Is leaking while sneezing normal during pregnancy?
Is it embarrassing? Certainly. Is it common? Definitely. But it isn’t normal.
That unintentional leaking when sneezing, coughing, laughing, or engaging in activities that put pressure on the bladder is known as stress urinary incontinence (SUI).
What causes stress urinary incontinence?
During pregnancy it’s caused by the increased weight of the uterus on the bladder, hormonal changes, and the stretching and weakening of pelvic floor muscles during pregnancy (1).
As the pelvic floor muscles support the bladder and other pelvic organs, their role is integral to controlling the release of urine. A reduction in the strength and control of these muscles leads to leakage, especially during moments of increased abdominal pressure, such as when sneezing.
Stress urinary incontinence is the most prevalent type of urinary incontinence (63%) and its prevalence rises with the weeks of gestation in pregnancy (2).
How do you fix your stress urinary incontinence?
Strengthen your pelvic floor! For more detail on your pelvic floor to our blog on this topic. Strengthening the pelvic floor can help to increase support to the urethra and bladder. It is, however, extremely important to have your pelvic floor assessed by a women’s health physiotherapist in order to ensure that you have the correct technique and are not causing your SUI to become worse.
Avoid unnecessary straining. Straining to empty the bowels places a lot of pressure on the pelvic floor and can leak to weakness, dysfunction and leakage. Place a stool underneath your feet when emptying your bowels, relax your abdomen and pelvic floor, breathe and don’t push! Go figure, we have a blog on this too!
Don’t go too hard too fast. When exercising during pregnancy or returning to exercise after having a baby, make sure you follow the advice of a women’s health physiotherapist to ensure you are not returning too quickly or doing exercises that place unnecessary pressure on your pelvic floor.
See a women’s health physio!
What can you do to stop leakage when you feel that sneeze coming on?
Engage your pelvic floor muscles just prior and during a sneeze or cough
Use your hand or the edge of the chair you are sitting on to support the perineum
Lean forward while sneezing which reduces the pressure on your pelvic floor muscle and abdominal muscles
Sangsawang B. and Sangsawang N., (2013) Stress urinary incontinence in pregnant women: a review of prevalence, pathophysiology, and treatment, Int Urogynecol J, Jun;24(6):901-12. doi: 10.1007/s00192-013-2061-7.
Moossdorff-Steinhauser, H.F.A., Berghmans, B.C.M, Spaanderman, M.E.A, Bols, E.M.J., (2021) Prevalence, incidence and bothersomeness of urinary incontinence in pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis Int Urogynecol J, Jul;32(7):1633-1652.