Women's knowledge of performing Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises (PFME) before and during pregnancy

Aim: to explore women’s knowledge of pelvic floor muscle exercises (PFME) before and during pregnancy. Background: Pregnancy is a time of opportunistic health promotion and education. For nulliparous women, pelvic floor... [ view full abstract ]

Aim: to explore women’s knowledge of pelvic floor muscle exercises (PFME) before and during pregnancy.

Background:
Pregnancy is a time of opportunistic health promotion and education. For nulliparous women, pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) can prevent urinary incontinence (UI) up to six months postpartum. Even women who are urinary continent while pregnant could reduce the possibility of leaking urine for the first six months postpartum by doing PFMT during and after pregnancy.

Methods:
A validated anonymised survey was administered to 570 nulliparous and multiparous pregnant and postpartum women attending one large urban maternity hospital in Ireland. University and site hospital ethical approval was granted, and the study was conducted between March and May 2014. Findings from 242 nulliparous women are presented.

Key findings:
Almost three quarters (71.9%, n=174) of nulliparous women heard about PFME, and one-third (33.9%, n=82) did PFME, pre-pregnancy. Sources of information included exercise classes (48%), friends (18%), magazines (18%), school (8%) and the internet (8%). Of those women who did not do PFME pre-pregnancy (n=154), two thirds (63%, n=97) attended antenatal classes at the site hospital. Over half of these classes (57.8%) did not include PFME education, and almost half (46.2%) of women did not receive PFME education during their routine antenatal clinic visits. Pre-pregnancy, 15% of women, and during pregnancy, almost half, 47.5% (n=115), leaked urine. When asked for suggestions on ways to improve PFME education during pregnancy, many women just requested information on, and reminders to do, PFME.

Conclusions and implications:
Many nulliparous women learnt about PFME pre-pregnancy from sources which may or may not be trustworthy. Despite regular interaction with maternity care professionals during pregnancy, considerable proportions of women did not receive PFME education, yet all they required was simple advice and reminders. Opportunities for promoting urinary continence are being lost, and many women are left with unmet health needs and without timely health promotion advice that could help them become urinary continent.