6 pelvic floor exercises to do during pregnancy
Learn how pregnancy affects your pelvic floor, how pelvic floor exercise can help, and the best PT-recommended pelvic floor exercises for pregnancy.
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Your abdominal muscles do a lot of stretching during pregnancy, but there’s another important set of muscles working behind the scenes during pregnancy — your pelvic floor. This group of muscles and tissues, stretching from your pubic bone to your tailbone, acts as a foundation that supports your pelvic organs and plays a role in bladder and bowel control, sexual health, and stability.
As your baby grows, extra weight and pregnancy hormones can place more stress on your pelvic floor, sometimes resulting in symptoms like leaking urine, frequent urination, or lower back and hip discomfort. Exercises that strengthen and relax pelvic floor muscles can help manage these symptoms. Pelvic floor exercises can provide relief during pregnancy and may help reduce postpartum pelvic floor issues, too.
Here, learn more about the best pelvic floor exercises to do during pregnancy, from our Hinge Health physical therapists.
Revisado por nuestros expertos clínicos y médicos
Claudia Canales, PT, DPT
Renee Bullis, PT, DPT
Fully Covered Pelvic Care
Best pelvic floor exercises in pregnancy
Body changes during pregnancy can affect your pelvic floor and cause symptoms like incontinence, constipation and pelvic and lower back pain. Pelvic floor strength exercises and pelvic floor stretches can help strengthen, relax, and improve pelvic floor muscle coordination and control to reduce pregnancy-related pelvic floor issues.
You can do exercise therapy at home or work with a physical therapist who can guide you through movements tailored to your needs. A physical therapist (PT) can help you target the right muscles to address your symptoms and recommend safe and effective pelvic floor exercises. You can see a physical therapist in person or use a program like Hinge Health, where you may access a PT via telehealth/video visit.
Consult your provider about exercise before you continue your usual workout routine or start a new one during pregnancy. If you’re managing a medical condition or a higher-risk pregnancy, your provider can help you adjust your exercise plan as needed.
1. Seated Kegels with a towel
Want expert care? Check if you're covered for our free program →Kegels are one of the best ways to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, improve bowel and bladder control, and provide support to organs in the pelvis. “To check if you're doing the exercise right, sit on a rolled-up towel as if you're sitting on a saddle,” suggests Dr. Bullis. When you contract your pelvic floor muscles, you should feel a slight lift up away from the towel. And when you relax, you should feel the muscles dropping back down onto the towel.
How to do it:
Roll a towel and place it in the middle of a chair.
Sit comfortably on the towel roll with your feet flat on the floor. You should feel pressure upward into your pelvic area from the towel roll.
Slowly contract your pelvic floor muscles by gently squeezing the muscles around your vagina and anus. Think about lifting your muscles up and away from the towel and seat as you hold this position. These are the muscles you would use to stop the flow of urine or prevent yourself from passing gas.
Slowly relax your muscles.
2. Seated adductor stretch
Want expert care? Check if you're covered for our free program →This gentle stretch targets the muscles of your inner thighs. “The adductor muscles, which are close to the pelvic floor muscles, can get tight during pregnancy,” says Dr. Bullis. “Stretching them can help improve pelvic floor coordination.”
How to do it:
Sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor.
Lift one foot off the floor, then move your hip and foot out to the side, widening the space between your thighs.
Focus on tightening the muscles on the outside of your hip as you hold this position.
Return to the starting position and repeat with the opposite side.
3. Seated abdominal bracing
Want expert care? Check if you're covered for our free program →This exercise involves tensing the muscles in your core and holding the contraction. It safely strengthens your abdominal muscles and pelvic floor, which can help improve stability during pregnancy.
How to do it:
Sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor.
Squeeze your abdominal muscles. Breathe with an even inhale and exhale as you hold your abdominals tight.
Relax your abdominal muscles.
4. Reverse Kegel
Want expert care? Check if you're covered for our free program →Reverse Kegels do the opposite of standard Kegel exercises: relaxing pelvic floor muscles instead of tightening them. Reverse Kegels can help lengthen your pelvic floor, which can help reduce pain, constipation, and decrease urinary urgency and frequency.
How to do it:
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. If you're in the later stages of pregnancy, sit comfortably in a chair instead.
Breathe in to fill your belly with air.
Gently tense your abdomen as you try to push the air down toward your pelvic floor area. Continue to gently bear down as you hold.
Imagine you are gently opening your vaginal and anal areas to pee or pass gas.
Release the tension in your abdomen and relax completely as you breathe out and return to the starting position.
Squats strengthen your pelvic floor, leg, and butt muscles, and help improve overall balance. “Include a Kegel with the squat to cue your pelvic floor to work with other muscles,” says Dr. Bullis. Learning to activate and coordinate your pelvic floor with movement can help improve the overall function of your pelvic floor, she explains.
How to do it:
Stand with your feet comfortably apart.
