Your pelvic floor during pregnancy.
And how to keep it happy & healthy.
During pregnancy, the pelvic floor is working overtime! Here are a few things to consider when it comes to your pelvic floor health and pregnancy.
It’s working really hard!
If you didn’t already know, one of the main functions of your pelvic floor is supporting your pelvic organs. In a female body, the pelvic organs are the bladder, uterus, and rectum. And as your baby and placenta grow… your uterus becomes super heavy! The pelvic floor continues to do it’s job to support your pelvic organs… no matter how heavy they get!
It’s under pressure!
Your pregnant uterus doesn’t just add extra weight to your pelvic floor… it also adds pressure to the system! Your pelvic floor works in tandem with your abdominal muscles, spinal muscles and diaphragm to maintain and regulate pressure in your trunk. So when there’s more pressure (from growing baby), your pelvic floor adapts with the rest of your core! Not to mention… your growing baby also puts your belly muscles in a super stretched position, making even more work for the rest of your core!
It’s recruiting help.
Because of all of this extra duty your pelvic floor takes on during pregnancy, it likely will recruit other muscles to help out! This might include your glues, inner thighs, hip flexors, abdominal muscles, or low back muscles. What this might look like is tight/overactive ‘helper’ muscles, like glutes or hip flexors. Sometimes, these compensations can cause symptoms of their own, like hip, low back, or tailbone pain.
It might not do it’s job well.
Sometimes, the demand on the pelvic floor is too much for it to handle, and you might start having symptoms. Examples of the pelvic floor not working properly are: leaking urine, leaking gas, vaginal or rectal pain, tailbone soreness, pubic bone, low back, or hip pain.
It deserves a little TLC!
If its not already evident, your pelvic floor is working extra hard as your baby grows. Pelvic floor PTs are excellent teammates to have along your pregnancy journey, as we can help mitigate symptoms, provide proactive care, and help you prepare for birth and postpartum. Here’s our booking link if you are local to SLC and here’s a list of all things we can help with during pregnancy!
It might require special exercise considerations!
Beyond pelvic health PT, it’s also incredibly important to consider your pelvic floor when exercising during pregnancy. Stretching, moving, and strengthening are all important aspects of pelvic health during pregnancy. One thing to be aware of: your pelvic floor and body will likely need different types of movement at different stages in your pregnancy. For example… in the first and second trimesters, you might focus more on muscle stability and strength. Whereas in the third trimester, you might focus more on pelvic mobility and pelvic floor relaxation to help you prepare for birth. Psst. We offer 1:1 birth prep sessions. Learn more about these here!
Cheers, to our body’s amazing ability to adapt and function in pregnancy.
Sam