Kegel Exercises
As you would
guess, ‘Kegel’ exercises were named after Dr. Arnold Kegel. Kegels are
an isometric type of exercise that can really help your overall pregnancy
experience both during and after. ‘Kegels’ as they are commonly referred to,
are performed by simply squeezing and holding the muscles around your vagina and rectum
while you count to 10 [slowlyJ] and then releasing and counting to 10. These are the same
muscles you would use to ‘hold it in’ if you were waiting to go to the
bathroom. This group of muscles make up much of your pelvic floor and support your urethra [ the tube
that urine travels through], bladder, uterus, vagina and rectum.
Experts estimate that nearly half of women who have given birth
experience urinary incontinence at some point. Kegel exercises can cure
or significantly reduce this problem.
One of the important benefits of
strengthening these muscles through Kegels is that it will help reduce the
chance for ‘leaking’ and improve your strength and control during
delivery. As pressure and weight build
up around your bladder, laughing, coughing or even standing up from a chair can
cause you to wet your pants a little.
The basic principle of all exercise is to increase blood flow to muscles
to keep their function and control at its highest. Kegel exercises are also believed to help
minimize the occurrence of annoying and sometimes painful hemorrhoids during
and after pregnancy. Like all exercises,
it is very important to do them regularly.
Fortunately, Kegels do not require anything but your effort to squeeze
and release, so you can do them anytime while driving the car, sitting in a
chair, or standing in line or behind a counter if your job requires it. One way to remind yourself is to place a
sticky note with a ‘K’ on it on your car dashboard, computer monitor,
refrigerator, or any other location that you will view regularly. There is no maximum to how frequent or how
many Kegels you do each day, but the more you do, the stronger your muscles
will be.
