Pregnancy Info

There are many benefits for women to do kegel exercises especially for pregnant women or those who have just given birth. Kegel exercises help strengthen the muscles that support the bladder, uterus and bowels as well as vaginal muscles. Read on to learn more.

Because the kegel muscles play such a vital role in keeping important muscles tight and functioning properly, it is important for women to practices kegel exercises regularly. Women who are pregnant can especially benefit from doing kegel exercises because they are able to have an easier time giving birth. By strengthening those muscles used during labor and delivery, the entire process can go a lot smoother by minimizing certain issues during pregnancy including bladder leaks and hemorrhoids. Having strong kegel muscles can also help post pregnancy by promoting perineal healing and regaining bladder control. Kegel exercises help to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, which is also known to increase sexual pleasure. 

Why kegel exercises are important:

There are so many benefits for women to do kegel exercises. Some of these benefits are specific to pregnant women and some are specific to other women that engage in sex frequently or have had children.  There are many things that can happen to a woman's body that can weaken the pelvic muscles. Some of these factors include, childbirth as well as being overweigh. Being overweight may cause the pelvic organs to descend and bulge into the vagina. This is a condition known as pelvic organ prolapse. When this prolapse occurs it might result in uncomfortable pelvic pressure as well as urine leakage. However, kegel exercises do help is preventing this prolapse to happen if you keep up on them.

How to do kegel exercises:

In order to try and find the right muscles to exercise, try stopping the flow of urine when you are going to the bathroom. This will help you get the feeling of what muscles to exercise. However, don't try and do this on a regular basis as a way to exercise your kegel muscles because starting and stopping the flow of of urine can actually lead to weakening the kegel muscles over time. It also might lead to an incomplete emptying of the bladder and doing this can increase your risk of developing a urinary tract infection. 

The best way to begin your kegel exercises is to empty your bladder and sit or lie down. In this position you can contract your pelvic floor muscles and contract for five second keeping your concentration. Relax and then repeat doing the kegel exercise about four or five times. It is a good idea to work up to keeping the muscles contracted for about 10 seconds with a 10 second relaxation in between each exercise. In order to make sure you are targeting the correct muscles, make sure you are not contracting muscles in the stomach, thighs or buttocks. Do not hold your breath. 

It is best if you keep these exercises up to doing three sets of kegel exercises each day. The convenient part about kegel exercises is you can do them without anyone else knowing. Once you get the hand of the focus during kegel exercises it is easy to practice whenever you are doing some sort of routine activity like sitting in a waiting room, going through the drive thru, or checking the mail. 

If you are a pregnant woman with urine leakage problems, you can expect to see results begin in usually eight to 12 weeks with the kegel exercises being done daily. For some, the improvements are dramatically better. If you find you are having trouble with concentrating on your kegel muscles or being able to isolate your kegel muscles, don't be afraid to bring it up with your doctor. They will be able to give you tips and help on how to do your kegel muscles more effectively. There are also some products out there that may assist in kegel exercises. There are kegel balls that are used by being inserted into the vagina. The kegel muscles then have to work to keep the balls in place. Some find this hands-on approach easier in helping them learn how to do kegel exercises. 

Sources: mayoclinic.com, americanpregnancy.org