It’s there – the thin blue line! YOU ARE PREGNANT! Yippee!
The excitement begins. You are about to embark on a journey of growth, change and development. Your lovely hormones start to kick in and as well as the frequent trips to the loo and the emotional changes, your pregnancy hormone changes cause the ligaments around your pelvis to soften and your joints become less stable.
Working on those core and pelvic floor muscles whilst pregnant, will help to prepare your body for birth and pre prepare your pelvic floor muscles for all the strength training after birth when you are sitting cuddling your newborn, standing holding the baby and pacing the streets pushing the pushchair.
Baby is here! It’s all about the food, sleep (or lack of) and caring for your adorable bundle but what about you? A bit bruised and sore post birth? It’s a really good idea to start those core and pelvic floor muscle exercises again. The exercises themselves will help the circulation to those bruised and swollen areas to help with healing and control while you are lifting, carrying and feeding new baby.
So why now do we need to do pelvic floor exercises? Rehab of muscle is important to return the body to function. It is now when the body is on its postnatal return to normal pathway that the pelvic floor needs to be reminded to work. And progress the exercises to incorporate functional control. There are many different ways the pelvic floor needs to work for normal everyday life and any sports you may wish to return to!
Research shows that 3 times per day for 3-6 months is optimum for gaining good pelvic floor function – so don’t give up now! The statistics for leaks and bladder issues is higher than you might think? Don’t be one of those statistics!
Again research shows that 7 years after birth is when most waterworks issues become apparent! What if you want to have another little treasure – why not prepare your core and pelvic floor to be in optimum condition before embarking on it all over again?
So why not try little and frequent core and pelvic floor exercises during functional daily activities while looking after baby? It is a great way forward. 6 weeks post birth and it’s the GP check and hopefully all has returned to normal. Don’t forget to pop along to have your Mummy MOT if you want to have a thorough postnatal check.
Come and see us for guidelines and help to facilitate good pelvic floor health. You just never know when you might need to cough/sneeze/lift or want to jump on that trampoline without leaking!!!
Contact Sandra Watts, Women’s Health Physiotherapist at Rodger Duckworth Physiotherapy Practice on 01189 786149.