What causes Incontinence during Pregnancy?
During pregnancy many women may have a small amount of urine leakage especially in the last trimester. This may occur from coughing, laughing, exercise, bending over or lifting.
This condition is known as stress incontinence – it can be very embarrassing, but is extremely common and treatable.
During pregnancy your pelvic floor muscles have to endure an added strain. They have to support the weight of your growing uterus, and cope with the changes caused by pregnancy hormones. A quick increase in pressure on the stomach area, which can easily occur by something as simple as coughing, can be too much for these muscles to hold back the flow of urine and a few drops might escape.
This incontinence can occur during any stage of pregnancy however it is more frequent during the last few weeks and can worsen just after birth when the pelvic floor muscles are in the recovery phase.
Women who give birth by caesarean section may also suffer from stress incontinence.
Incontinence Treatment
Our Women’s Health Physiotherapists can help to overcome these difficulties by teaching you to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. A personalised treatment plan, involving exercises and lifestyle recommendations will be given by your Physiotherapist.
Our Physiotherapists can also prescribe a home based device to use as part of your treatment plan – INNOVO. INNOVO has been developed to treat the root cause of bladder weakness and not just the symptoms. To learn more, please click here.
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