Postpartum pelvic floor health
Postpartum pelvic floor health
Every year millions of you suffer damage to their pelvic floor during birth. A relatively large part of you notices short-term, and even long-term consequences which have a negative influence on their physical and mental health, and which has an affect on their life. The problems can seem all the worse when you try to consider solving them in the light of your new parental and family duties. As a mother who provides nonstop care of her small baby, you must manage its care, feeding, a lack of sleep, and on top of that work on any possible problems of your own, be it urinal or anal incontinence or birthing pains in the area of the perineum.
This is why, these days, we place such an emphasis on prevention, correct evaluation, and appropriate management of injuries sustained during birth. Nevertheless, until recently the main focus of attention has been placed on prevention during labour, and not before or after labour. This also explains why many of you have suffered from a lack of information on how to deal with postnatal problems from a short- and long-term perspective. Management of the consequences of birth requires specialized training and approaches because the anatomical, functional, and neurological spectrum of these problems is very wide (urinal or anal incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, pain or perinial tearing, pain during sexual intercourse, hemorrhoids, rectal bleeding, or its prolapse, …). In addition, hormonal and physical changes after the birth can contribute to the occurence of your problems on the pelvic floor, and to the realization of how big these problems can be in some cases. It can be of such an extent that a multidisciplinary approach is required.
Many of these consultations, examinations, rehabilitations or treatments can be provided outpatiently. This is also why the specialized postpartum pelvic floor clinic falls within our Center for Pelvic-Floor Disorders, as this allows you to receive a fast, effective, consistent medical approach based on evidence.
Our centre provides the possiblity of managing the following problems:
Complications of healing an injured perineum
Consequences of injuries to the anal sphincter including the offer of managing any future pregnancy
Postnatal pelvic pains, painful pelvic girdle
Loosening of the abdominal muscles (diastasis of the linea alba)