Kegel exercises are gaining popularity with pregnant and post-natal women. If done correctly, Kegel, a pelvic floor strengthening exercise developed in the 1940s by Dr Arnold Kegel, helps the muscle in your pelvic and vaginal area to assist during labour, help minimise postpartum incontinence and make intercourse more pleasurable. Kegels not only support the reproductive organs and control bladder function but also help delay pelvic organ prolapse /incontinence as age progresses. Kegels can prevent signs like urge incontinence that may result from childhood to increasing age.
Who should do Kegels?
Women of any age group can perform Kegels especially during pregnancy, or postnatal. In pregnancy, performing Kegels is a sole and effective way to keep pelvic floor muscles strong.
Why do it?
Just like any other muscle in the body, one must be attentive enough to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles or keep it strong throughout the lifespan. During pregnancy, performing Kegels becomes more important because of the weight of the baby on the bladder especially in the last trimester. The pelvic floor is active throughout daily activities from sitting to standing from exercise to merely standing.
The right way
To perform Kegels it is important to understand how to find pelvic floor muscles. For identification, while urinating, stop the flow midstream, hold for three seconds, relax and allow the flow to continue to repeat a few times to understand the right muscle to squeeze /tighten and relax. Remember this is just a test or a way for understanding pelvic floor muscles. Kegels can be done in any position, standing /sitting /lying down, anytime without anyone knowing about it. One just needs to contract/tighten vaginal muscles and relax as if trying to stop urine. It must be done on an empty /relaxed bladder. Breathing must not be affected while doing so.
If done correctly, meaning from back to front, a gentle contraction is felt in the lower abdominal muscle. It is also equally important to relax /lengthen /release the pelvic floor muscle.
How many times to repeat?
The number of repetitions depends on your condition, and what an OB-GYN physiotherapist prescribes rehabilitation from prolapse /incontinence /injury /post-surgery /stress incontinence or pelvic pain /painful intercourse /childbirth. If there is no specific condition, Kegels must be done every 4 hourly 10 contractions, contract 3-sec hold, and repeat in a day.
Benefits
Stronger pelvic floor muscle.
Better control of the urinary bladder.
Better control of avoiding rectal incontinence.
A tighter vagina, which can lead to more pleasurable intercourse.
Takeaway
The best way to answer whether Kegels should be done or not in pregnancy is having the pelvic floor evaluated, and taking an honest look at any symptoms. During pregnancy, it is an effective way to strengthen the pelvic floor muscle and prevent incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, assist labour and delivery. Remember to focus on the muscle contraction as well as the release so you’ll be optimally prepared to usher the baby into the world.
(The author is a Bengaluru-based clinical physiotherapist.)
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