A Guide To Better Pelvic Health By Laura Warren Founder of FitMuma

Laura Warren Founder of FitMuma, and fellow single parent, gives her expert advice on how to get good pelvic floor health, including what to eat and drink, a low down of prolapse and even how to toilet properly. Lots to read about and think about when it comes to maintaining our pelvic floors as mums.

Your steps to better pelvic health:

1. Drink enough water as collagen is made up of water and collagen is what makes up muscles. SO this is vital for recovery

2. Add more vegetables to your diet so that we can have enough fibre to keep the bowels moving. Constipation can worsen pelvic floor issues.

3. Keep off processed foods as this will keep weight healthy as an unhealthy weight can also lead to more pelvic floor issues.

4. EAT protein  – Not only keeps you full and helps keep energy consistent, but it is the building block of muscles and tissues. And our aim is to repair and build the muscle post birth

5. Know that tissue damage through pregnancy can take 360 days plus to heal...so eat foods that are anti-inflammatory and antioxidants and can quicken up recovery!

6. Get fresh air – Vitamin D is Vital for Pelvic Health.

7. Limit stress so have more, Sleep. relaxation time and learn what triggers your stress off – stress doesn't allow your body to heal but can also increase your weight!

8.Know that this is not a quick fix and is a journey... each step forward is progress!

9. Check out the toilet guide below!

For good digestion and PF health eat foods that don't irritate the bladder

• Pure water (not artificially flavoured or carbonated) hydrates the body and flushes out toxins, which helps digestion and all other bodily functions occur smoothly.

• Low-acidic fruits and veggies (apricots, melons, bananas, carrots) provide the body with important nutrients without causing irritation to the pelvic floor in the way that some acidic alternatives do.

• Omega-3 fatty acids (from fish) naturally decreases inflammation, which helps reduce any irritations that may occur from other food or drink.

• Herbal/caffeine-free teas that offer natural nutrition and hydration, without causing the problems that caffeine or unnaturally sweetened drinks do.

Limit these because these lead to digestive problems that cause overuse of the bladder and other parts of the pelvic floor. 

• Caffeinated beverages (coffee and tea) are a diuretic and bladder irritant, which means you wee more and causes overuse  in the bladder.

• Carbonated beverages (even diet pops) can trigger overactive bladder. They also typically contain caffeine and artificial sweeteners, which are bladder irritation triggers on their own.

• Highly acidic fruits and veggies (tomato, cranberry, orange) can irritate the bladder lining due to their high acidity.

• Artificial sugars and sweeteners (Splenda) worsen symptoms of overactive bladder for similar reasons as do carbonated beverages.

• Alcohol is a diuretic so causes the bladder to empty more often. 

Do you 'toilet' properly? 

Let’s look at if you’ve been doing it right. Do you strain when having a 'poo'? This could weaken the PF too!

You need to:

• Keeping your feet on a child's stool will allow easier transit and emptying of faeces. 

• Look at your diet and hydration levels!

Also the way you 'wee' could be harming your PF. Do you 'Hover' or 'Squat' wee?

• Squatting activates your pelvic floor which means you will not empty your bladder properly in this position. In the longterm it will weaken your pelvic floor.

Do you just go for a wee 'just incase?'

But what you are actually doing is training your bladder to only hold a small amount of wee at once. This causes you to feel the urge to go when you don’t actually have a full bladder – when this gets bad it’s known as urge incontinence. Pelvic floor exercises can help to retrain your bladder to work properly again. Kegels strengthen the muscles that control urination.

Now let’s talk about prolapse. What is a prolapse?

It’s a condition in which structures such as the uterus, rectum, bladder, urethra, small bowel, or the vagina itself may begin to  or fall out of their normal positions.

Prolapses,  what are the causes and factors?

• Advanced age..our tissues tire.

• Menopause: Estrogen is the hormone that helps to keep the muscles and tissues of the pelvic support structures strong. Estrogen levels reduce so the support structures may weaken.

• Obesity

• Dysfunction or abnormalities of the nerves and tissues

• Strenuous physical activity and lots of impact

• Weak pelvic floor means our hammock isn’t strong to support all the organs above it. This is why it's vital to do PF exercises before, during and after pregnancy.

• And of course Childbirth: Carrying a baby is damaging to the tissues, muscles, and ligaments in and around the vagina So all the ligaments and connective tissue holding things in place are weak! Long, difficult labours and large babies are especially stressful to these structures. Childbirth is the risk factor most commonly associated with cystoceles ( in Where the bladder prolapses/falls  into the vagina.) 

I think I have a prolapse, what do I do?

Seek a women’s health physiotherapist. We know a great one for you to see, just ask for details. We will then work with you and the physio and provide exercise to help. You don’t have to live with it. 

Find out more about Laura Warren and FitMuma at https://www.fitmuma.uk/