This guest post has been provided by?HARTMANN. Opinions are of the author.
How to manage incontinence, and how HARTMANN?S incontinence products can help.
During pregnancy, it is usual for many women to experience some degree of incontinence, which can be defined as the involuntary loss of urine. For some pregnant women, this is mild and infrequent but for others, it can be a regular occurrence. Many women manage this incontinence with a mix of pelvic floor exercises and incontinence products ware specifically for urine loss can be used such as HARTMANN incontinence pads. For others, medication may also be needed to calm an overactive bladder.
Incontinence during and after pregnancy
The type of incontinence that many pregnant women experience is known as stress incontinence. This means an involuntary escape of urine as the result of pressure on the bladder.
The pressure in the abdomen from the growing baby can cause some women to suffer from a temporary condition known as an overactive bladder. This means they experience the urge to urinate frequently, with the urethra also being affected. The muscles surrounding this tube hold the urine in but, with a particular strong bladder contraction, they are overridden thus leading to incontinence.
As well as an overactive bladder, other causes of stress incontinence can be laughing, coughing or sneezing. These can all cause an involuntary escape of urine, especially in the later stages of pregnancy when the pressure and weight of the growing baby on the bladder is significant.
In many cases, pregnant women manage stress incontinence easily by using incontinence pads specifically for minor bladder leakage from HARTMANN incontinence products range. In many cases, any incontinence issues that were apparent during pregnancy are no longer an issue after birth.
That said it is not uncommon for women to suffer some kind of incontinence issues as birth weakens the pelvic floor muscles. These muscles are like a sling, stretching from one side of the body to the other.
Childbirth can also mean that incontinence is a by-product of procedures and other issues, such as:
- Damage to the nerves that control the bladder
- The urethra and/or bladder may have moved during pregnancy
- The pelvic floor muscle may have been cut during birth to allow the baby to come through easier; this is known as an episiotomy
Can incontinence be treated?
In most cases of stress incontinence, there are methods and treatments that can be effective and useful. If you are pregnant, and suffering from incontinence, talk to your midwife or doctor about what you can do about it.
Some women find that making frequent visits to the loo, even when they do not have the urge to urinate can help to prevent accidental or involuntary leakage.
There are medications too, that can be used to control an overactive bladder if managing incontinence is becoming more difficult.
There are also exercises that pregnant women can do, called pelvic floor muscle exercises, that can help to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, reducing involuntary leakage.
For many women, the obvious answer lays in using incontinence ware that protects their clothing and is also hygienic in preventing soreness and smell too. HARTMANN incontinence products, for example, are discreet, helping to manage odour and a good quality product.
A problem that can be managed and eliminated
In cases of stress incontinence, it is not inevitable that a pregnant women or new mother should continue to suffer from it. Pelvic floor muscle exercises are simple and straightforward to do.
They require no special equipment and can be performed anywhere, at any time. With your bottom, thigh and abdomen relaxed, tighten the pelvic floor muscle. The feeling is similar to tightening and pulling the muscle upward and inward.
Some women are unsure if they are doing it right but with perseverance and practice, you will soon learn the technique. Tighten the muscles, hold for ten seconds, and then relax it for ten seconds.
Perform ten reps of this exercise, around three times a day such as once in the morning, the afternoon and the final set of 10 in the evening.
Seeing a health professional
In some cases, incontinence can be a clinical issue that requires intervention. If you are unsure, or the incontinence significantly increases it could be the sign of a urinary tract infection, also known as a UTI.
Always talk to your midwife, doctor or another health professional at any time if you are worried or concerned.
Working with both private customers, as well as a range of health professionals and businesses within the care sector HARTMANN Direct are aware of the impact that incontinence can have on the lives of pregnant women. A condition that will improve and can be managed is not that should hold embarrassment, which is why aspects of ordering from them are discreet.