Just where is my pelvic floor?

The pelvic floor is a broad sling of muscles which stretches between your legs and extends from the pubic bone in front to the spine at the rear.

It holds and supports the bladder, womb and bowel in place and controls the muscles which hold closed the anus, urethra and vagina.

This hammock of muscles may seem redundant as we cannot actually see them- but when they aren’t working well- we know they are there!

The most common problems can occur when they are damaged during childbirth: 30% of new mothers suffer from issues relating to a damaged pelvic floor: stress incontinence (leaking urine when coughing or laughing) and decreased sexual pleasure. In addition to childbirth, muscles weaken with age- and the pelvic floor is no exception to that.  Generally women who have caesarean sections have a lower incidence of pelvic floor damage and equally,  natural births, especially those involving forceps , have a higher incidence.

The great news is that unlike other muscle groups – exercising your pelvic floor doesn’t require any equipment and /or gym membership. Regular exercise of the pelvic floor is as important as any other exercise and has a great impact on your quality of life.

You can reduce the likelihood of damage to the pelvic floor by exercising before and during pregnancy- but like the rest of our bodies- if you neglected these muscles before you can still get them back! 

Try these simple steps to a toned pelvic floor:

1.     First- try to locate the right muscles: sit on a chair and close your eyes- now visualize the sling of muscles stretching right across your body holding your womb and bladder.

2.     Next: contract   your pelvic floor muscles pulling inwards and upwards, hold for a count of five and release. Repeat this exercise at least 10 times a day.

3.     Test: a great way to test the control of this area is by stopping your urine flow- you should be able to control the flow by contracting and releasing the muscles- but be careful not to do this too often as you might trap urine in your bladder which can lead to an infection!