18 Weeks

You’ve probably never thought about it, but we’re all most comfortable in a home with a straight floor, because a sagging, crooked floor could tip us over while walking or sitting, right? Well, just like your home floor, balance in your pelvic floor improves your whole body alignment. And ultimately, alignment equals comfort and ease during pregnancy and birth.

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Fetal positioning starts now. Aligning and balancing your pelvic floor anatomy now means your baby will have a symmetrical setting from which to curl and move into a good birth position.

This is a BIG topic — more important than most of us realize — so in this age of quick-hitting reads, we are (gasp!) giving the pelvic floor the space it deserves. We invite you to set aside time to read through our entire pelvic floor primer, and we promise to make next week a short one!

Understanding the structure

The bony pelvis holds within it the soft tissue pelvis, which is made up of both the pelvic floor and the uterine and pelvic ligaments. The soft tissue pelvis is in balance when it is not too tight, not too loose, and not too twisty. This helps the joints in the bony pelvis move without pain.

Why pelvic exercises?

Pelvic floor exercise is commonly recommended during pregnancy and postpartum. It’s a specific method of awakening and strengthening the muscles circling the vagina. These muscles are often collectively called the pelvic floor.

What to do

Rather than focusing on strength alone, we want to add flexibility for a living suppleness — much like the phrase, “the supple willow bends, but the mighty oak breaks.”

Support your pelvic floor from front to back with these four exercises:

Calf stretches
Kegels
Ball squeezes
Squats

Download and print this quick guide to use all month or throughout the rest of your pregnancy. If you want to geek out with Spinning Babies^® and learn more about each exercise, read on.

This Week

1Spinning Babies^® Activities of the Week

Calf stretches prepare us for squatting.

Katy Bowman of Nutritious Movement introduced me to the calf stretch. This humble stretch prepares your muscles for the squats you’ll begin in two weeks (20 Weeks). Hop over to Katy’s website for a deep dive into why calf stretches matter. In short, she explains that calf stretches “impact everything from the tips of your toes to the top of your head.”

Kegels need the Seated Ball Squeeze for best balancing.

“Kegels” are repeated, rhythmic contractions of the pelvic floor muscles around the vagina. They’ve been recommended to help reduce or prevent the uterus from slipping down into the vagina (prolapse), to stop urinary incontinence or involuntary peeing, and to increase or improve sexual pleasure.

Spinning Babies^® doesn’t see the Kegel as the most important exercise, however. For pelvic stability and control, squats and ball squeezes are essential additions. Five to 25 Kegels is better than 50-100 Kegels or more. There is some extreme advice out there! Relax your pelvic floor muscles deeply after contracting them.

After birth, Penny Simkin recommends doing a super-Kegel (20 seconds long), only if the pelvic floor is lax, with every diaper change to ensure plenty of practice. (You know your pelvic floor is lax if you leak urine.)

Here’s good information with illustrations from the Parent Resource Network. See more about pelvic floor health at AprilBolding.com.

Ball Squeezes

Balance your Kegels with ball squeezes (see Week 15’s Spinning Babies^® Activity of the Week). This simple exercise works the inner thighs and helps stabilize the pelvis, using a child’s toy ball or a physio ball.

Squats

Squatting lengthens the pelvic floor and other pelvic muscles to let your pelvis open more freely during childbirth. A longer pelvic floor is a more versatile pelvic floor that can hold urine, birth a baby, and make sex more enjoyable. It also improves digestion, and joint and perineal flexibility, reducing straining and hemorrhoids.

We don’t recommend 50 a day or three sets of 15. Instead, make it a regular part of cooking (prepping veggies on a low table), childcare, and movement. Learn more about squatting smart with Daily Essentials. Stream it or download it from our online shop.

2Your Baby This Week 3You This Week

Weekly Affirmation

Affirmations are short, powerful statements that can affect your conscious thoughts. Close your eyes, breathe deeply and slowly, and repeat the following to yourself throughout the next week:

“I am grounded and safe.”

References

17 Weeks

19 Weeks

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