Bounty

The pelvic floor muscles hold the bladder, womb and lower bowel in place.

After having a baby, many women find these muscles are weaker than before. This can lead to stress incontinence – you leak a little urine when you cough or laugh, jump or run. To prevent this happening, it’s important to do pelvic floor exercises during pregnancy and afterwards. Here’s how you do it:

Pelvic floor exercises

1. In three stages, gradually tighten the muscles that you use if you want to stop the flow of urine when going to the toilet.
2. Try to do it without holding your breath, squeezing your buttocks together, or pulling in your tummy muscles! 
3. Hold the squeeze for several seconds and then relax slowly. 
4. Now pull the muscles up tight and fast. Then relax. Then tighten them quickly again. This exercise is for the ‘flick’ muscles of your pelvic floor. 
5. Do these exercises several times a day in batches of five or six. You can do them while washing up, waiting for a bus, sitting at a desk or watching TV. They will help strengthen your pelvic floor if you do them as many times each day as you can remember. It is important to make these exercises part of your daily routine for the rest of your life.