Should You Do Kegels During Pregnancy?

I get asked this quite often and my most common answer is: no.

Unless you have a reason to do kegels, like you have bladder leakage or you have been to pelvic floor therapy and know you have weak pelvic floor muscles, otherwise you probably don't need to do kegels.

A lot of birth educators, obstetricians, doulas and midwives recommend their clients to do kegels during pregnancy. I respect all these providers, but they are not experts on pelvic floor muscles. Therapists (PT or OT) who have special training in the pelvic floor are the experts on pelvic floor muscles.

Here's Why You Probably Don't Need To Do Kegels During Pregnancy

For most people, their pelvic floor muscles are working just fine during pregnacy. I assess many pregnant people in my clinic and most of the time if they don't have any bladder leakage, their pelvic floor muscles are not weak.

I also want to think about and prepare for the actual birth, and this is why I don't recommend kegels during pregnancy.

When it comes time for a vaginal birth, the pelvic floor muscles need to relax and get out of the way.

Sometimes if a person has been doing a lot of kegles during pregnancy, they will forget how to relax the muscles. Or they may create tight pelvic floor muscles, which will make birth even more challenging.

When it comes to vaginal delviery the pelvic floor muscles need to relax and they can even help push a little bit. Obviously the uterine contractions are what pushes the baby out, but in the clinic I will teach people what it feels like to contract the pelvic floor muscles (kegel) and what it feels like to relax and then what it feels like to push. These are three different functions of the pelvic floor muscles.

The pelvic floor muscles are just like any other muscle in our body and they can work in different ways. A kegel is a contraction, or squeezing and lifting, of the muscle. This is just one muscle function of the pelvic floor, and not the function you need in birth.

Kegels are the opposite of what you need to do during birth!

Clients will often tell me they were told, or read, that they need to do 100 kegels a day toward the end of their pregnancy.

Absolutely not!

The major problem with this is people will just do 100 kegels in a row to get them done. If I give clients kegels in pregnancy I give them about 30 to do in a day with instructions to do them very intentionally so they can feel the muscle contract and relax. I instruct them to go slowly so the muscle relaxes in between each kegel. If they are just trying to get through 100 of them, this will not happen, which can contribute to tight pelvic floor muscles or the inability to relax the pelvic floor muscles for childbrith.

Also, bladder leakage is rarely fixed by kegels alone. General strength training of the lower body can have just as much of a positive effect on strengthening the pelvic floor muscles as kegels.

If you are pregnant and wondering what to do instead, I have an online class that will teach you what you need to know to prepare your pelvic floor for childbirth and guide you in what to expect for recovery. You can find information about that online course here.