Maintaining A Long-Term Practice of Daily Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises: What Do Childbearing Women Think?

Introduction: To be effective, pelvic floor muscle therapy (PFMT) exercises should be intense, be practiced consistently, and include clinical support. Many women do not adhere to a consistent PFMT program, compromising the resolution or prevention of urinary incontinence (UI). This study aimed to answer 2 key questions: What prevents women from performing PFMT long term, and what can health care providers do to support women to perform them?

Methods: Postpartum women from 4 sites in the United States completed a questionnaire about experiences with PFMT or Kegel exercises during and after pregnancy.

The impact of transfer from an alongside midwifery unit to labor and delivery on birthing women: A qualitative study.

Objective: To explore laboring women's thoughts, feelings, and experiences of transferring from an Alongside Midwifery Unit or free-standing birth center to labor and delivery.

Design: A qualitative online survey was used for this research.

Setting: An Alongside Midwifery Unit in the southwestern United States.

Prenatal and Postpartum Experience, Knowledge and Engagement with Kegels: A Longitudinal, Prospective, Multisite Study.

Urinary incontinence (UI) increases during pregnancy and continues into the postpartum period. Continued UI impacts women's comfort and affects aspects of their everyday lives. Kegel exercises have been found to decrease the incidence and severity of UI.