Pelvic Floor After Birth

During a vaginal birth your pelvic floor will experience the biggest load ever placed on it.

Pelvic floor after birth.

If the gap is still obvious 8 weeks after the birth contact the gp as you may be at risk of back problems. Daily pelvic floor exercises help you to regain control of your bladder and bowel after your baby s birth macarthur and ismail 2014. You can minimise the risk of these developing with some careful precautions. After your pelvic floor strength and healing has been assessed at your six week checkup you can start to increase the intensity of those exercises.

Your pelvic floor has just had to stretch up to three times its normal length. Returning to sport or exercise after birth. Wait for 10 seconds before starting again. Pelvic rehabilitation is a type of physical therapy that can be very helpful for postpartum moms.

After you have tightened your pelvic floor make sure that you let go completely before starting a new contraction. While many people refer to childbirth as a beautiful thing the aftermath of giving birth is not always so pleasant as a woman s body will go through several notable changes. Regular pelvic floor and deep stomach muscle exercises can help to reduce the size of the separation between your stomach muscles. 28 november 2017 by dr demetri c panayi.

Participating in sport running or other high impact activities early after childbirth may actually reduce pelvic floor muscle strength and cause long term bladder and bowel problems or pelvic organ prolapse. This indicates the importance of trying to prevent the tears from happening in the first place. How long does pelvic pain last after. These women can develop pelvic floor problems shortly after birth.

So it s no wonder that studies show an average of 25 35 reduction in pelvic floor strength following birth. What is pelvic rehab therapy. A gentle push out at the end of the contraction can help with this. You can still do pelvic floor exercises from the first day after the birth.

Having a well toned pelvic floor also enhances feeling in your vagina making sex and orgasm more satisfying sacomori and cardoso 2015. Doctors and pelvic health physiotherapists who specialise in treating pelvic floor problems can detect injury through physical examination and or pelvic ultrasound. I want you to avoid abdominal exercises until you have healed and your doctor has given you the all clear. If you had a caesarean then you will soon learn that this was a major operation and it will take you at least 6 weeks to heal.

The gp can refer you to a physiotherapist who will give you some specific exercises to do.