Regain Your Pelvic Health

By Barbara C. Bourassa

Having a new baby has a special joy attached to it: There’s the wonder of sharing your baby with the outside world, the special feelings associated with feeding and cuddling, and many new tasks to learn as your baby grows, changes, and develops.

In addition to the new baby, however, every birth experience—whether easy, complicated, long, or short—has an immediate, and sometimes long-term, effect on pelvic health. As one doctor explained it to me, giving birth is like a train coming down the tracks, and everything else better get out of the way. As a result of this process, and some would say “trauma,” most women are left with varying degrees of pelvic discomfort, especially if they’ve had a Caesarean section, a difficult birth, or any complications.

Time is a healer

The most important thing about regaining your pelvic health is taking the proper time to heal. If you’ve had a C-section, this usually means four to six weeks, and you may be very tired and uncomfortable for at least half that time.

Experts recommend taking it easy, supporting your abdomen when you cough, sneeze, or laugh, and avoiding sex to let your tissues heal completely.

If your baby was born vaginally, your body also needs time to recover. This is especially true if you had an episiotomy; the stitches in this delicate area need plenty of time to heal, and sitting or walking may be painful.

Many new moms also experience temporary urinary incontinence, because the muscles may have been stretched during delivery.

Everyone is different, so it’s important to check with your doctor for specifics regarding healing time. Some moms are up and about within a week, while others may need additional days to get back to normal.

Activity and exercise

Once you’ve been cleared by your doctor to resume physical activity, start out slowly. Short walks are a good place to start, as they will get you out of the house, allow you to take in some fresh air, and bring you into contact with other people.

Many experts also recommend Kegel exercises in the early weeks after giving birth. Kegels are specific exercises designed to increase the strength and elasticity of the pelvic floor muscles, or the muscles that keep all the organs of the pelvic region in place so they can function properly.

Pregnancy can weaken these muscles, so strengthening them can help prevent bladder leakage problems, help the perineum heal, or help tighten your vagina, which may have been stretched during childbirth.

Doing Kegels properly

Specifically, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists offers this advice for doing Kegels properly:

“Kegel exercises are used to strengthen the muscles that surround the openings of the rectum, vagina, and urethra. Just like doing sit-ups to flatten your abdomen, these exercises only work when the right muscles are used, the ‘squeeze’ is held long enough, and enough repetitions are done.

...squeeze your sphincter muscles as if you were stopping a bowel movement. When you begin the exercise program, place a hand on your abdomen to make sure you don't squeeze those muscles. Also do not squeeze your thighs or buttocks. Squeeze your pelvic muscles for 10 seconds, 10–20 times in a row. Your doctor will tell you how many times a day to perform the exercises and how long you should keep doing them.”

If you’re ready for more exercises, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends several moves, including leg slides, shoulder lifts, head lifts, curl-ups, and kneeling pelvic tilts.

Barbara C. Bourassa is a freelance writer and editor living in North Andover, Mass.