What is childbirth? By this concept is meant the natural process of the birth of a child. Every woman is afraid of his approach. Is it possible to somehow facilitate and accelerate labor? Doctors say yes! This will help the Kegel exercise during pregnancy.
History of occurrence
The famous exercise to facilitate childbirth was developed by the American obstetrician-gynecologist Arnold Kegel. He created a set of movements to strengthen the hip muscles. They gained wide popularity all over the world, they were performed by women, men and even children to improve their health.
The famous gynecologist came to the conclusion that these exercises are perfect for expectant mothers. Rhythmic movements help strengthen the pelvic floor and vaginal muscles. Regular training will facilitate the advancement of the baby through the birth canal.
Why is it necessary?
As mentioned earlier, it is necessary to perform Kegel exercises during pregnancy in order to reduce pain during childbirth and accelerate this natural process. There are several other goals for which you need to “work” on your hip muscles.
- Recovery. It is believed that if you regularly perform the exercises, then the human reproductive functions will persist for a long time.
- Improving the menstrual cycle. Many gynecological patients claim that regular training made it regular and less painful.
- Improving the quality of intimate life. Exercise helps strengthen the muscles of the vagina and perineum. Accordingly, sensitivity will increase during intimacy, and the partner will be pleasantly surprised.
- Restore muscle tone and elasticity after childbirth.
The advantage of such training is that they can be performed in any position and in any place: at work, in public transport, at home and in any convenient place.
Key Benefits for Pregnant Women
Experienced gynecologists recommend that their patients perform Kegel exercises during pregnancy to relieve pain. However, this is not their only purpose. Regular training will allow:
- Reduce the pain symptom in late pregnancy. The load on the uterus increases after the 28th week, and the muscles begin to stretch, respectively, a woman may feel unwell in the abdomen. Regular training helps prevent it.
- To strengthen the production of the “hormone of happiness”, which affects the improvement of well-being and mood.
- Accelerate blood circulation. Regular training is an excellent preventative measure that prevents the appearance of edema and the formation of blood stasis.
- Improve bowel function.
- Reduce the load on the spine.
It is worth noting that the stronger the perineal muscles of a woman will be in front of the birth, the less is the likelihood of gaps during the passage of the child through the birth canal.
There are no shortcomings in such training. The benefits from them are huge, despite the ease of implementation.
How to find muscle?
After studying the description of the Kegel exercise for pregnant women, you can understand that their essence lies in the impact on a specific muscle group. Before you begin your workout, you need to know where they are located. This will allow you to do this in an easy way:
- Wait until there is a clear urge to urinate.
- Try to prevent it.
- Feel, due to which muscles urination is held, it is them that need to be trained.
Important: you can feel this area only if the buttocks, legs and hips are not strained. So, the muscles are defined, now we can talk about how to do Kegel exercises during pregnancy.
What will be needed for training?
Surprisingly, in order to perform the Kegel exercise during pregnancy, you do not need free space and any additional attributes. It will take only a few minutes of free time to focus on your feelings. For the first time, it is recommended that you exercise at home in a relaxed atmosphere. If you wish, you can turn on relaxing music. Once the skills are mastered, you can train at work, in public transport and in any other crowded place. No worries. No one will notice that a woman is currently working on strengthening her muscles.
When to start training?
Gynecologists do not provide a framework when you need to begin to master the principles of the Kegel exercise during pregnancy. Nevertheless, it is recommended to do this 1-3 months before the expected date of conception.
If the practice has not happened earlier, then you can begin to train during the period of bearing the baby, but you need to do this carefully, following a few basic rules:
- The total Kegel exercise time during pregnancy for the first time should not exceed 5 minutes.
- It is recommended at first to train in a prone position, trying to relax as much as possible.
- During classes, it is worth controlling the compression force - do not strain the vagina too much.
- If a woman felt uncomfortable, then the training should be stopped. You can start training no earlier than 3 days later.
Often, expectant mothers can not understand the essence of Kegel exercises during pregnancy. If this occurs, then there are two solutions: try to keep urinating, and then repeat such a movement; insert a vaginal ball into the vagina and hold it for several minutes due to the muscles of the perineum.
Standard exercise
The standard Kegel exercise for women during pregnancy is performed while lying down. It consists of several main stages:
- It is required to take the correct position: the head and back should be on the pillow, the buttocks a little lower, the legs slightly apart.
- Next, you need to squeeze the muscles of the vagina and hold in this position for at least 10 seconds.
- The crotch can be relaxed.
- After 5-10 seconds, you need to repeat the exercise.
First, it is recommended to do 10 repetitions, then this number can be increased to 30-100 repetitions per day.
Usually women learn these skills already in the 3rd lesson. After this, the exercise can be performed while sitting and lying down.
Important: it is recommended to empty the intestines and bladder before exercise.
Rhythmic repetitions
There is another embodiment of the Kegel exercise. The starting position is similar - lying down, with knees apart. It is required at a fast pace to compress and unclench the muscles of the vagina for 30 seconds. Then you can take a break of 10-20 seconds and make 3 more similar repetitions.
Attention! During training, a woman should feel a slight tension in the vaginal area. A negative symptom is cramping pain and the appearance of secretions.
As soon as the expectant mother managed to master these movements, she can complicate the task. To do this, you need to alternately compress the muscles of the vagina in the direction from the bottom up and vice versa. You should feel like moving the elevator up and down.
When not to train?
Kegel’s exercise at first glance seems simple and harmless. But still, a number of factors can be singled out, in the presence of which it is worth refusing to conduct a training. These include:
- Diseases associated with the work of the heart and kidneys.
- Acute inflammatory processes, especially if they are accompanied by fever.
- Bloody issues.
- Risk of miscarriage.
- Severe or late toxicosis.
Even if there are no contraindications, the expectant mother should perform the exercises with extreme caution. In most cases, this applies to those gynecological patients who have already had cases of miscarriage.
Training should also be rescheduled if you feel unwell. Resume classes should only be after a complete recovery of the body.
Reviews of specialists
On the Internet, you can often find reviews about the Kegel exercise during pregnancy. Obstetrician-gynecologists claim that such physical exertion perfectly train the body before childbirth. They recommend starting classes before pregnancy or in the early stages of bearing a baby so that the muscles of the vagina have time to get stronger before the end of the third trimester. The intensity of the training should be reduced or completely stopped after the 36th week of pregnancy. Such exercises can provoke a contraction of the uterus, and therefore, premature birth.
Experts assure that exercises will be effective only if they are performed regularly. During classes, do not use the muscles of the back, buttocks, abdomen and legs. Doctors recommend controlling breathing during training: breathing in at the moment of tension and exhaling while relaxing. It is worth noting that after the 18th week of pregnancy, it is recommended to perform exercises while sitting and standing to reduce the load on the spine.
Mom reviews
On women's forums, you can find many reviews from young mothers who trained using the Kegel technique during pregnancy. Almost all of them claim that such simple movements helped not only ease the birth, but also significantly brighten up the intimate life with a partner. Ladies also praise the simplicity of the exercises and the fact that they can be performed in any position.
There are also negative reviews. Basically, they are connected with the fact that you have to allocate free time for training and that you can’t immediately find the right muscles. Some women write about the inefficiency of this method, but most likely this is due to incorrect or irregular training.
Conclusion
Kegel exercise is the most effective way to reduce pain during childbirth. However, for a child to be born quickly and easily, it is also necessary to take care of proper nutrition, moderate physical activity, a healthy lifestyle, it is also important to follow all the doctor's recommendations.