Understanding Your Postpartum Pelvic Floor: What to Expect
Regardless of how you birthed your baby, your pelvic floor has been impacted.
More so with a full vaginal delivery, but also with an emergency cesarean where the baby descended into the pelvis and may have traumatized the pelvic floor before switching.
Either way, you should know what to expect in terms of signs that your pelvic floor needs to help and when your pelvic floor may be ready to return to fitness style exercise. I’ve compiled a list of must know information, check it out below:
Swelling and tenderness in the pelvic floor is normal the first weeks after giving birth.
Swelling and pain after 6 weeks after giving birth is not normal.
Some urine leakage in the first weeks after giving birth can be normal.
Any amount of urine leakage after 6 weeks of giving birth is not normal and will likely need pelvic floor rehab to go away.
Pain with sex after baby is not normal
Scarring in the pelvic floor from tearing, episiotomy, or trauma can lead to pain.
Giving birth doesn’t automatically cause a weak pelvic floor.
More women experience tightness in the pelvic floor after giving birth than weakness alone.
The pelvic floor is part of a deep core system that manages pressure inside the trunk. The way you breath and contract your abs impacts the pelvic floors response to this pressure.
The pelvic floor is meant to length down on inhale and move up on exhale. Pregnancy can reverse this due to a change in breathing habits, that may not adjust after giving birth.
A weak pelvic floor from pregnancy constipation can lead to hemorrhoids in postpartum.
Pressure in the vagina or rectum is not normal and may be a condition called prolapse; a prolapse is when the soft tissue and muscles that support the pelvic organs (bladder, uterus, rectum) looses structural integrity and the organs drop down into the vaginal cavity.
Working on pelvic floor strength, endurance and coordination with the whole core system can improve pelvic organ support after having baby.
Pelvic organ prolapse symptoms may be a sign of a whole core system failure, not just the pelvic floor.
The way you lift your baby may be contributing to pelvic floor symptoms.
Hemorrhoids in postpartum may be caused by pelvic floor weakness, tension or scarring.
The first poop after having baby may be painful, because it’s irritates the healing pelvic floor tissues.
Focusing on opening the pelvic floor with your breathing & position can reduce the discomfort of the first poop.
The pelvic floor can forget how to work after having a baby, so retraining it to remember is part of healing.
Eating nutrient dense, collagen rich, easy to digest foods promotes pelvic floor tissue healing and digestion making pooping easier.
The pelvic floor needs to gradually build up strength as it heals to match the level of force placed on it while caring for your baby.
Your pelvic floor needs to time to heal and rehab to resume normal functioning. But remember just because it’s common doesn’t mean it is normal. You do not need to live with pelvic floor problems and the earlier you address them the less time you will spend worrying about them so you can feel strong and capable in your mom body.
That concludes the third part of the three part series of Things You Should Learn about the Pelvic Floor. If you haven’t read the first two, check them out here, 32 Things You Should Have Learned about the Pelvic Floor in Health Education and 22 Things you should Learn about the Pelvic Floor Before Having a Baby.