Your Pelvic Floor And Fertility
Unless you have been dealing with pelvic floor dysfunction prior to trying to conceive you may not even give your pelvic floor a thought before pregnancy or even before birth.
But the pelvic floor is one of the main areas TO focus on before pregnancy. Here’s why.
Your pelvic floor has 4 main roles:
Sphincteric
Supportive
Mobility
Sexual
When you looks at these roles you may think, “why are those important to know about before pregnancy?”
Your pelvic floor can either help or hinder your conception, by indirectly impacting your fertility. The main way it does this is with tight or restricted muscles or other tissue like scar or adhesions that lead to:
01 Pelvic pain including vaginal, vulva, anal, perineum and pelvic joint
Pelvic pain can make the act of conceiving painful. So what is meant to be a fun time, adding pain into the possible stress of timing, having sex to make a baby can be awful.
Anal pain or tight sphincter muscles can also lead to constipation, which can interfere with gut health. When you are unable to poop regularly your body can reabsorb the toxins and excess hormones that was meant to be eliminated.
02 Pelvic congestion and reduced circulation
Pelvic congestion & reduced circulation causes toxins to build up in the pelvis which can interfere with hormone communication. Plus when circulation is blocked or reduced it diminishes nutrient, oxygen and hormone flow to the appropriate tissues and organs.
03 Altered pelvic organ position or spine subluxation
There have been cases where uterine & ovary position has impacted a viable pregnancy. Though having a tipped uterus does not impact the sperm getting to your released egg, if there is a twist or pulling in your uterus or fallopian tubes it can impact implantation and the quality of the lining in that area of the uterus do to changes in circulation.
In addition to organ position, tension & restrictions can cause vertebra subluxation. This can interfere with nerve communication to the reproductive organs. Disrupting the responses to the natural functions the nervous system controls, including hormone release & uterine contraction.
You also want to be confident in what your “normal” is for pelvic floor strength, coordination and endurance. With the many physical changes that occur in pregnancy, your pelvic floor is no exception to change. It was one of the most impacted muscle groups in the body, beside the abdominal wall. Making sure you have a healthy pelvic floor prior to pregnancy, improves your chances of avoiding common issues like incontinence, prolapse, and pelvic pain.
Plus your pelvic floor plays an important role in birth and healing. Being proactive means you are laying the foundation for a smoother birth and reconnecting in recovery.
Fortunately, there are many ways to treat issues and get you pelvic floor up and running for you depending on what the issue is. These include:
Breathing exercises
Stretching
Body rolling
Internal massage
Strengthening & coordination exercises
In most instances you want to focus on reducing tension & restrictions prior to directly strengthening your pelvic floor. Just think about trying to strengthen a tight neck muscle. Most of the time it just gets tighter. Something you want to avoid!
When dealing with pelvic floor issues, it’s best to work with a trained professional, like a pelvic floor (women’s health) Physical Therapist. As one of my clients, I encourage you to do a lot of the work yourself with my guidance. This improves your confidence and understanding of your body, in a safe and realistic manner.
If you want to learn more about your pelvic floor, schedule a FREE consult call with me and we can figure out what the best next step for you is!