WARNING TO MALES: THIS IS A VERY FEMALE POST. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
I HAVE to share this article. I want my daughters to know when they go to have babies that they don't have to deal with all the yucky crap that most women think is "normal" after pregnancy and childbirth. There are things you can do to prevent tears, episiotomies, and incontinence afterwards. I hear from so many women that they pee when they laugh, cough, jump, sneeze, whatever. I do not have this problem. And it is because I educated myself beforehand and do things that will minimize the possibilities of these things happening. There needs to be more articles like this with MORE information for all women. I would add things like the olive oil method that I use (husbands love helping with this one, lol!) It is just so tragic to think that some women just live in fear of peeing their pants all the time and have to constantly wear a pad. I can't even tell you the last time I wore a pad. It's a sad state of affairs when women so readily listen to stupid male doctors and their outdated practices.
That opening in the middle? That’s where your baby exits your body
(what you see behind the opening is your spine leading down to your
sacrum and tailbone). Picture that large hole in the middle as not
facing front to back, but on an angle and more up and down–the baby
descends through that opening, and the muscles (not pictured) both keep
the uterus and other organs from sagging downward during pregnancy and
also help to push the baby out of your body when the time is right.
(Note: the same muscles help you hold it when you need to go to the
bathroom and they help you experience sexual pleasure).
Next, picture the muscles in the area. Wait, you don’t know what they look like? Click
here
to see them (a new window will open). The muscles in this region are
like a hammock. They cradle, support, and help align the bones and
organs in the region. They assist in using the bathroom and “holding it”
too.
Now, think about what happens to your body during pregnancy. Your
uterus grows from the size of a grapefruit to the size of a watermelon.
You not only increase the weight load experienced by your pelvic and
vaginal musculoskeletal region, but you also change the way your weight
is distributed. If you were a gymnast, dancer, or avid yogi, you
probably began pregnancy with a pretty strong set of muscles in the
pelvic region. But even these more prepared people will experience
stress on the entire region during pregnancy.
The goals of this post are to do two things.
1. Explain what you can do to build muscle, alignment, and stability
in your pelvic region. This will lead to (a) less damage during
pregnancy, (b) lower risk of incontinence, (c) being better equipped to
push a baby out of your uterus into the world, (d) faster and more
complete recovery.
2. Give nutrition tips for creating strong supple muscles and tissues
in the pelvic region that will make childbirth “easier” and the vagina
less likely to tear.
Honestly, no one wants to talk about this, but most women want to know about it.
I
can’t guarantee that if you follow this advice you’ll experience no
damage and no vaginal tears during pregnancy and/or childbirth. I
can tell you with full confidence, that the tips I’m sharing are known
to give benefit in the specific ways noted here. We can’t really measure
the difference between what the damage would have been if you didn’t do
it–and the truth is, some of this is genetic.
First, ask your mom and other female relatives about their
experiences. Most people like to tell you all about what they went
through!
(Note: I’d avoid chatting with people who are likely going to make it sound awful, horrible, or scary).
Second, examine your lifestyle. Make the general and dietary
improvements listed below. Then incorporate relevant exercises. When you
go into labor, you can feel assured that you did as much as you could
do to set your vagina up for a positive experience!
Tip 1: Do Kegels. I know, you hear about
this all the time, and no one really does it. Actually–that’s not true!
Some people do kegels regularly. If you can’t seem to manage adding this
routine to your day, download an app that will help remind you (there
are several to choose from). Kegels are important. They strengthen the
pelvic floor muscle. This muscle is so important to both childbirth and
your long-term vaginal/pelvic health. You’ve probably heard of women who
have problems with incontinence after childbirth. Strengthening the
kegels can prevent this and also treat incontinence that is occurring.
Tip 2: Do Squats. Doing squats helps to
strengthen your gluteus muscles. These muscles are so important during
pregnancy and childbirth because they support both the increasing
size/weight of your uterus (and all that goes with it), and they also
help offet the stress created by the change in weight distribution.
Another often overlooked benefit of doing squats during pregnancy (Ina
May Gaskin recommends 300 a day!), is that it helps your pelvis align
properly. One mistake people often make is that they spend all their
focus on pelvic floor exercises (kegels), and doing this can actually
make childbirth harder if you don’t balance the action with squats! The
position of your pelvis and the alignment of the entire region is
important for pushing a baby out in the “easiest” way possible, and it
also ensures that your pelvic floor exercises are being applied
correctly.
