Pregnancy comes with its share of joys and discomfort. One such common discomfort that most women go through during pregnancy is stress urinary incontinence.
Stress incontinence on your bladder may have been haranguing you for quite some time during pregnancy.
- The good news is it may disappear altogether after delivery.
- The bad news is you may continue to be plagued by postpartum stress incontinence.
What Is SUI?
Stress urinary Incontinence (SUI) or effort incontinence, is the leakage of urine experienced from your bladder while you are pregnant.
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- Your stretching pelvic muscles find it hard to keep your urethra under control.
- This causes the urine to leak every now and then without your control.
Postpartum Urinary Incontinence:
Most times, stress continence tends to vanish as soon women deliver. However, the odds of few women still suffering the same are large. If you are one of those who still experience the incontinence problem weeks after childbirth, do not be alarmed. Understanding more about the issue helps.
What Causes Postpartum Urinary Incontinence?
There are various reasons why you may suffer from stress incontinence after delivery. Your bladder muscles will naturally weaken after the constant stretching of the pelvis during pregnancy. This causes your urethra to lose control while holding urine.
Below are some major causes of postpartum stress incontinence:
- Obesity
- Smoking
- Vaginal birth (though even women who have opted for C section after trying the normal way can be prone to incontinence).
- Assisted vaginal birth by the use of surgical forceps.
- Genetic predisposition in the family history.
- Prolonged pushing during normal delivery.
- Larger baby in the womb that requires extra pushing.
- Mothers who had many children.
Longevity Of Stress Incontinence After Childbirth:
It is difficult to predict the likelihood as to when the stress incontinence ends after delivery. While for some it may go away few weeks after childbirth, it may last for months for others.
6 Measures To Tackle Stress Incontinence Post Delivery:
Though you can do nothing to deal with the problem itself, there are simple measures that you can apply while trying to avoid the incontinence.
Here are few measures that can be applied while coping with stress incontinence post-delivery:
1. Doctor Evaluation:
Let your doctor examine you minutely, in order to rule any chances of urinary tract infection building up. If you experience any abdominal pain or unexplained fever, report to your care giver immediately.
2. Kegel Exercises:
Kegel exercises are not only useful during pregnancy, but they also help strengthen your pelvic muscles after delivery.
- In case you had a C Section, talk to your doctor to understand the exercises that are allowed immediately.
- If you are not sure of the postures, consult a good Yoga trainer who can help you do them effectively.
3. Sanitary Pads:
Sanitary pads come to your rescue very effectively.
- Continue using your sanitary pads as long as incontinence lasts.
- The pads help you escape those embarrassing ‘sudden squirt’ situations in public.
- Use hygienic and disposable pads to avert any possibilities of infection via urinary tract.
4. Tighten Your Pelvic Muscles:
Cross your legs or tighten your pelvic muscles when you are about to cough or sneeze.
- This will stop the urine from leaking out.
- This is a useful practice when you are outside in a group of people.
5. Pee When It Calls:
You may have a lethargic tendency to hold the bladder while busy with other things.
- This is not acceptable in case you suffer from incontinence.
- Frequent trips to pee will help clear your bladder and reduce the chances of leak.
6. No Caffeine:
Some studies state that cutting down on caffeine helps significantly while coping with incontinence. There is no harm in trying.
Tips:
- Seek additional help in case you are unable to solve the problem despite all the measures.
- Consult a pelvic physical therapist or a physiotherapist who may have more ideas to deal with the situation.
- Talk to your gynecologist who may want to examine you from time to time during a general checkup while battling incontinence.
Hope our small guide helps you deal with SCI effectively. Do share your methods, which you applied to tackle urinary incontinence postpartum during pregnancy.
