3 Ways to Help Heal Your Pelvic Floor After Birth Without Kegels
If you're reading this post, no doubt you're looking for ways to help your pelvic floor recover more fully after birth. If you're preparing for birth and wanting to get a jump on things so you can heal more fully after birth, this is a great place to start so you can be prepared and have a head start on keeping the pelvic floor healthy so it can recover more quickly!
And if you've already given birth (recently or not-so-recently) and want to make sure you fully heal so you can get ready for more babies, return to running or other exercise, enjoy pain-free sex again, and not pee on yourself, this is a great place to start!
1. Work on Breathing
Breathing seems so simple and it should be! It's important because how we breathe (through our belly, ribcage, shoulders) can tell you a lot about where you hold tension or have tight tissues.
For pelvic floor health, it's important that your breath help to relieve rather than cause pressure on the pelvic floor. Too much pressure is one of the main causes of prolapse, urinary/bowel leakage, tightness, and pain. So it makes sense to address the pressure system to make sure everything is balanced. If you've been doing kegels without improvement in symptoms, this could be one of the missing links.
Try this:
Lie on your back, slightly propped with a pillow under your shoulders. Just relax and breathe as you normally do. Place you hands on different parts of your abdomen, ribcage, upper chest, to feel for a rise and fall. Where do you feel your breath go on the inhale?
Next, as you breathe in (through your nose), notice if your pelvic floor is tight or relaxed. Consciously release any tension. If you're not sure if you're tense, try quickly squeezing the pelvic floor muscles and then let it go. If you don't feel a squeeze, the muscles may already be on. Work on letting the breath (on the inhale) make your lower ribcage and belly rise, while the pelvic floor is relaxed. No kegeling please.
Breathe gently and slowly for about 10 breaths as you get the hang of breathing low in the ribcage and letting the pelvic floor relax.
This helps balance the pressure and lengthen the pelvic floor muscles so they can get a better contraction when they need to (like when you're sneezing). If the muscles are already short, they can't generate the force necessary to perform the functions they need to. Just remember, pelvic floor muscles are like Goldilocks. For best function they should not be too short, not too long, but right in the middle with the ability to lengthen and shorten as needed.
2. Build Hip Strength and Stability
Hip stability and strength is an integral part to pelvic floor function.
Try this:
With eyes open, stand on one leg. Notice if you're wobbly or steady. Switch sides and compare how it feels vs the other side.
Now try it with your eyes closed (make sure you're near something you can hold onto or touch if you need steadying at any point). Check both sides. Are you steady or wobbly? Do you feel any pain or fatigue in any particular spot?
If those seemed easy go to this next step. If they were hard, STOP THERE and skip down to the exercise below...
Next, try standing on a soft surface like a small trampoline, mattress, cushion, or pillow. Keep eyes open and try standing on one foot. See the difference in this compared to standing on a hard surface? Make sure to try both sides so you can check for stability in one hip vs the other.
It's important that the hips be stable on multiple types of surface since we are constantly walking on various floors, grass, sand, dirt, etc. And this all relates to pelvic floor function because if the hips are weak or unstable, the pelvic floor may be over-compensating to try to stabilize the pelvis.
Hip Stability Exercise
Stand on one foot and bend over as if picking something up off floor in front of you. Let your body hinge forward (pretend you're a little teapot). Come back to standing. Repeat 10-15 times. Now switch sides and do the same thing.
Too easy? Try it while standing on a soft surface for more of a challenge!
3. Support Your Tissue Healing with Good Lifestyle Habits
For the body to be able to heal, the tissues not only need to be exercised, but need to be supported with all the other things we do throughout the day. Here are just a few things that are pretty simple to do that can make for healthier tissues that will be more resilient, less prone to injury, and able to heal more quickly and fully:
Get plenty of varied movement throughout the day
Drink plenty of water (can add a bit of lemon and take with a grain of Celtic salt for mineral balance)
Get regular sleep (don't stress about this if you have a new baby - there are plenty of other things you can do until sleep returns)
Wear loose fitting clothing (keep the pressure off your gut and pelvis to help balance the pressures in your body/on your pelvic floor)
Take care of your gut health (bloating is no friend of the pelvic floor/abdominal muscles. Chew food well, and eat non-irritating foods to make it easy on your body to digest well.)
Support your tissues with whole food supplements - synthetic vitamins can cause more harm than good and lead to imbalances. Whole foods and supplement made from whole foods, on the other hands, are a way to get concentrated nutrition when you need extra support. These are a few of my favorites: JuicePlus, Berry Blend, Omega Blend. (Omegas are especially important to good connective tissue strength and suppleness)
Try a plant-based collagen supplement like this one from Ora Organic (Aloe Gorgeous)
De-stress (enjoy the small moments even if life seems overwhelming. Look for things to be thankful for each day. Give yourself grace to not be perfect or have it all together.)
These are some great ways to get started healing from birth and should help you get on track. For more specific tools, strategies, and exercises to give your body the best preparation for birth and healing after, be sure to check out our ever-growing library of printable exercises and protocols.
In the meantime, be sure to get the free printable Postpartum Recovery Protocol: Day 1. So you can heal well from the start.
Disclosure: the links in this article are affiliate links. If you buy through the links, I will receive a commission at no extra expense to you. Thank you for your support.
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