What you need to know about pregnancy and the pelvic floor.

June 21, 2016

What you need to know about pregnancy and the pelvic floor.

Pelvic floor health is often the last thing on a women’s mind when she discovers she’s pregnant, post baby weight, stretch marks and preparing to be baby ready preoccupies the mind. It’s only after childbirth that some women are left with the shock of a prolapse or incontinence issues, making them whish they had focused on their pelvic floor more. If your Pelvic floor muscles are weakened or stretched you may leak small amount of urine when you sneeze, cough, exercise and laugh.

1 in 3 women who have given birth have experienced incontinence issues.

The pelvic floor endures a lot of strain and weight during pregnancy, and childbirth itself can cause trauma to the pelvic floor. During childbirth there are some factors that can increase the risk of pelvic floor issues, this includes:

Use of forceps
3rd or 4th degree tears
long pushing stage of labour
If the baby is bigger than 4kg

Preparing Your Pelvic Floor

It’s important for women to prepare themselves physically and mentally for childbirth. Incorporating pelvic floor exercise prior to pregnancy allows for greater support of extra weight during pregnancy and assists with the delivery and recovery of childbirth. Muscles have the ability to self-repair and retrain.

The Pelvic floor can be consciously controlled and trained much like our arms, legs and abdominal muscles. Pelvic floor gymnastics are simple, and what’s really handy about them is that many pelvic floor exercises can be carried out anywhere, without anybody realising what you’re doing. However, it’s important to carry out the exercises correctly, some women struggle to complete them correctly, which will result in poor results. With MEDIballs Secret no exercise is required, the mere presence of MEDIballs Secret's weights starts correct resistance training for the pelvic floor muscles.

Tips For Good Pelvic Health

Aim to be physically active for 30 minutes most days, activity like brisk walking or swimming.
Complete daily pelvic floor excursive, minus of 10minutes a day - View 3 Quick and Easy pelvic floor exercises
Sit on the toilet with your elbows over your knees, leaning forward, keeping your back straight. This helps relax your pelvic floor.
Drink plenty of fluids, 6-8 cups of fluid a day.
Poor posture can worsen pelvic floor problems

30-50% will see permanent vaginal & pelvic floor changes after childbirth.

How Can MEDIballs Secret Help Post-Pregnancy?
MEDIballs Secret can support women post-childbirth, who are interested in regaining pelvic strength for optimal bladder and sexual function. MEDIballs Secret use an internally located weighted metal ball that sits within the MEDIballs themselves, which offer weight resistance training and strengthens the pelvic muscles.

How Can MEDIballs Secret Help Pre-Pregnancy?
Prior to pregnancy, MEDIballs Secret can work to support pelvic health and increase strength. This allows for greater support of extra weight during pregnancy and assists with the delivery and recovery of childbirth. Muscles have the ability to self-repair and retrain. MEDIballs Secret can support the self-repair and re-strengthening of the pelvic floor and support post-pregnancy rehabilitation too.