Pregnancy Pelvic Floor Myths

It’s myth busting time everybody.

Myth One:

Once I have the six week check I am right to start running.

Negative I’m afraid. At the six week mark we should have stopped bleeding and if we have stitches these should be healing.

That's it.

A six week check is to make sure that from a tissue healing perspective things are heading on the right track.

Our current guidelines suggest that impact/running shouldn’t commence until the 3 to 6 month mark.

AND we have strict criteria of what we would want new mum’s to tick off before starting running again.

This includes a strong pelvic floor in lying and in standing.

Have started and progressed their strength work from body work to resisted to adding in dynamic movements.

We also want to ensure that mum’s are getting a good amount of food in to support them returning to exercise, have a supportive bra and footwear to help support their movement goals.

Myth Two:

Abdominal exercises shouldn’t be done while pregnant and early postpartum.

There is no evidence to suggest that abdominal exercises shouldn’t be done while pregnant.

None.

We have one study to say that exercise during pregnancy did not show to increase or decrease the incidence of DRAM. Which is actually great news. Because we do want abdominal separation during pregnancy to allow bub to grow.

Clinically speaking, I do see a big difference in postpartum strength for mum’s who have managed to stay active and those who can’t. This isn’t to throw shade on the mum’s who can’t. I get it, life while pregnant can be really tough. This is just to say, if you want to keep training your abs, you can keep training your abs. I would modify the position to more standing and four point kneeling work as opposed to crunches. But there are ways of getting it done.

There is actually evidence to say that rectus abdominus exercises can be done in the early postpartum period and this has been shown to be helpful for separation.

At Kin Physio we are trained to assess and help rehab DRAM, so come on in if you are after tailored abdominal exercises.

Myth Three:

I shouldn’t bother coming up with a birth plan because it’s just going to go out the window anyway.

When done right, I think birth plans can be a really wonderful idea. That is because I am a firm believer in birth education and prep. And it is almost impossible to come up with a birth plan without educating yourself first about the options available to you.

So come up with a plan A, but also come up with a plan B, C, D in case plan A doesn’t go to plan.

Because birth can be unpredictable. But I think it’s really important to know the interventions that you may be offered and the risks involved so you can make informed choices during birth.

Myth Four:

Pain in pregnancy is to be expected and there isn’t anything I can do about it.

Pain is common in pregnancy, yes. We know that one in two pregnant women will experience lumbopelvic pain in pregnancy. But there are absolutely treatment options available to you. One of the best is exercise and we can go through that with you. But we can also recommend compression, massage, taping, tubigrip and more.

There are loads of options available to you and the sooner you seek help the sooner we can with your discomfort.