Have you suffered from postpartum incontinence or bladder weakness? Share your experiences with INNOVO - £200 voucher to be won

[BellaMumsnet]

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Incontinence is a common problem for women after giving birth, but very few people talk about it and simply suffer in silence. Living with bladder weakness can feel overwhelming both physically and mentally, affecting everyday tasks. With this in mind, INNOVO would like you to share your own experiences of bladder weakness, to help destigmatise the issue and raise awareness of it, so that others know that they are not suffering alone.

Here’s what INNOVO has to say: “Often thought of as a temporary issue, activities once enjoyed are curtailed or abandoned, and leaks just managed with pads …daily…Forever. I’ve always viewed urinary leakage as an invisible ball and chain for a woman. I see women every single day in my practice and I would encourage you to seek help from your GP, a specialist physiotherapist, talk to the people in your inner circle - you’d be surprised how many people could be suffering too. Try pelvic floor exercises, aka Kegels, but if you struggle to get them right, or still experience leaks, INNOVO can help take the effort and complexity out and help you along the way” Dr Ruth Maher PT, PhD, DPT, MISCP & Co-Inventor of INNOVO.

Were you prepared for the possibility of postpartum incontinence or was it a total surprise? Did you speak to friends about it or seek professional help? Maybe you have tips for managing it, or you found a specific exercise really helped to speed up your recovery? If you’re suffering from bladder weakness currently, are you worried about adapting to normal life and managing leaks while you’re out and about now that lockdown restrictions are easing?

All who post on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky MNer will win a £200 voucher for a store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

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I have had problems with this and personally found kegel exercises ineffective. I found stress leakage the biggest problem and I let it be a barrier to taking part in exercise for quite a while.

If people are struggling I would really recommend buying a device to help - I finally invested in one and can honestly say it's helped massively. If I stop using it for a length of time the problems resume but I'd say if I religiously stuck to using it for a week each month I'd be absolutely fine.

With my first child my midwife advised me to do my pelvic floor exercises,which I did and so I think this has probably helped but after having 3 big babies things are definitely not as good as before.

I still suffer with it now 6 years on after a birth with shoulder dystocia. The birth was very traumatic and damaged most of the muscles.

Thanks to everyone who has taken part in this discussion so far, the winner of the prize draw is @chris8888 - congratulations!

I've had 6 children and 10 pregnancies, I'm lucky if I can get to the loo without a leak. I'd love to be able to bounce on the trampoline with my kids too 🤞🧡

Minor problems in general but sneezing definitely causes an issue.

Yes, particularly when I sneeze hard, I need to clench my pelvic muscles. I think weight gain has also made it worse. I need to start doing peliv floor exercises!

I really struggled with incontinence following the (fairly traumatic) birth of my youngest daughter. She’s now 7 and I still have to be careful when I sneeze! However regular pelvic floor exercises have definitely helped to strengthen my muscles and it’s nowhere near as bad as it was.

No bladder weakness, but everything is a bit lumpy and draggy down there…. It is so hard to find out what is normal as no one ever really talks about it!

Having coped with pregnancies and periods I thought that I was over all that post menopause, but didn’t reckon on going through it all again with atrophic endometrium and granulation tissue in my sixties..

I have had real problems with my bladder since having dc2. I went into urinary retention during the pregnancy, and the messages just don't seem to be being sent correctly since having him. It may be due to my POTS syndrome, but it really gets me down.

I had bladder weakness after giving birth but regularly do pelvic floor exercises and have luckily not had any issues since.

They also sell these all in one pants either own brand such as boots, in different sizes S, M, L. and firms like Tena do them but bit more on the pennies that you wear instead of briefs as I recently had a water infection so bought pack of large ones from boots the chemist being their own brand ones.

When is the prize draw please?

Please start stipulating @BellaMumsnet this in your OP!!