and tone in the pelvic floor, so the organs are better supported to prevent prolapse and stop symptoms from worsening over time. The plan encourages new mothers to take things slowly and has been expertly tailored to utilise the right programmes at the right time to ensure optimum results.

Sources

Hay-Smith, E.J.,Dumoulin, C. (2006). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Pelvic floor muscle training versus no treatment, or inactive control treatments for urinary incontinence in women. [online]. 25(1). [viewed 01/08/2018]. Available from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16437536/

Morkved, S., Bo, K. (2000). International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Effect of postpartum pelvic floor muscle training in prevention and treatment of urinary incontinence: a one-year follow-up.[online]. 107(8), pp. 1022-1028. [viewed 01/08/2018]. Available from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10955436/

Morkved, S., Bo, K. (2014). British Journal of Sports Medicine. Effect of pelvic floor muscle training during pregnancy and after childbirth on the prevention and treatment of urinary incontinence: a systematic review. [online] 48(4), pp. 299-310. [viewed 01/08/2018]. Available from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23365417/

Wijma, J. et al. (2001). British Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology.Anatomical and functional changes in the lower urinary tract during pregnancy. [online]. 108(7), pp. 726-732. [viewed 01/08/2018]. Available from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11467699/