Your spouse may suffer from stress incontinence during her pregnancy. This is an embarrassing condition where a small amount of urine may involuntarily leak out; this may happen while she is sneezing or coughing, laughing, or doing anything that is physically demanding.
Causes of stress incontinence include:
- The hormonal changes that your spouse’s body undergoes during pregnancy
- The pressure exerted on her bladder by the uterus as the baby grows inside
Stress incontinence is seen more frequently:
- During the third trimester
- If your spouse is already a mom; the frequency of stress incontinence is less in women who are first-time moms.
Your spouse can reduce the frequency of stress incontinence by doing Kegel exercises. These exercises will:
- Strengthen the muscles around your spouse’s vagina and the urethra
- Reduce frequency of leaks by increasing your spouse’s control over her bladder
- Help prepare her pelvic muscles for delivery
- Speed recovery of her pelvic muscles after childbirth
Here are the steps your spouse should follow when doing Kegel exercises:
- Identify the muscles she uses to control the flow of urine.
- Practice slowly contracting these muscles.
- Learn to keep muscles contracted for about 10 seconds.
- Repeat this procedure about 50 times daily.
Tip: You can ask her to practice the exercise during your lovemaking sessions. This way you can give her feedback on how her vaginal muscles are getting stronger.