Pregnancy is a time of great change for your body – and that includes your pelvic floor muscles. As your baby grows, the pelvic floor muscles need to stretch and adapt to support the added weight. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I LOVE pelvic floor release.
I want to touch on the pelvic floor relaxation component that’s SO crucial in the birthing process.
What is Pelvic Floor Release?
If you’re not familiar with what this is, it’s simply learning how to let go of the tension in your pelvic floor and allowing your pelvic floor muscles to lengthen/relax how they’re supposed to. Seems easy, right?! it’s actually NOT! So many mamas carry tension in their pelvic floor without even knowing it. As you can imagine, this can become problematic during birth as these pelvic floor muscles have to lengthen 3-4x their size for baby to come out!
How to practice pelvic floor release throughout pregnancy
- Find a comfortable and quiet space in your home (it’s much easier to relax without a screaming toddler in your face ;-))
- Inhale through your nose (diaphragmatic breath or 360 breath) and feel for that lengthening component in your pelvic floor
- You can visualize a blooming flower (your pelvic floor) as you are inhaling
- Exhale through your mouth keeping your jaw and face relaxed and making low tone sound
- You can visualize keeping the flower blooming? (your pelvic floor) on your exhalation
- Repeat and feel the relaxation in your entire body but especially in your pelvic floor
Fun fact: There is a connection between your jaw/facial muscles and your pelvic floor! Make sure you are not clenching your jaw as you practice pelvic floor release. Relax your facial muscles and melt into your pose✌.
It takes LOTS of practice, self-awareness, and patience to truly start to feel and see the benefits of pelvic floor release. On top of helping prep your pelvic floor for birth, pelvic floor release helps reduce stress and anxiety by tapping into your parasympathetic nervous system. Win-win!
I recommend that you practice pelvic floor release exercises throughout your entire pregnancy but especially in the third trimester. As you spend time in different relaxing poses, focus on your breath.
With each inhale, feel your pelvic floor lengthening/relaxing and as you exhale, try to keep your pelvic floor relaxed (do not clench).
The longer you spend in a pelvic floor release pose, the more your body will able to relax.
Benefits of Pelvic Floor Release
- Improve bowel and bladder function
- Increase sexual function
- Provide pelvic organ support
- Enhance postural support
- Reduce the risk of prolapse
- Improve recovery after surgery
- Strengthens the pelvic muscles
- Prevents incontinence after child birth
To sum up, there are many things you can do to prepare your pelvic floor for birth. Strengthening and toning these muscles in advance is one of the best ways to ensure a smooth delivery. If you’re pregnant, be sure to talk to your doctor about exercises that will work best for you. Muscles that are healthy and fit before the baby is born will heal more quickly after the birth and will help to decrease or eliminate stress incontinence after pregnancy.
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