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Day 92 of 280 · 13 weeks + 1 day

The first Kegel set

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 7 sources · Plain-text version

Pelvic floor exercises start now, and the evidence for them is unusually good. Today you do one set of ten and tie the rest to brushing your teeth.

Size this week
about the size of a peach
Length this week
around 7.4 cm from head to bottom
A woman in a loose sweatshirt standing at a bathroom mirror brushing her teeth in soft morning light, a sticky note stuck to the mirror's corner, nothing readable on it, the faintest hint of a bump.

Thirteen weeks and one day. Today's task takes about a minute, nobody can see you do it, and the research behind it is better than for almost anything else in these notes.

Your baby

One ripe peach on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around now your baby is around 7.4cm long, about the size of a peach (NHS). The movements are jerky and random at first, then become more deliberate (NHS). The baby is practising movement long before you'll notice. Today, so are you.

Your body

Starting pelvic floor exercises is on the NHS's list for this week; it describes the squeeze as pretending to pee and stopping midflow (NHS). The Office on Women's Health gives the dose: tighten the pelvic floor for a count of three, relax for three, and repeat 10 to 15 times, three times a day (OWH). If you already leak a little when you cough or sneeze, MedlinePlus's answer is the same exercise (MedlinePlus).

The evidence: a Cochrane review of 46 trials with 10,832 women found that, for women who are continent in early pregnancy, antenatal pelvic floor muscle training probably lowers the risk of urinary incontinence in late pregnancy, with moderate-certainty evidence (Cochrane). The only harm reported across the trials was two withdrawals for pelvic floor pain in one study of 43 women (Cochrane).

Try today

  1. The first Kegel set

    Time: 1 minute, three times a day

    1. Find the muscles: the NHS's description is the feeling of pretending to pee and then stopping midflow (NHS). Use that to locate them, then do the exercise sitting or standing, not while actually peeing.

    2. Tighten for a count of three, relax for a count of three (OWH).

    3. Do ten now, right where you are.

    4. Make the toothbrush the cue: one set while brushing in the morning, one at night, and one more somewhere in the day. Three sets a day is the OWH target (OWH).

    5. Build towards 10 to 15 repetitions a set over the week (OWH).

    Make it work:

    Keep breathing and keep your thighs and buttocks loose; if what you feel is your stomach or legs working, you've got the wrong muscles. Nobody in the queue can tell.

Watch for

  • Normal

    leaking a little urine when you cough or sneeze; Kegel exercises are the answer (MedlinePlus).

    Call your provider

    for pain when urinating, or a change in the smell or colour of your urine, which may signal a bladder infection (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    leg cramps, on this week's NHS list (NHS).

    Call your provider right away

    for pain and swelling in one leg but not the other, which can signal a blood clot (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    moods that swing; they're still on the list (NHS).

    Call 911

    or call or text 988 for thoughts about harming yourself or your baby (CDC); the CDC also lists the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline, 1-833-TLC-MAMA (CDC).

For you

This one pays off for years. In the same Cochrane review, women who trained during pregnancy were still less likely to have urinary incontinence more than 3 to 6 months after the birth, and that finding was high-certainty (Cochrane). Almost nothing else you can do in a minute a day has that kind of backing.

If you're the partner: don't ask whether she's done them. Put a dot on the bathroom mirror instead, and let it do the reminding.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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