Do I need a strong pelvic floor during birth?

Something we commonly hear in clinic during pregnancy assessments is "I'm here to get my pelvic floor strong ready for birth"

We LOVE that women are so proactive and focussing on birth prep and education! However it's a bit of a myth that you need a 'strong pelvic floor' birth.

Let’s start with the basics….

• Uterus pushes bub out 

• Pelvic floor relaxes and lengthens out of the way 

• Research starting to show the importance of a strong abdominal wall to assist with pushing - hello abs!

Pelvic floor during pregnancy

While in birth the focus is on lengthening and relaxing the pelvic floor, throughout your pregnancy and postpartum we want a nice strong and well functioning pelvic floor in order to provide necessary support to the pelvis and the pelvic organs under the weight of growing bub. 

Therefore during pregnancy we want to assess your pelvic floor function, to ensure it is not only strong and contracting well, but also relaxing and lengthening well. If it isn't, we want to work on this to optimise function ready for birth and the postpartum period. 

During your pregnancy assessment at Flow Pelvic Physio we will assess all of the above and provide you with a specific management plan in preparation for the birth of your baby.

***Disclaimer: Blog is for general education only, please seek an individualised assessment and treatment plan with a pelvic health physio.