Your Pelvic Floor After a Vaginal Birth.

Pregnancy and birth really put our pelvic floors through the wringer! In this section, I very much aim to share, not scare! And teach you what you need to know to avoid pelvic floor dysfunction or pelvic organ prolapse and strengthen your pelvic floor after giving birth.

In the following video, I briefly explain why it is important and what you need to know. You can read the text below the video if you prefer.

Pregnancy

During pregnancy, the physical weight of the baby and the organs around it, together with hormones that are making our connective tissue more lax, put our pelvic floors under a lot of strain.

Birth and Your Pelvic Floor

Even during a magical unicorn birth, our pelvic floors get very stretched out, and they will remain that way for some time as it takes time for the muscles to regain their tone. This leaves us feeling as though there is a big hole in our pelvic floors (which there kind of is!) and it's normal for it to feel "open". Many women feel like "all their organs are going to fall out".

The pelvic floor is weakened and isn't supporting our organs fully.

Cuts and Tears

If you had a cut or tears, the muscles will be further weakened and it takes some months for this tissue to repair fully.

The Uterus

To add to this, the uterus is very heavy - at the end of pregnancy and post-birth it weighs over 1kg, and needs to shrink back down to 100g.

Ligaments

Finally, the ligaments holding the pelvic organs up are often weakened or have been stretched - especially during a vacuum or forceps delivery.

I know this sounds scary, but it is perfectly normal - HOWEVER, it is important to understand so that we can fully respect what our pelvic floors have been through and help them heal.

It is important to strengthen our pelvic floors, but also, it is important to first ensure that we are not putting too much demand on our pelvic floors in the early days and weeks - we will discuss this and I will give you specific strategies to implement in the next lesson.

Mark this lesson as "done" and move onto "Safeguarding Your Pelvic Floor"