Many of us associate kegel exercises with the awful activity that our doctor frequently advises us to do while waiting in line at the grocery store or sitting at a red light, but these pelvic floor muscle exercises have an important role in your daily to-do list during pregnancy.
These exercises, named after gynecologist Arnold Kegel, Help during pregnancy by strengthening the pelvic floor muscles, which stretch during pregnancy and childbirth. Kegels, when performed correctly, help reduce stretching and strengthen the muscles in your pelvic and vaginal area.
Your doctor may recommend daily kegel exercises during pregnancy, which makes sense given that you need these muscles strong to help with the birth and to reduce postpartum incontinence.
If this is your first baby, you may be unaware of the essential role these muscles perform following childbirth. However, as you reach the postpartum period, you’ll quickly realize the significance of your pelvic floor muscle exercises.
Strong pelvic floor muscles not only maintain the reproductive organs and manage bladder and bowel function, but they can also help delay or avoid pelvic organ prolapse and other related illnesses.
And, pelvic exercises, done correctly and consistently, can avoid symptoms like stress and urge incontinence that can occur as a result of delivery as well as normal aging.
What Are Kegel Exercises?
Kegel exercises are a type of pelvic floor muscle exercises in which muscles in the pelvic and genital areas are squeezed and relaxed. The pelvic organs, including the bladder, uterus, small intestine, and rectum, are supported by these muscles. Kegel exercises can help improve and maintain bladder and bowel control by increasing the strength, endurance, and correct function of these essential muscles during pregnancy and after giving birth. The benefits of kegel exercises can last throughout life, but you should start performing them during pregnancy or after your baby is delivered, when pelvic floor muscles are often weak.
The good news is that you don’t have to join a gym to do kegel exercises for pregnant women. Kegel exercises can be discreetly done as a part of your daily routine.
Benefits of Kegel Exercises In Pregnancy
The advantages of performing Kegel exercises during pregnancy and after childbirth include the following:
- Improved bladder control – Many women report involuntary leaking of pee during or after childbirth. The risk increases with vaginal birth and having had a larger number of children. Kegels can help prevent or treat diseases such as urinary incontinence, which occurs when you have a strong desire to urinate and pass urine before you can get to the bathroom, or stress incontinence, which occurs when you cough, laugh, or sneeze and leak a few drops of urine.
- Strengthening pelvic organ support – One probable cause of pelvic organ prolapse (when the uterus, urethra, and/or bowel sag down into the vagina) is vaginal childbirth. This is because pregnancy and vaginal deliveries can weaken the pelvic floor muscles, causing them to fail to support the pelvic organs adequately. Your doctor may recommend Kegels as part of a therapy strategy.
- Reduced risk of fecal incontinence – This is a condition in which you leak stool before reaching the bathroom. Kegels help to avoid this by bringing strength to the rectal muscles.
- Exercise during pregnancy, particularly strengthening the pelvic floor muscles also helps you develop the capacity to relax and control these muscles in preparation for labor and birth. Kegels can assist mend perineal tissues that are strained following vaginal birth in the postpartum period.
15 Kegel Exercises During Pregnancy
- Kegels
To properly perform Kegels, consider beyond simply stopping the flow of urine. Starting in Supta Baddha Konasana and using Kegels stretches the inner thighs, making the pelvic floor muscles more malleable.
STEPS
Lie on your back, bringing together your feet’s soles. Squeeze the muscles in your pelvic floor. Inside, you should feel the muscles around your anus and vaginal opening up.
Hold them as tightly as you can for as long as you can while counting to eight.
Muscles should be relaxed. You should feel them relax and let go for around 8 seconds.
Repeat as many times as possible comfortably.
Make sure your thighs and buttocks are relaxed and that you aren’t holding your breath while performing the exercises.
- Squeeze Your Finger
You can prepare for labor and birth by managing muscular contraction and relaxation with the squeezing finger exercise.
STEPS
Insert your finger into your vagina. Touch the abdomen, tighten, and hold by squeezing your muscles as if you were halting the urine in the middle.
You will feel as if your finger is being sucked within.
Slowly and relaxedly breathe.
Repeat this process twice or three times.
- Breathing
Hormonal changes in pregnant women might cause respiratory problems. It may appear like you cannot obtain enough air at times. The uterus pushes the diaphragm during pregnancy, reducing the lungs’ ability to breathe.
