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Kegel Exercises 101: A Guide for Pregnant Women

by DP Nguyen 6 Comments

Kegel Exercise

Kegel ExerciseAre you tired of leaking urine? And do you want to have an easier childbirth experience? You have to try Kegel exercises.

Kegel exercises (also called pelvic floor exercises) are one of the most recommended ways for you to prepare your body for labor and delivery. Kegels strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, which are the muscles that support your uterus, rectum, bladder, and urethra (the tube that carries urine from your bladder to the outside world).

These special exercises are named after Dr. Arnold H. Kegel, a gynecologist in the 1940s, who recommended these exercises to help women with urinary incontinence and diminished bladder control. (There are also Kegel exercises for men, which have nefarious sexual reasons. Kegels were original designed for women, though.)

The Scoop on Kegel Exercises and their Benefits

Urinary stress incontinence (accidentally peeing on yourself, i.e. leaking urine, when you sneeze, cough, or laugh) affects up to 70 percent of pregnant and postpartum women. Since wetting your pants is quite embarrassing, you probably want to prevent this symptom (or reduce its severity). Kegel exercises are the way to go.

Kegel exercises strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, which gives you more control over your flow of urine. And another perk of practicing Kegel exercises when you’re pregnant – they also help reduce your risk of postpartum anal incontinence (accidentally passing a bowel movement or passing gas).

Roughly 1 in 4 women will experience involuntary loss of a stool or accidentally passing gas within six months of giving birth. So, to prevent anal incontinence, it’s a good idea to start practicing Kegel exercises in pregnancy.

Kegel exercises also improve blood circulation to your vaginal and rectal areas, so they may help keep hemorrhoids (swollen blood vessels in your rectum) away. Hemorrhoids are common in pregnancy, especially in the final months, and they can become itchy and a literal pain in your butt.

Another biggie on why you should practice your Kegels – they will speed up the healing of a tear or episiotomy (surgical cut made in the perineum to speed up delivery).

Of course, Kegel exercises also improve the muscle tone of your vagina. So there’s the benefit of having better, more enjoyable sex, too.

How to Do Kegel Exercises

To do Kegel exercises correctly, you need to first identify your pelvic floor muscles. An easy way to find the pelvic floor muscles is to go to the bathroom and pee. In mid-urination, stop the flow. If you’re successful, then you’ve found the correct muscles. (Make sure that you don’t make this a habit – starting and stopping urination can actually weaken the pelvic floor muscles. Plus, not completely emptying your bladder puts you at higher risk of a urinary tract infection.)

Another way to find your pelvic floor muscles is to insert a clean finger inside your vagina, and then squeeze the surrounding muscles. You should be able to feel your vagina tighten, and the pelvic floor shift upward. (You can also practice a Kegel when you’re having sex. If you’re using the right muscles, your husband should be able to feel you “hug” his manhood.)

Once you find the right muscles, you’ll want to start out by tightening the muscles for a few seconds before releasing. Give yourself five seconds to relax. Then, try the exercise again five more times in a row. (Eventually, you’ll want to be able to hold the muscles for 10 seconds at a time, relaxing for 10 seconds in between.)

Try to perform three sets of 10 repetitions (holding for 5 to 10 seconds, then releasing) every day.

Don’t overdo it. Kegel exercises are like anything else. You can’t overwork the muscles, or else you’ll end up feeling sore.

Remember to breathe freely during these exercises. It’s important that you don’t hold your breath, tighten your belly or butt. You should only be tightening and relaxing the pelvic floor muscles.

What is awesome about Kegel exercises is that you can do them randomly and discretely throughout the day. You can practice your Kegels while at a red light, or sitting at your desk, or even when you’re sitting on the couch watching TV.

Filed Under: Pregnancy, Pregnancy Fitness, Pregnancy Health Tagged With: Kegel exercises, how to do kegel exercises, kegel exercises for women

About DP Nguyen

DP Nguyen is founder and editor of My Pregnancy Baby. She’s a mother of the cutest little boy, and is an experienced health author and blogger. She's been writing about pregnancy and women's health since 2008.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Amy Adinda says

    October 12, 2011 at 5:41 pm

    What the Kegel exercises actually do is target the PC muscles which form the floor of vagina. Keeping the Kegels in control are really essential and only if the Kegels are in control they can be said to be strong. Having strong Kegel muscles can make your sex life really awesome. If you have control over the Kegels than you can provide a lot of pleasure to your partner and make him squirm. Also it will give you multiple orgasms by which all your desires will be fulfilled.

    Reply
  2. Mrs T says

    June 10, 2011 at 1:24 pm

    ** Sorry… KEGEL

    Reply
  3. Mrs T says

    June 10, 2011 at 1:24 pm

    Great advice! I do kegal’s all the time. They are so good for you…. and that someone special in your life 😉

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. pregnancy exercises | | Diet and ExercisesDiet and Exercises says:
    May 21, 2012 at 2:50 am

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  2. pregnancy exercises - Diet and Exercise Blog – Diet and Exercise Blog says:
    November 28, 2011 at 1:09 pm

    […] Kegel Exercises 101: Why Every Pregnant Woman Should Perform Kegels Learn the benefits of Kegel exercises, what Kegel exercises are, and how to do Kegel exercises during pregnancy. https://www.mypregnancybaby.com .. […]

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  3. Labor and Delivery: Helpful Advice for an Easier Childbirth says:
    November 6, 2011 at 5:07 pm

    […] pleasant, but once you see your newborn baby, it will all be worth it.You May Also Enjoy Reading…Kegel Exercises 101: A Guide for Pregnant Women Top 10 Healthy Pregnancy Tips Safe Sex in Pregnancy: 8 Things to KnowAbout DP Nguyen DP Nguyen is […]

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