The Importance of Pelvic Floor Muscles

When a woman becomes pregnant, it is an exciting, happy and joyful time for her and her partner, but it can also create stress and anxiety, especially if it’s her first pregnancy. Many new expectant mothers will also develop fears; such as a possible miscarriage, whether the baby will be healthy, or whether she is going to be a good mother. New mothers will experience similar emotions when her new baby comes into the world. There are many changes and challenges that affect the woman throughout her pregnancy and after childbirth. The changes can include emotional, mental, physical and hormonal changes to the body. The woman can have mood changes, that is unexplained teariness or become easily upset, increased tiredness, develop enlarged and tender breasts and frequent urination. This essay will briefly describe the location and function of the pelvic floor; discuss the importance of maintaining a strong pelvic floor during the antenatal and postnatal period in the treatment of urinary incontinence. And as a midwife, it is their role to provide education and support for the women they look after. The pelvic floor consists of layers of muscles “stretching like a hammock from the pubic bone in the front, to the base of the spine” (O’Connell, Bennett & Jarvis, 2004). There are three openings that pass through the pelvic floor; the urethra from the bladder, the vagina from the uterus and the anus from the bowel (The Royal Women’s Hospital Fact Sheet, 2010). The pelvic floor muscles work to support the bladder, uterus and bowel (Hendy, 2006; The Royal Women’s Hospital Fact Sheet, 2010) and hold the organs in their correct position (O’Connell et al., 2004). A strong pelvic floor assists with improved bladder and bowel control because the muscles contribute to the closing mechanism of the sphincter of the urethra and anus (O’Connell et al., 2004). This helps to prevent problems like urine or faecal incontinence and prolapse of the bladder, uterus and bowel (The Royal

References: Chiarelli, P. & Cockburn, J. (2002). Promoting urinary continence in women after delivery: randomised controlled trial. British Medical Journal, 324(7348), 1241-1244 Day, J., & Goad, K Dinc, A., Dizilkaya Beji, N. & Yalcin, O. (2009). Effect of pelvic floor muscle exercises in the treatment of urinary incontinence during pregnancy and the postpartum period. International Urogynecology Journal, 20(10), 1223-1231 Duggan, P Hamilton, H. (2007). The midiwfe’s role and responsibilities. In Hamilton, H. (Eds). Contemporary Midwifery Practice: Health Promotion: the role of the midwife (pp.13-19). Bundoora: the Faculty of Health, Medicine, Nursing and Behavioural Sciences. Hendy, S. (2006). Maintaining the integrity of pelvic floor. In Pairman, S., Pincombe, J., Thorogood, C. & Tracy, S. (Eds). Midwifery: preparation for practice (pp.444-454). Australia: Elsevier Joanna Briggs Institute (2006) The Royal Women’s Hospital Fact Sheet (2010). Pelvic floor exercises. Retrieved 31st August, 2011 from: http://www.thewomens.org.au/pelvicfloorexercises Wagg, A