Slowly contract your pelvic floor muscles by gently squeezing the muscles around your vagina and anus.
Bend your knees like you are sitting into a chair while keeping most of your weight in your heels.
Hold the squat while squeezing your thigh, hip, and pelvic floor muscles.
Push through your feet to straighten your knees and return to standing.
Relax your pelvic floor muscles.
6. Seated diaphragmatic breathing
Want expert care? Check if you're covered for our free program →Also known as belly breathing, diaphragmatic breathing can help improve the stability of your abdomen and low back and help relax your pelvic floor, which is important during labor.
How to do it:
Sit toward the front of a chair.
Place one hand on your chest and one on your belly.
Take a deep breath in, feeling your low belly, sides, and low back fill up with air.
As you exhale, feel your low belly pull up and in, as though you’re zipping up a pair of high-waisted pants.
Stay upright and keep your shoulders and chest relaxed. Think about breathing deep into your abdomen instead of into your chest and shoulders.
The information contained in these videos is intended to be used for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or treatment for any specific condition. Hinge Health is not your healthcare provider and is not responsible for any injury sustained or exacerbated by your use of or participation in these exercises. Please consult with your healthcare provider with any questions you may have about your medical condition or treatment.
Pelvic floor physical therapy is more than just kegel exercises. Various exercises tailored to your symptoms and needs are key to getting relief. Pelvic floor PT can relieve many different pelvic issues, such as pelvic pain, painful sex, and urinary incontinence.
Members of the Hinge Health pelvic health program experience an average 67% reduction in pelvic pain and 54% reduction in urinary incontinence within the first 12 weeks. Learn more*.
Benefits of pelvic floor physical therapy during pregnancy
“Pregnancy can put pressure on your pelvic organs and pelvic floor, which can lead to issues like incontinence and pelvic pain,” says Dr. Bullis. Strengthening and stretching pelvic floor muscles can help better support your pelvic organs and baby during pregnancy while helping prepare your body for birth, she explains.
If pain is limiting your movement or ability to do daily activities, physical therapy (PT) can help. Physical therapists can assess you, rule out any serious causes of your pain, help you modify your activities, empower you with tools and tips to help you hurt less, and personalize your exercise program with pregnancy safe pelvic floor exercises and pelvic floor stretches for pregnancy.
Pelvic floor muscle exercises and physical therapy during pregnancy can help:
Improve bladder control and reduce urinary incontinence
Improve bowel control and reduce constipation and bowel incontinence
Relieve pelvic pain
Ease pelvic pressure, bulging, or a feeling of heaviness in your vagina
Reduce low back or hip pain
Provide better support and stability for your body during everyday movements, like walking or standing
Prepare your body for labor
Make postpartum recovery faster and more comfortable
PT tip: start pelvic floor exercises early in pregnancy
When to start pelvic floor exercises in pregnancy? It’s never too early. “Exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health during pregnancy — and that includes pelvic floor exercise,” says Dr. Bullis. “You might think you should hold off on moves that target your pelvic floor muscles until after birth, but strengthening and learning to coordinate your pelvic floor muscles during pregnancy not only helps ease symptoms while you’re expecting, it can also speed up postpartum recovery.”
How Hinge Health can help you
If you have pelvic pain or symptoms that are affecting your quality of life, you can get the relief you've been looking for with Hinge Health’s online exercise therapy program.
The best part: You don’t have to leave your home because our program is digital. That means you can easily get the care you need through our app, when and where it works for you.
Through our program, you’ll have access to therapeutic exercises and stretches for your condition. Additionally, you’ll have a personal care team to guide, support, and tailor our program to you.
See if you qualify for Hinge Health and confirm free coverage through your employer or benefit plan here.
This article and its contents are provided for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice or professional services specific to you or your medical condition.
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References
Grimes, W. R., & Stratton, M. (2021). Pelvic Floor Dysfunction. PubMed; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559246/
NHS. (2023, March 15). Exercise in Pregnancy. Nhs.uk. https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/exercise/
Rogers, R. G., Ninivaggio, C., Gallagher, K., Borders, A. N., Qualls, C., & Leeman, L. M. (2017). Pelvic floor symptoms and quality of life changes during first pregnancy: a prospective cohort study. International Urogynecology Journal, 28(11), 1701–1707. doi: 10.1007/s00192-017-3330-7
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2019, July). Exercise During Pregnancy. Www.acog.org. https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/exercise-during-pregnancy
Zhang, D., Bo, K., Montejo, R., Sánchez‐Polán, M., Silva‐José, C., Palacio, M., & Barakat, R. (2023). Influence of pelvic floor muscle training alone or as part of a general physical activity program during pregnancy on urinary incontinence, episiotomy and third‐ or fourth‐degree perineal tear: Systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized clinical trials. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, 103(6). doi: 10.1111/aogs.14744