Your Body: What to Look Out For After Childbirth

We talked about how we should do pelvic floor muscle exercise both during and after pregnancy to prevent any pelvic floor problems and about trying to prepare the pelvic floor for birth as well as we can. However even before giving birth we know that the pelvic floor in a woman can be symptomatic giving rise to problems with the bladder, bowel and with sexual satisfaction. Having given birth there may be more problems as the pelvic floor has sustained the passage of childbirth.

Pelvic floor exercises

By Maeve Whelan, Specialist Chartered Physiotherapist

The pelvic floor muscles are a sling of muscles attached from the pubic bone at the front to around the rectum at the back. Exercising the muscles both during pregnancy and after birth has been shown to have beneficial effects in prevention and treatment of urinary and bowel symptoms.