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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

"leaking" when I sneeze - freaked out. help!

14 replies

izzzie · 13/04/2007 22:56

hello
i'm nearly 27 weeks pregnant and am horrified to find that i've started leaking a tiny bit (urine) when i sneeze. i also feel like it might happen when I cough, though it hasn't yet.
How common is this? Does it start happening to most people at this stage of pregnancy, or just a few? I've been doing my kegels religiously since three months pregnant.
I'm pretty worried, if it's like this now, what hope will I have AFTER the birth?
Also, to the ladies that have experienced this, did it always lead to incontinence problems after the birth, or did things get better pretty quick once the baby was out?

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chocolateface · 13/04/2007 23:00

Start your pelvic floor excercises now. I think it's very common.Have'nt you noticed how so many women cross their legs when they sneeze? Tell your midwife, she could probably sugest somthing to help.

Twiglett · 13/04/2007 23:02

its fairly common

its down to the hormone relaxin which relaxes everything

it has no bearing on afterwards

good that you're doing your kegels .. quick ones and lift ones

tena-lady is your friend

twoplusone · 13/04/2007 23:13

izzzie- I am 26+5weeks pg I do leak when I cough , sneeze or laugh !!! which my dh finds hilarious... It is commonn in pg.. I have done this since I was about 12weeks..(it is third pg for me..)
Pelvic floorexercises will help.. when I asked about it at my appontment I was told it might get better in the pg then again it could get worse!!! but should be ok afterwards..
HTH

Uki · 14/04/2007 00:21

my slight leaking remained after birth, (but not enough for tena pads) if i had a full bladder and sneezed or even laghhed hard.
Pelvic floor exercises are all you can do before and after? How many are you doing?

I'd say minimum 10x sets of 10 per day.
I'm, on second pregnancy now so it's even a little worse. Incontenice is scary but so is old age in general, rather that than demetia, if i could choose.

Snarf02 · 14/04/2007 07:35

hi i am 17 wks pg with my second pg and nearly everytime i sneeze i leak a little bit. I try to laugh about it. Had this with my first pg and did not have a problem at all leaking urine after the birth. I am doing pelvic floors nearly every day as did wiht my first and as i did for first 3 mths or so after the birth so maybe i would leak more if i did not!

I try to do a pelvic floor when sneeze so less escapes!

mum2george · 15/04/2007 11:10

Am 24 weeks with a cough. Have you seen the old lady in Little Britain that pees everywhere, thats me that is.

Original poster

izzzie · 15/04/2007 18:39

i'm probably not doing enough pelvic floor exercises - one or two sets of 10 a day, max, when I remember, though I do feel the muscles are a lot stronger than they were when i started, when I could hardly feel them at all!
The leaking hasn't happened again (touch wood) but i'm sure it will do. I'll just keep doing the exercises. Thanks for the advice everyone..

OP posts:

fryalot · 15/04/2007 18:40

I had this with my last two (can't remember dd1, but may have done ) it stopped as soon as they were born. As Twiglett said, tena lady is your best mate!

lulumama · 15/04/2007 18:41

pelvic floor excercises !! do them !

lulumama · 15/04/2007 18:42

oppps. see that you are !

bobblehead · 15/04/2007 18:47

This happened to me too and oddly enough it had improved by the time I was very heavily pregnant. I must admit I was very lazy about doing my kegals but dd2 is 2 weeks old now and they are far better now than at the same stage with dd1 and I did them religiously with her (not that I'm advocating laziness!)

mad4girls · 16/04/2007 21:41

all i know is when pg with dd2 and even now at 5 wks pg its started, i only pee when im throwing up though. so i always get to the loo in time to be sick but have to change everytime after.

trouble is i spent most of dd2 pregnancy being sick so wasnt a good look, and this one looks like mighthead the same way.

pedalmonster · 18/04/2007 12:30

hi there - i am 33 wks and also an antenatal exercise teacher - the sneeze / cough / vomiting will probably cause you to wee a little as there is a lot of extra weight on your pelvic floor. Don't do the "elevator" or kegal style exercises though as these are slightly different muscles from the ones that you really need to strengthen. My best advice to you is to develop a technique called "the knack" - as you feel you are going to sneeze / cough, squeeze every muscle you have down there, like you are trying to stop yourself farting! This should engage the correct muscles. On a daily basis you should try to work on correct posture - try to tilt your bump slightly forwards like you have a helium balloon tied to the front of your pants, and a weight tied to your tail bone. If you are doing pelvic floor exercises concentrate more on squeezing the back passage (poo muscles! ). Remember once you have exercised them to release them again - this will help when it comes to bearing down and pushing. You an do this by concentrating on pushing and releasing slightly, making "huh" sounds from the belly. There are a lot of cases where people with super strong pelvic floor muscles struggle to have a natural birth! So best is to concentrate on good posture and breathing deeply which will automatically use the right muscles! Good luck!

mum2george · 18/04/2007 21:06

Pedalmonster

That's fab advice, thank you!

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