Congratulations on the birth of your baby! Now it’s time to help your body get back to your pre-pregnancy self.
After delivering a baby, some women will experience urine leakage—usually happening after coughing, sneezing, laughing, or lifting heavy objects—so your physician may ask you to perform Kegel exercises.
Kegel exercises are designed to strengthen the muscles located around the bladder opening to improve bladder control. In order to realize the maximum benefit from these exercises, it is very important that you perform them correctly.
You can identify the muscles located around the bladder opening by starting and stopping your urine stream. These are the same muscles used for Kegel exercises. Stopping your urine stream is a way to identify the muscles used for these exercises, but you should not perform Kegel exercises while urinating.
Another way to identify the muscles used for Kegel exercises is to tighten the rectal muscles (as when holding back gas or completing a bowel movement). Because they are part of the same muscle group, the rectal muscles always work with the muscles located around the bladder opening. It may take several tries to locate these muscles. Try not to use your stomach, buttock, or leg muscles. See your healthcare provider if you have difficulty identifying these muscles.
Once you have identified these muscles, there are different types of Kegel exercises: the quick Kegel and the slow Kegel. In performing the quick Kegel, these muscles are rapidly tightened and relaxed. During the slow Kegel, the muscles are tightened for 5 to 10 seconds and then relaxed.
Most people start by completing a set of ten Kegels four times a day. Each week, the number of contractions/relaxations and the length of time holding the contractions are gradually increased. Kegel exercises may be done with other activities, such as watching television or relaxing. Because it may take several weeks to notice an improvement, it is important that you continue doing these exercises.
If your symptoms do not improve, ask your healthcare provider to help you. Many individuals need guidance to identify the correct muscles to use and to properly execute the exercises.
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