Ahh…the mysterious pelvic floor. What the heck is it, why does it matter and why are we even talking about this so much?!
My thoughts exactly!! My first pregnancy, I was so annoyed of watching IG influencers, trainers, and PT’s talk about this. I thought, look, I’m healthy, fit and I’ll never have to worry about the pelvic floor!
Boy was I wrong!
I had a great pregnancy, easy delivery, and then bam. Postpartum was no joke, cue pelvic floor issues.
The pelvic floor is a muscle, it starts at the pubic bone and goes all the way to the tailbone.
It it’s 3 layers, made of 20 different muscles
It’s responsible to hold up our bladders, uterus and anus inside of the body
It affects our bowels, peeing AND pooping
It plays a role in sexual function
It is like a “sister” to our diaphragm and plays a huge role in core strength
So basically this muscle system is VERY important and something we need to pay attention to!
During pregnancy, our bodies stretch and baby pushes a TON of weight into our uterus, which in turn, creates a lot more work for our pelvic floor. It’s not only doing everything listed above but it’s also trying to maintain its original strength while carrying all of this extra weight and pressure! Pretty tough right?!
So, you’re thinking…ok I’ll just do some kegels, NBD. Well here’s the thing, because the pelvic floor is so complex, a kegel isn’t truly a functional exercise. Meaning, when you get on and off the couch and you’re putting a lot of pressure into the pelvic floor, are you going to do a kegel? Probably not.
That’s why I am literally obsessed with teaching breathing + deep core exercises. What happens is, when we breathe properly, we relax the pelvic floor and then engage it (contract it) on the exhale which builds lots of strength. This is called diaphragmatic breathing. This will help us from “bearing down” or holding our breath and putting even MORE pressure into the pelvic floor which can cause your pelvic floor to not do its’ job optimally.
What can happen if we have pelvic floor dysfunction?
Well many things, but some of the most common are leaking when we sneeze, cough, run, jump, etc. We can actually leak stool (remember it’s in charge of a lot of functions!) It can also make sex not as enjoyable and it can lead to pelvic organ prolapse, which is when the organ(s) droop down outside of the body.
All of the above pelvic floor dysfunctions can be healed, no matter how far you are in pregnancy or postpartum, so that is the AMAZING thing!
