This is a service for pregnant women and birthing people, both during pregnancy and for up to one year following birth, experiencing pelvic health problems such as incontinence or prolapse. We work as part of a wider team with pelvic health midwives, obstetricians and health visitors and we have a role in the perineal clinic.
Being pregnant puts extra strain on the pelvic floor complex, a group of muscles and ligaments in the base of the pelvis which support the bladder, bowel and uterus, and that these same structures are stretched during birth. As a result, it is common for pregnant women to experience leakage (incontinence) of urine (wee) or faeces (poo) or to feel as though their pelvic organs are sitting lower in the vagina, known as prolapse. Sometimes after having a baby it is possible to experience pain during sex.
Often, practising regular pelvic floor muscle exercises during pregnancy and after birth will resolve these problems. You can find information about the exercises within the resources tabs below.
Another common problem during pregnancy is pelvic girdle pain. 1 in 5 women experience significant symptoms of pain in and around the joints of the pelvis. The tissues in this area become more sensitive during pregnancy which can mean that they are more easily irritated by normal activities or positions. Often following simple advice and trying to improve your general health and stress levels will reduce symptoms. Information and exercises are contained within the ante natal resource tab below.
If your symptoms do not settle after following the advice contained within the resources in the antenatal tab you can self-refer to the team of perinatal pelvic health physiotherapists by emailing coretherapies@lthtr.nhs.uk
Please note, new referrals for pelvic girdle pain can only be made during pregnancy.
- Antenatal/During Pregnancy
- Pregnancy Related Pelvic Girdle Pain For mothers to be and new mothers | POGP
- Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises (for women) | POGP
- Pelvic floor muscle exercises and advice - A guide for trans men, trans masculine and non-binary people (who were assigned female at birth) | POGP
- Perineal tears and episiotomies in childbirth (rcog.org.uk)
- Fit for Pregnancy | POGP
- Fit and Safe: Exercise in the Childbearing Year | POGP
- Video - Pelvic floor muscle training
- Video - All ages pelvic floor video
- Home Page - Squeezy (squeezyapp.com)
Please note, any of the POGP leaflets can be accessed in a wide variety of languages by selecting Accessibility and Language Options and selecting the dark blue “change language” tab
- Postnatal/During the Year After Pregnancy
Please note, new referrals for pelvic girdle pain can only be made during pregnancy
- Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises (for women) | POGP
- Pelvic floor muscle exercises and advice - A guide for trans men, trans masculine and non-binary people (who were assigned female at birth). | POGP
- Fit for the Future | POGP
- Exercise and Advice After Pregnancy | POGP
- Exercise and advice after loss of your baby | POGP
- Return to running postnatal guidelines
- Perineal tears and episiotomies in childbirth (rcog.org.uk)
- Care of a third- or fourth-degree tear that occurred during childbirth (also known as obstetric anal sphincter injury – OASI) (rcog.org.uk)
- Home - Aiming to change the lives of women injured during childbirth. (masic.org.uk)
- Video - Pelvic floor muscle training
- Video - All ages pelvic floor video
- Home Page - Squeezy (squeezyapp.com)
Please note, any of the POGP leaflets can be accessed in a wide variety of languages by selecting Accessibility and Language Options and selecting the dark blue “change language” tab
