February 2015 Moms

Truth on Kegels?

So I've been reading that Kegel exercises can be really helpful with lots of pregnancy symptoms and postpartum issues. I was just wondering how much truth there really was to this?

Re: Truth on Kegels?

  • I personally think it depends on genetics. I have tried all of the exercises to no avail. I have 2 kids already and my plan is to have bladder surgery following the birth of this baby.
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  • Kegels definitely help your body prepare for childbirth. It strengthens the muscles that you will use during pushing. I did kegels all throughout my first pregnancy and only pushed for 10 minutes! I don't know how much of that was thanks to kegels and how much was a baby anxious to get out but I definitely recommend them!
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  • Do them! They can only help...
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  • Doing them is good for prep for labor. It makes you more aware of the muscles and can help you with pushing and being able to know when to relax those muscles.
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  • I have been doing kegels since I was pregnant with my first 15 years ago. I have some serious control over my vaginal muscles. I've never had any bladder issues, even while pregnant, except for those last few weeks when I'm huge and baby is kicking my bladder. If you go natural birth it definitely helps with pushing. It also helps with recovery afterward too. They can't hurt to do...even if for some they seem pointless.
    Me = 34  DH = 37  DD = 15  DS = 13  Married since 6/21/13 
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  • Mamabumpkin, what's your routine for doing them? I always feel like I can never do them for long enough.
  • I think the biggest factor is whether or not you are doing them correctly.  I had to see a pelvic floor physical therapist after the birth of my second baby and she said most women do not know how to properly contract the muscles.  It took me several months of being hooked up to a machine that monitored my kegels until I finally was able to do them properly.
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  • I've been strictly told NOT to do kegels by my midwife. Why would I want to tighten up when I'm trying to push a baby out. Which makes perfect sense. She said do all the kegels I want after but before would be like shooting myself in my foot at the start of a marathon. She told me a story about when she worked overseas as midwife in hospital and a super active army mom came in and said she want to have a natural birth. My midwife examined her and her cervix was so tight that they ended up having to do a csection. So yeah no kegels for me.
  • Rather her pelvic floor muscle was too tight
  • @mylazypony that's scary!! I've never ever heard of a professional advising against them. Although that train of thought has actually crossed my mind.  Its just weird b/c everything I've read says to start asap before birth. Hmmm. I'm definitely going to ask my doc at my apt Monday!



  • I read an article that they can actually hurt. It said they were only strengthening one part of the pelvic floor which weakens all the other muscles. The article I read said deep squats strengthen the whole area.
  • @mylazypony‌ my mum told me pretty much the same! It's confusing to given conflicting advice!
  • I've been strictly told NOT to do kegels by my midwife. Why would I want to tighten up when I'm trying to push a baby out. Which makes perfect sense. She said do all the kegels I want after but before would be like shooting myself in my foot at the start of a marathon. She told me a story about when she worked overseas as midwife in hospital and a super active army mom came in and said she want to have a natural birth. My midwife examined her and her cervix was so tight that they ended up having to do a csection. So yeah no kegels for me.
    I've heard this as well.  I never did kegels with either baby, and I got Amanda out with six pushes, so I'm not sure there's any correlation.

    I did them big time after I had Marnie because I had so much damage, and I could feel how weak my pelvic floor was, but I stopped after everything was back to normal.

    When I heard it, it came from an L&D nurse.  You don't want taut, strong muscles when you want them to relax and spread wider to accomodate a baby.

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  • I read an article that they can actually hurt. It said they were only strengthening one part of the pelvic floor which weakens all the other muscles. The article I read said deep squats strengthen the whole area.

    I read this too. I'm on baby #10 and I don't have much confidence in the benefits of kegels. During one pregnancy I wore a new piece of jewelry...it served as a reminder to do the kegels. Last pg I didn't do them at all. I have pretty much normal bladder control with only minimum complaints (leaking when I sneeze for example). I do squats as often as I can...more often it's diddly-squat!
  • I do kegels and have not had any bladder control issues (3rd baby). I don't even sniss. That being said, none of the women in my family have bladder issues. They all swear by kegels, but it could just be genetics.
    I started doing them as a teenager because I was told that they help you have better sex... While my sex life is awesome, I can't really tell a difference when I haven't done them (after DS1 was born I didn't do them for 2 years).
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