The Pelvic Floor Myths Every Mum Should Stop Believing

• You don’t need to do kegels if you have had a Caesarean Birth 

It is important to understand that it is not just birth that impacts your pelvic floor. Your pregnancy, the change in pressure, the weight of the baby, the shift in breathing patterns can all impact how your core is functioning. It is pretty obvious that the pelvic muscles are impacted by a vaginal birth but caesarean births also impact due to the close relationship of the core muscles. The incision cuts through tissues that are linked to your pelvic floor so being mindful of your recovery is just as important if your baby arrives abdominally. 

• Bladder leaks are just part of ‘mum life’

While common it doesn’t have to be the new normal. Leaking is a sign of pelvic floor dysfunction and shouldn’t be accepted as ‘normal’. If you are experiencing leakage, PLEASE go to your GP or to a women’s health physio (You can find one here). You can also support your core function with exercise like Pilates which can make a huge difference to the function of your muscles. 

• You should pee ‘just in case’ 

This is in fact incorrect! The truth is that if your bladder isn’t full then emptying it could actually confuse your body and signal to it that it always supposed to be empty, leading to more frequent urination. Try to wait until you really need to go to the toilet to help train your bladder into good habits (handy to know this for kids as well -don’t get them in the habit of always going before they leave the house!) 

• Only older women, and those who have given birth, experience pelvic floor issues

Pelvic floor dysfunction can happen to anyone! It can be caused by constipation, chronic coughing and excessive high impact through sport. Young people can experience issues too and EVERYONE who has had a baby needs to be aware that they need to stay on top of their pelvic floor health. 

• Drinking less fluids can prevent urinary incontinence

This one drives me mad! Staying well hydrated is really vital and restricting your water intake will do more harm than good! It will reduce your bladder capacity, make your urine more concentrated, cause dehydration and irritate your bladder, making frequency, urgency and leaks worse. 

• Pelvic floor problems are an inevitable aspect of ageing

As we age, it gets harder to maintain muscle strength so many people notice their issues getting worse but I truly believe that if we all looked after our pelvic floor health from our 30s onwards, the issues that older women face would be less. Most people don’t pay attention to their pelvic floor until they are having symptoms – don’t make that mistake! Stay strong, be connected to your body and learn to exercise in a way that supports it. Your future self will thank you!! 

• Doing lots of pelvic floor squeezes will fix all of my symptoms.

Squeezes or kegels can be a helpful way to see whether things are functioning properly and they have their place in pelvic floor rehab. However, they are a small piece of the puzzle and they should not be the only thing you are doing to support yourself (and some people will find that doing them actually makes their symptoms worse so do see a physio to find out the best approach for you). Using tailored exercise to improve the overall function of your body is a fantastic approach – breathing, posture and movement patterns all have a huge impact on your pelvic floor function so Pilates is the perfect way to improve your pelvic floor health because we work on all these things in a holistic way. 

You can join our specialist classes online or in person in St Albans.