Kegel exercises help to strengthen pelvic muscles and are important in preparation for your labour and post-delivery. Strong pelvic muscles help with the delivery of the baby and also help to prevent urinary incontinence. I know it seems weird to be talking about peeing yourself when we’re hardly the target market for Depends adult diapers but believe me, at some points in my pregnancy I seriously considered investing in some because I kept having accidents (so embarrassing). These incidents would often happen when I heard the sound of trickling water (e.g. when washing the dishes, washing my hands, near a fountain, etc.). I started to mitigate the problem by emptying my bladder often and also by doing my Kegals.

During my pregnancy I practiced Kegel exercises during my prenatal exercise classes and at home when I remembered (which wasn’t too often). One of the women in my prenatal class shared how her husband left sticky notes around the house and in her car with the letter “k” written on it to remind her to do her Kegels! Kegel exercises can be as simple as tightening and relaxing your pelvic muscles, and can progress to the Kegel Elevator (Visualize an elevator. Slow down the exercises, gradually contracting and releasing your pelvic floor muscles one at a time. As you contract, visualize an elevator traveling up four floors. At each floor, contract your muscles a little more until you reach maximum contraction at the fourth floor. Hold the contraction and then slowly release the tension as you visualize the elevator returning to the ground floor.)

Even after the baby is delivered, the urinary incontinence continues as I mentioned in my post on Bowel and Bladder Maintenance. A friend of mine mentioned that exercise (playing ultimate frisbee) would cause her to pee herself a little, another friend would pee herself when she sneezed, and I still struggle when I hear the sound of running water (lol!). Lesson learned: do your Kegals and strengthen those pelvic muscles!