By, Courtney Huver, DPT
Having urinary leakage pre and post childbirth is common, but it is definitely not normal! This includes leakage with coughing, sneezing, laughing, and exercising, and yes even jumping on the kids’ trampoline. About 1 in 4 women have reported this common pelvic floor dysfunction and reports keep getting higher with more awareness of this issue. Pregnancy and giving birth puts increased tension throughout the pelvic floor muscles which increases the urge to urinate and decreases the amount of control you have of the muscles around your bladder. The good news is that pelvic floor physical therapy is able to help eliminate and prevent issues such as urinary leakage- this means no more crossing your legs every time you cough and sneeze or wearing a pad “just in case.” Traditionally, after having a baby people were told to “keep doing your kegels”… however, research is showing that kegels are no longer the only answer and can actually increase the risk of urinary incontinence. It is recommended that after your 6 week postpartum follow up that you get checked by a pelvic floor physical therapist to see if you have any dysfunction that could be eliminated early on. You can even see a pelvic floor PT years down the road after having kids or if you have similar issues and have never given birth.