STEPS
Initially, breathe normally.
Take a deep breath in slowly. (Breath through your nose) Allow your stomach and chest to lift as your lungs fill with air.
Exhale entirely (this time through the mouth)
- Sitting Tailor
Tailor sit is the most fundamental and simple kegel exercise for pregnant women.
STEPS
Sit down on the floor making sure to keep your back straight.
Bring your feet’s soles together.
Gently lean forward until you feel a small stretch in your hip and thigh muscles.
Keep your back straight all time. Do not force your hands against your legs.
Hold for five seconds and count to five.
Relax.
- Runner’s Lunge
This stretch lengthens the muscles at the front of the back leg all the way up into the deep low belly muscles that dwell in the pelvic bowl.
STEPS
Step forward with one foot, stacking the knee over the ankle and letting the rear knee rest on the ground.
Frame your front foot with two hands. Place your hands on two yoga blocks standing on their longest sides if they don’t easily reach the ground.
Allow your hips to slide forward to open up the front of the thigh of your back leg.
Take 12 to 15 deep breaths.
- The Garland Pose
Pelvic exercises can help avoid urinary tract infections and pelvic floor dysfunctions during pregnancy.
STEPS
Sit on the floor (see image for position) and lean forward slightly.
Identify the muscles by squeezing them. Find the muscle, squeeze, and hold as if halting the urine in the middle.
Contract and maintain the squeeze for 10 seconds after identifying the muscles, then release for 10 seconds.
For three days, repeat this method 10-15 times every day.
- The Tailor Press
The tailor press relieves back pain and promotes blood circulation. As the uterus shifts forward, the baby gains some extra space.
STEPS
Sit down on the floor making sure to keep your back straight.
Bring your feet’s soles together.
Put your hands beneath your ankles and pull them towards your torso.
Inhale while placing your hands beneath your knees.
Bring your knees down.
Push your hands against your knees and pull them slightly upward.
Hold for a total of 10 seconds.
Exhale
- Lunges on the side
A side lunge lengthens the pelvic floor by opening the inner thighs.
STEPS
Place your feet about a leg length apart.
Bend one knee while maintaining both heels on the floor.
Place your hands on the ground.
Maintain the straight leg and externally rotate it such that the toes point to the ceiling.
Hold for eight breaths before switching sides.
- Pelvis Tilt
The Pelvic tilt is one of the most useful kegel exercises during pregnancy for reducing abdominal stress. It has worked miracles in pregnant ladies, comparable to angry cat yoga.
STEPS
Lie flat on your back with your back against the floor.
Tense and stiffen your buttocks and abdominal muscles.
Gently elevate your pelvis.
Hold it for around 10 seconds.
- Belly Dance
This workout helps to strengthen your abdomen, back, and upper body.
STEPS
Kneel with your hands beneath your shoulders and your knees hip-width apart. Hold, breathing normally, while drawing your abdominals up and in, bringing your navel nearer your spine. Tilt your pelvis inward, bringing your pubic bone closer to your navel.
Hold for five seconds and count to five.
When you’ve finished the last rep, rise by stepping forward with one foot and pushing off your thigh with both hands.
- The Bridge
Can bridge exercise improve your pregnancy experience? Yes, absolutely! It is believed to strengthen the hip muscles, and because lying down flat during the third trimester is discouraged,
STEPS
Place your hands on the floor wall and stand an arm’s length away from it to support them.
Bring your feet together so that they touch.
Lift your heel slightly and bend your knees slightly.
For balance, you can also use a swiss ball.
Lower yourself to your level of comfort and hold that position for around 45 seconds. Don’t force yourself to keep time. Dress for your convenience.
Rep three times.
- Supported Pigeon
The outer hip muscles that surround the pelvis will be stretched and lengthened in this kegel exercise for pregnant women. Perpendicular to a yoga mat, place a yoga bolster or a folded blanket.
STEPS
Place the front leg’s shin in front of the bolster.
The back leg is straight from the hip, with the inner thigh sliding up toward the ceiling.
Fold over your front leg as much as your body will allow, making sure to relax and soften here.
If this is too much of a stretch for you, support your body and head up on another bolster or blanket stack.
