How to stop bladder leakage during pregnancy and postpartum

First things first: Bladder leakage can happen to anyone at any time. It’s not just for seniors or pregnant people, and certainly not just those who have vaginas. (Trust me: I’ve treated plenty of younger folk with penises for bladder leakage!) The “peeze” - where you pee when you sneeze - is an equal opportunity phenomenon.

One of the biggest misconceptions around bladder leakage is that it’s caused by loosey-goosey muscles “down there.” Many people think it’s your pelvic floor that’s too “loose”.

So let’s get this straight: It’s all about function, which is another way of saying “Your body is super complex, and bladder leakage is about so much more than just some slack muscles.” Sure, one of the reasons you might experience bladder leakage is because you’ve got underactive pelvic muscles (my preferred term for what others might call “loose” muscles), but it’s much beter to look at what’s happening in the overall picture. After all, for your body to function properly, muscles, nerves, alllllll kinds of tissues need to work at the right strength, endurance, coordination - and at the same time. This of it like this: If you have a hyper flexible elbow, this would mean that the muscles in your *bicep* are very long and stretched out. This means the bicep can’t function well (carrying heavy things for example) which is why we should actually focus on strengthening that muscle rather than just the elbow. This is why kegels simply don’t work for bladder leakage because they’re targeting one thing - the contraction of certain muscles - when the problem might be caused by something else entirely, like a nerve injury anyway.

That’s why it’s so important to talk to a professional (like me!) if you’re experiencing persistent, problematic bladder leakage. We can figure out together if it’s something serious, and then, if not, dig into the specific reasons you might be experiencing this and come up with a treatment plan that supports you and your needs. Not just an exercise invented by a person who didn’t have a vagina. (Hi, Dr Kegel!)