Firstly, a good way to find your pelvic floor muscles is to sit on the toilet with your legs slightly apart. Start to pass urine and then stop midstream and hold for a couple of seconds. The muscles you use to contract midstream are part of your pelvic floor. DO NOT do this regularly, as it is only to teach you what muscles to contract.
Now when you attend your pelvic floor exercises make sure your bladder is empty. Sit in a comfortable position, or lay on your side. Without tightening your buttocks, abdominal or inner thigh muscles, pull up the muscles of your vaginal wall. If it helps imagine you are squeezing a tampon.
This should be a slow controlled contraction held for 5 – 10 seconds and then allow the body 10 – 30 seconds to rest in between. You need to repeat this exercise 4 – 6 times. You can attend these exercises every day (known bladder weakness) or at least every second day is recommended. As a minimum, try to attend some level of pelvic floor exercise 2 – 3 times per week from 30 weeks gestation and repeat second daily once your baby has arrived.
Once you become more confident, you can do pelvic floor exercises anywhere and at any time. It will become second nature, and you can do it the company of others without them even knowing. You will be helping to prevent urinary incontinence during and after pregnancy. It also helps with the tone of your birth canal which subsequently can shorten your pushing stage.
It is just as important to protect and strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, regardless of your planned mode of delivery (vaginal or caesarean).
Written by: Endorsed Midwife & Parenting Educator Alison Gregory
Photo by Anastasiia Chepinska on Unsplash