Prevention of pelvic floor disorders is “UR Choice” in pregnancy

UR CHOICE is the pelvic floor disorder risk calculator: a must-know for mothers-to-be.

Have you heard of the UR-CHOICE pelvic floor disorder risk calculator?

A research paper written by Wilson et al in November 2014 highlights several major risk factors that when scored in their calculator can tell “mothers-to-be” or those who don’t identify as mothers, what their pelvic floor dysfunction could potentially be.

It is widely recognised that vaginal birth is a major cause of pelvic floor dysfunction for many.

Pelvic floor dysfunction refers to:
* urinary incontinence (peeing involuntarily),
* faecal incontinence (pooing involuntarily) and
* pelvic organ prolapse (bladder, bowel or uterus moves lower into the pelvis and sometimes feels like a heaviness or dragging down sensation) in this instance.

So, what are the major risk factors and why is this information essential for all “mothers-to-be” to know?

• Urine incontinence before pregnancy
• Ethnicity
• Age at birth of first child
• Body Mass Index
• Family history (Mother and sister) with pelvic floor dysfunction
• Baby’s weight of >4kg
• Maternal height < 160cm

The scoring system can help give “mothers-to-be” the correct information for pelvic floor dysfunction prevention before (ideally) and during pregnancy. This is a brilliant incentive to help all who are pregnant or wanting to be, to do their pelvic floor exercises with good reason why. Hurray!

To calculate your pelvic floor risk go to http://riskcalc.org/UR_CHOICE/ and type in your answers to the above questions.

It’s simple, quick and very useful to reinforce WHY pelvic floor muscle training is IMPERATIVE to all pregnant people.

It’s important during your antenatal appointments that you discuss any pelvic floor problems as prevention of symptoms becoming worse in pregnancy is so important for quality of life post birth.

For more information on pregnancy, visit my pregnancy education page on my website.