Incontinence is normal after pregnancy, right? Wrong!

Incontinence is common, but it's not something you need to put up with because you're a woman.

Incontinence affects more than one-third of all women, and according to some studies, a woman's lifetime risk of undergoing surgery for incontinence or prolapse of the pelvic organs may be up to 19%.

No one talks about it

Incontinence is something you probably don't want to think about, let alone talk about, even with your closest friends. But we need to. It's common, but women have been conditioned to accept it all as "part of being a woman" (familiar with those light bladder leakage commercials?) But this doesn't have to be the case.

Leaking is a sign that your pelvic floor is asking for help.

So what makes us leak? There can be many reasons for incontinence, of which childbirth is only one. Other reasons could be:

●     Pregnancy 

●     Age

●     Menopause and post-menopause

●     Obesity or being overweight

●     High-intensity exercise

●     Coughing

●     Surgery

●     Birth Trauma

It's essential for women who have been pregnant, no matter how long the pregnancy lasted, to realise that their bodies have received intense hormones that will impact them also.

Stress is another factor that can cause your wee to escape, adding more stress to your life! Put simply, it's vital not to put up with incontinence, even if it's just a tiny bit.

Reasons not to put up with incontinence

The taboos and squeamish feelings around incontinence are normal, but if you're encountering even a tiny bit of wee escaping, you need to know that over time it's a condition that worsens when not appropriately treated.

In fact, incontinence is one of the key reasons that women end up in aged care. Suffering from incontinence affects your mobility, your confidence and your mental health. It stops you from being active, and eventually, it gets costly. 

What you can do about it

One of the simplest ways to take control of the problem is to learn how to complete a pelvic floor exercise correctly.

How to exercise your pelvic floor

1) Find your pelvic floor muscles! The simplest way to identify them is to stop a wee in the middle of your stream. That's them.

2) Once familiar with the sensation, practice those squeezes without being on the loo.

3) Sit up tall with your spine straight and shoulder blades back and practice the contraction.

Your posture will significantly affect how good these exercises feel (yes, they feel good!) and over time, you'll be able to complete them with little effort.

You can also book an appointment with a women's pelvic floor physiotherapist trained to advise you on your situation.

Women's health revolution

I'm championing a revolution in women understanding their own bodies because, for too long, women have been advised on exercise based on being 'small men'. Nothing could be further from the truth when considering women's physiological and hormonal differences.

Women CAN train and exercise as men do; just that there are some differences you need to be aware of that your personal trainer may not even know. And here's a secret, men can also suffer from incontinence and pelvic floor prolapse!

A revolution in women’s health

Exercise Induced incontinence

Mish Wright shares the story in her EVEolution course of how at age 35, she was diagnosed with a near prolapse, having struggled with incontinence, not after the birth of her two children, but later when she began exercising regularly. Mish had exercise-induced incontinence. She had studied a Certificate 3 and 4 in Fitness and had never heard of the term prolapse. Not only was it impacting her exercise, but it was also limiting her daily life and confidence.

I've partnered with Mish to bring you an online course to assist in learning about your own body. You'll hear from an authentic woman who will make you laugh out loud with her honesty. You can join Mish's course through my unique link and understand more about topics like incontinence, periods, pregnancy and menopause, to name a few!

Understanding our bodies has been almost impossible for too long because our bodies have been shrouded in mystery. Older women were never taught, and the specialists we asked to help us needed better training. This course can be completed in your own time, online and will arm you with a tremendous understanding no matter what part of the life cycle you are experiencing right now, and it may empower you to pass on information to someone who really needs it.