Relax by taking long breaths.
Hold for 10 to 15 breaths before switching sides.
- Squats
Squats are pelvic exercises that keep the pelvic muscles moving during pregnancy, preventing them from weakening. Squats also aid with the hip opening. It is not necessary to lift weights during pregnancy. Squats are ideal during the initial stage of pregnancy.
STEPS
Stand tall, your feet shoulder-width apart.
Your toes should be pointing up.
You can balance by extending your hands outwards.
Lower yourself into a squat position, only as far as it may be comfortable.
Return to the previous basic position after that. As you return, begin squeezing your glutes.
Rep 10-15 times per day.
- Cobbler Pose in a Reclined Position
During pregnancy, there is a lot of strain on the pelvic floor, especially in the ninth month. The reclining cobbler stance relaxes the muscles and relieves lower-body strain.
STEPS
Sit up straight using a pillow and a block for support.
Bring the soles of your feet together.
Bring your legs in.
Press your knees down a little, keeping them separated from one another.
Only stay in the position until you are at ease.
- Bird Dog
Bird dog is a good exercise for the second trimester because it engages all of the muscles at once, including the pelvic floor.
STEPS
Place your hands and legs on the floor to form a table. Place your knees beneath your hips.
Maintain a straight back.
Raise one hand and the opposite leg. Extend them.
Move the hand and leg inside and out when you feel the weight of the tummy.
Perform 10-15 repetitions.
Tips For Doing Kegel Exercises During Pregnancy
Keep the following points in mind when performing Kegels:
- Doing Kegels while peeing may hinder your bladder from completely emptying.
- Keep your stomach, buttock, and thigh muscles relaxed and don’t strain or hold your breath.
- Don’t go overboard. It is typical to experience some soreness around the pelvic area after beginning these workouts, but if you experience pain, stop and consult your doctor.
- It is critical to perform these exercises regularly. If you find yourself forgetting to do your Kegels, there are applications you can download that will remind you and take you through different training sessions.
- Some women find it difficult to contract the pelvic floor, to begin with, or they have difficulty locating the appropriate muscles. Your healthcare professional may offer biofeedback training to help determine which muscles are being contracted, or electrical stimulation to contract the correct muscles using painless electric currents.
Conclusion
Certain muscles must be strengthened throughout pregnancy, and you must take extra precautions to ensure a smooth delivery. Kegel exercise during pregnancy prepares the body for labor and decreases discomfort.
They also improve core strength, but it may be difficult at first to keep the positions or continue the exercise for the prescribed duration. Increase the time to your comfort level, but don’t put any pressure on your body. It’s also crucial to know if you’re doing it correctly. Consult an expert on the subject. Pregnancy is a delicate stage for your body as well as your baby’s development, it is important that you do not put your health at risk and perform the exercises by proceeding with caution and under the supervision of an expert trainer.
Kegel exercise for pregnant women has no adverse effects, but if you are pregnant, you must consult your doctor before making any changes to your routine and only do so with their approval. For expert consultation, you can choose the skilled and experienced team of OB-GYNs at Queen’s Gynecology, Delhi. The best laparoscopic gynecologists with experience of over 13 years in different subspecialties of gynecology are available for you at Queen’s Gynecology. The team of doctors, nurses, and staff at Queen’s Gynecology has been successfully putting smiles on the faces of their patients for several years with their gold-standard treatment and sensitive touch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Finding your pelvic floor muscles is an easy process. When you’re sitting on the toilet, try stopping the flow of your urine. Do this only until you understand how it feels (otherwise, this stopping and starting of urine flow can lead to other health problems). You can also put your finger into your vagina and squeeze the muscles around it. Pressure should be felt around your finger. The muscles that you feel ‘rising’ inside of you when you do these activities are the same ones that Kegel exercises strengthen.
If you execute Kegel exercises regularly, you should see effects, such as less frequent pee leaks, within a few weeks to a few months. Make Kegel exercises a permanent part of your everyday regimen for long-term advantages.
Kegels would assist you in getting back into shape after your pregnancy. You will be able to return to your pre-baby shape and fitness more quickly. It will also aid in the toning of vaginal muscles. The benefits of kegel exercises are not limited to just before and after pregnancy, but their positive effects last a lifetime. Try them for a week and you will notice a difference.
