Pelvic Floor, Bowels, Bladder, & Belly
Going to the bathroom, something we all take for granted will be another challenge after pregnancy. There are signals sent to your brain by the bladder that tell you when it’s time to go. These tend to become disrupted by the pushing and pressure during labor as well as the baby’s head pressing against the woman’s urethra. The vulva or labia can become swollen which can also make it difficult to go to the bathroom because your urethra is pinched. Warm sitz baths or cold compresses have been known to help some. Conversely, you might be sweating or peeing a lot during the first one to two weeks after delivery while your body is adjusting to changing hormones, and is working to rid itself of excess fluids. Tinkle can sting your already sore bottom which is why your midwife or nurse gave you a squirt bottle to use. All you need to do is fill it with warm water. When you need to pee, you spray your perineum as you’re doing so.
Postpartum constipation is a symptom many new mothers often face during the first two weeks after pregnancy due to side effects from pain medications, dehydration, a C-section, or attempting to push anything else out of your anal area. Try to walk when you can, eat some fruit, drink plenty of water, and try a little prune juice. Your midwife or doctor may prescribe you a stool softener to make it easier to go.
If exercise, laughing, or sneezing makes you pee in your pants days, weeks, or even months after you’ve had your baby, your pelvic floor may need some extra attention and love. Your pelvic floor involves the nerves, tissues, ligaments, and muscles that support your rectum, vagina, bladder, and uterus. Your baby’s weight and delivery and labor put a lot of stress on that area. Pelvic health physiotherapists can help you with this problem; however, the physio plan for a woman’s pelvic floor is not covered by most health plans. If the pelvic floor has become injured, it has to be retrained after pregnancy. The most common problem is bladder incontinence, but fecal incontinence can be an issue for some women too. Other issues of a damaged pelvic floor include a prolapse (a weak spot in the vaginal area which allows the uterus, rectum, or bladder to fall out of alignment as well as urine leaks or frequent urination, painful sex, or pressure in your groin. While this may seem scary to you, physio can help you strengthen your pelvic floor so it will function normally again. Pelvic floor assessments are typically done about 6 weeks after delivery. Physios can show you many tools including how to perform Kegel exercises correctly, as most of us never do them right.
Your core muscles can become weakened after you have a baby, which can make it hard to lift something as simple as a box of diapers out of a grocery cart. Nearly all pregnant women have diastasis recti to some degree due to hormones. This is a gap between a woman’s left and right abdominal wall muscles. Sometimes the gap will close 2 months after childbirth, but more often than not, it doesn’t, which can lead to a belly that still appears to be pregnant, core muscles and back pain that prevent you from being able to pull, push, or lift. You don’t have to deal with it though. Pelvic health physiotherapists can show you some exercises that will help you gain abdominal strength which in turn will heal the gap. All of that aside, many women end up with floppier, softer tummies. How it will firm up in the months after childbirth may vary depending on how much the tissues and skin stretched during pregnancy as well as your posture and genetics.
According to Bonnie Schiedel, how your body changes after you have a baby is similar to parenting itself – it’s inspiring, cool, frustrating, awesome, and bizarre all at the same time. It’s important to remember that over time, everything gets better. Your body was able to grow a person and there are a variety of ways it can bounce back and amaze you.
