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Some women radiate a beautiful glow for the entire 9 months that they’re pregnant, and experience an stress-free, easy delivery. Others have excruciatingly long drawn out contractions, and are exhausted by the time they give birth. Obviously we’d all like to be in the first camp – so today, we’re letting you in on a game-changing hack that will help make your delivery a smooth-sailing one. We’re talking about… Kegels!
What are Kegels?
Kegels are a form of exercise which help to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. It’s pretty straightforward – you simply contract your pelvic floor muscles for short periods of time. The beauty of Kegels is that you can do them virtually anywhere and everywhere, and no one will even be able to tell. When you do Kegels on a regular basis, you’ll be toning your pelvic floor muscles and aiding them to support your bladder, uterus and other organs more effectively.
Benefits of Kegels
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Most people identify Kegels as something you do for more pleasurable sex, but it’s so much more than that. By working out your pelvic floor muscles, you’ll be able to exercise better control over these muscles during your labour and birth, and experience an easy delivery. That’s not all – kegels are also great for women who have just given birth, as they help promote the healing of perineal tissues, get your pelvic floor back into shape, and increase urinary control.
Kegels, pregnancy, and delivery
Here’s a more in-depth look at how what happens to your pelvic floor muscles during pregnancy: as your baby grows and becomes heavier, your pelvic floor muscles have to take on the task of supporting more and more weight. If your baby is on the heavier side, or your muscles aren’t strong enough, you might find yourself leaking urine, especially in your third trimester. (The majority of moms mention that it tends to happen when you cough or sneeze).
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What happens when you go into labour? Your muscles will have to stretch even more to make room for your baby to be delivered. Things can get pretty messy here: it’s estimated that approximately 33% of women experience tearing in their muscle tissue during birth. Whilst there’s no bleeding or visual signs associated with the tearing of your muscle tissue, women might face postpartum loss of bladder control. Some women even experience postpartum fecal incontinence, although this is much rarer.
That’s where Kegels come in. Plenty of studies have shown that doing Kegels during and after pregnancy does help to decrease the odds of complications, and increase the chances of an easy delivery. On top of that, there is also literature suggesting that women who do Kegels may have shorter active phases of labor than other women. Sounds like a dream come true, doesn’t it?
How to use Kegels to achieve an easy delivery
For beginners, tighten your pelvic floor muscles for five seconds, and relax them for five seconds. Do the same thing five times in a row for a single set, and complete three sets everyday. You should feel the same sensation as you do when you’re in the toilet, and you clench your muscles to stop midway through peeing.
Once you get the hang of it, it’s time to start holding your muscles tight for longer, and doing more repetitions in a single set. The ultimate goal is to hit 10 seconds of tightening at a time, and three sets of 20 repetitions every day.
Fertility consultation with BeNatural’s fertility coach, Marie Otsuka
If you and your partner would like to learn more about conceiving, come down for a 45-minute consultation with Marie Otsuka, BeNatural’s fertility coach. In this session, Marie will seek to understand the couple’s situation, and offer insights she’s gained through her 10 years of experience in working with infertile Singaporeans. Slots are limited and on a first come first serve basis; contact us here to schedule an appointment!
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