Pelvic Floor Considerations for 2nd Trimester
Changes are happening! You may feel a bit better and up for more during 2nd trimester. Things to consider:
Things are changing, physically and mentally!
We begin to experience structural changes in hips, breasts and belly. We may feel up for pre-pregnancy fitness mentally but we have to address our mindset and remember the why behind pregnancy fitness - "Will this exercise help or hinder my postpartum healing body?"
Changes in intraabdominal pressure.
As baby grows and takes up more space, we have more pressure inside of our intraabdominal cavity. We must develop new breathing strategies to manage pressure and re-assess high impact activity (burpees, running, jumping).
Limiting movements that don't serve us.
2d trimester is usually when we start to eliminate standard Olympic lifting, burpees or any exercise on our stomach or repetitive heavy loads that require us to breath hold or 'Valsalva'.
This stage is very INDIVIDUAL DEPENDENT
PELVIC FLOOR PHYSIOTHERAPY CONSIDERATIONS
Start addressing any symptoms or issues as they arise.
Assess body changes and start making adjustments to movement/exercise.
If not exercising, introduce a gentle movement practice to keep pelvic floor, core, low back, and hips resilient throughout pregnancy.
Address mindset - because you're feeling better than 1st trimester (sometimes) it becomes harder to determine when to modify.
Learn how to manage common 2nd trimester issues: leaking, frequent urination, not fully emptying bladder, pelvic pain, pelvic heaviness or fullness, round ligament pain, pubic symphysis pain, low back and hip pain, constipation, etc.
Manual therapy for hips, low back, ribs and abdominal wall.