Tip 3: Do Pelvic Tilts or Cat/Cow (if
you’re a yogi). On all fours, you simply tilt your pelvis from neutral
to anterior position and back (anterior position is like sticking your
butt up to the ceiling and arching your low back a bit). It’s not a
large movement, but it helps to strengthen your abs, ease low back
strain, and improve your posture. Ultimately, pelvic tilts are very
important for preparing your body for labor and delivery, beyond just
helping support your body during pregnancy.
Tip 4: Sit on the Floor or a on Birthing Ball.
Do this all the time if possible. Core strength is pelvic strength’s
best wingman. One leads to the other, or conversely, takes away. In
addition, sitting on a ball or with good posture (cross-legged) on the
floor helps align the pelvis properly, open the hips, and support your
growing belly without pain. If you’re not used to doing this, work up to
longer periods of time. It’s worth it, and you’ll notice a difference
very quickly!
Tip 5: Move More in General. You need to
exercise, whether it’s walking or yoga, or biking, or swimming… or
anything low impact. It’s important to keep moving so you keep good
range of motion in your joints. We usually think of our pelvis region as
“immovable” in terms of joints (aside from the hips), but the thing
about focusing on moving that helps your pelvis is the improved
circulation and lubrication of joints caused by being more physically
active. And whether you are aware or not, your pelvic joints do have the
ability to move a little bit. Make all your joints healthy, and your
pelvis will be healthier too. The stamina and muscles you build will
also help you during labor and delivery.
Tip 6: Eat More Foods from the Sulfur Group. Without
getting too technical here, sulfur makes your connective tissue more
elastic and helps it recover faster from damage. Foods in this group
include: broccoli, cauliflower, onions, garlic, cabbage, brussels
sprouts, and asparagus. Eat at least 3 cups of these per day! There’s a
compound in these foods called MSM (which you can take as a supplement
when you’re not pregnant), that will make you significantly more
flexible, and it will improve the health of your hair, skin, and nails
too. You can take this up until you get pregnant, but then you’ll need
to rely on the actual foods that contain it to help you in this
department. The bottom line is that more elastic tissues make your
musculoskeletal system more resilient during pregnancy and also help you
push a baby out of your tiny vagina without damaging it—it helps your
vaginal muscles, tissues, and related joints stretch and move, and then
rebound back to “normal” afterward.
Tip 7: Stay Hydrated. Every cell in your
body contains fluid. Fluid conducts electricity (nerve impulses), helps
cells carry out all of their functions, and assists in delivering
nutrients and carrying away waste in your blood and lymph. Your vaginal
tissues are not exempt from this, and your vagina will be healthier and
more resilient if you are hydrated.
Tip 8: Eat an Anti-Inflammatory Diet. This
may seem a bit too general to apply to your vagina, but really, it’s
very important. You need to cut down on processed foods, sugar, and
white flour, and increase the amount of nutritious whole foods you eat. I
swear this will make your vagina healthier. There are so many nutrients
that contribute to the health of your tissues, and processed and
inflammatory foods just don’t help. For example, Vitamin C helps tissues
stay healthy and repair faster. Healthy fats strengthen the walls of
your cells and balance hormones that keep your cells supple and
lubricated well. Calcium and Potassium are important for muscle
contraction. The list goes on! Processed inflammatory food doesn’t
contain enough nutrients.
Tip 9: Decide on Your Birth Plan and Make Sure Your Doctor is Aware of What You Want.
I’m not going to tell you what to put in it, but if you think you want a
natural unmedicated childbirth with no episiotomy and a cesarean
section only under certain circumstances, and you don’t tell your
doctor, you may not get what you want when the time comes. I suggest you
take a birthing class. The Bradley Method and Hypnobirthing are awesome
approaches to childbirth that will help you be in charge of the
experience. This will, no doubt, lead to you playing more of a role in
how your vagina is protected (or not) while you’re in labor and
delivery.
Some of the tips are more general, and some are very specific. I’m
very confident that if you integrate all of these tips into your
lifestyle while you’re pregnant, you will decrease the risk of damage to
your vagina. Please work with your doctor on a specific plan for
you–this is a general list that doesn’t take into account your specific
health!
Will you please share your experience with birth and how it affected your vagina?
The better you prepare your perineal tissues for the stretching of
birth, the less they will tear, and the better they will heal.
Like training muscles to perform at their best in an athletic event,
conditioning the tissues around the vaginal opening with massage
prepares
the perineum to perform. Midwives report that women who practice
perineal massage
daily in the last six weeks of pregnancy experience less stinging
sensation during crowning.
Mothers with a more conditioned perineum are less likely to tear or get
an
episiotomy. An added value of perineal massage is that it familiarizes a
woman with stretching sensations in this area so she will more easily
relax these stretching muscles when stinging occurs just before the
moment of birth.
