This is a service for pregnant women and birthing people, both during pregnancy and for up to one year following birth, experiencing pelvic health problems such as incontinence or prolapse. We work as part of a wider team with pelvic health physiotherapists, obstetricians, GPs and health visitors.
During pregnancy, your body goes through many changes to help you grow, carry and birth your baby. It can sometimes be difficult to know what normal changes are and when you should seek help.
Being pregnant puts extra strain on the pelvic floor, a group of muscles and ligaments in the base of the pelvis which support the bladder, bowel and uterus. These structures can be stretched during pregnancy and birth. As a result, it is common for pregnant women to experience leakage (incontinence) of urine (wee) or faeces (poo) or to feel as though their pelvic organs are sitting lower in the vagina, known as prolapse. Sometimes after having a baby, it is possible to experience pain during sex.
Quick links
- Health concerns during the perinatal period
- Pelvic Health Physiotherapy
- Antenatal exercises
- Postnatal exercises
- Self referral
- Contact the Perinatal Pelvic Health Service
- Try the GetUBetter app
Health concerns during the perinatal period
Information on a range of health concerns during the perinatal period can be found on the NHS website.
- Urinary incontinence
- Urinary tract infections (UTIs)
- Bowel incontinence
- Constipation
- Episiotomy and perineal tears
- Pelvic organ prolapse
- Your post-pregnancy body
Please do not feel embarrassed to talk to us about your pelvic health problems. Research estimates that about:
- 1 in 3 women experience urinary leakage 3 months after pregnancy
- 1 in 5 women have accidental bowel leakage 1 year after pregnancy
- 1 in 12 women report symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse (when one or more organs in the pelvis slip down from their normal position and bulge into the vagina).
We can offer treatment, advice and support for all of the above conditions.
Further advice can be found through the following videos from NHS South Yorkshire.
What to expect at a physiotherapy appointment
Pelvic Floor Exercises
Pelvic Health Physiotherapy
Pelvic health physiotherapy (sometimes known as women’s health physiotherapy) involves the assessment and treatment of pelvic health problems affecting men and women, such as urinary and faecal incontinence, and pelvic organ prolapse.
Visit the Pelvic Health Physiotherapy section here.
Practising regular pelvic floor muscle exercises during pregnancy and after birth will resolve these problems. You can find information about the exercises within the resources below.
Antenatal exercises
- Pregnancy Related Pelvic Girdle Pain for mothers to be and new others
- Your pelvic floor
- Pelvic floor muscle exercises and advice – A guide for trans men, trans masculine and non-binary people (who were assigned female at birth)
- Perineal tears and episiotomies in childbirth
- Fit for Pregnancy
- Fit for Birth
- Fit and Safe: Exercise in the Childbearing Year
- Antenatal guidance on perineal massage to reduce perineal tears
- APPEAL Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercise Education for Women
Postnatal exercises
- Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises (for women)
- Pelvic floor muscle exercises and advice – A guide for trans men, trans masculine and non-binary people (who were assigned female at birth).
- Fit for the Future
- Exercise and Advice After Pregnancy
- Exercise and advice after loss of your baby
- Return to running postnatal guidelines
- Perineal tears and episiotomies in childbirth
- Care of a third- or fourth-degree tear that occurred during childbirth (also known as obstetric anal sphincter injury – OASI)
- Home – Aiming to change the lives of women injured during childbirth
Self referral
You can self-refer into the Perinatal Pelvic Health Physiotherapy Service from 12 weeks of pregnancy up to 1 year after birth or by accessing the Women’s Physiotherapy page here.
Contact the Perinatal Pelvic Health Service
Call the Perinatal Pelvic Health Service on 01302 648212
Try the GetUBetter app
GetUbetter is an app developed by clinical specialists and is available FREE to women across South Yorkshire.
The app provides information and advice on conditions including stress incontinence, over active bladder and prolapse. It also provides information on health prevention and a whole host of added features including:
- Pelvic floor exercise videos
- Information, guidance and advice
- Top tips for managing symptoms of pelvic health problems
- Regular surveys to monitor symptoms and progress
- Links to local support services.
How to download the app
You can access the app specific to your local area using the links below:
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