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Home › Articles › Complications in Pregnancy › Protecting Your Pelvic Floor

Protecting Your Pelvic Floor

How Much Do You Know About This Part of Your Anatomy?

By Jacqueline Rupp

Pages:  1  2  3  4  5  6  

8. Episiotomies are often necessary during a vaginal delivery and can help protect the pelvic floor from damage.

True or False?

9. During labor what can women do to prevent pelvic floor problems?

a. Request monitoring at intervals rather than continuous electronic fetal heart monitoring.
b. Delay an epidural.
c. Avoid the use of oxytocin unless it is absolutely necessary.
d. All of the above.

10. During delivery, when should you push?

a. You need to push when the doctor or nurse tells you you should.
b. You should only push when you feel the urge.

11. Sometimes it is helpful for a nurse to push down on a mother's stomach to aid the delivery.

True or False?

12. In a hospital, are you allowed to refuse a procedure?

a. No. If you do your doctor will be allowed to leave.
b. Yes. Called informed refusal, you have the right to state that, unless deemed a medical necessity, you do not want a specific procedure such as a vacuum delivery or episiotomy.
c. Maybe, but the doctor or nurse might get mad at you if you do.

13. What is the best position to be in during delivery to protect the pelvic floor muscles?

a. Lying on your back.
b. Lying on your side.
c. Kneeling on all fours.
d. Both b and c.

How did you do?

1. b. The pelvic floor is a complex series of muscles and connecting tissue that actually supports many of your internal organs including the bladder and uterus. The muscles also surround the vagina, anus and urethra and help keep these areas functioning normally.

2. a. When the band of pelvic muscles becomes weakened, it may become more difficult for the bladder to remain closed, for the vagina to have proper muscle tone and for the internal organs to be properly supported.

3. b. "Many women have incontinence before becoming pregnant, many women develop incontinence during pregnancy and most women who have incontinence after birth have mild symptoms," says Dr. Carol Sakala, director of programs for the Childbirth Connection, a not-for-profit association that promotes evidence-based maternity care.


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