We conducted an observational longitudinal study. Perineal pain during PFMCs, during several activities of daily living (ADL) and during micturition and defecation was assessed using a VAS scale ranging from 1 to 10. Assessment was repeated twice: first early after delivery (first six days postpartum) and second at nine weeks after giving birth.
A total of 233 women participated (148 primiparous and 85 multiparous). Immediately postpartum, the prevalence and intensity of pain during ADL (73 percent; VAS 4.9), micturition (47 percent; VAS 3.4) and defecation (19 percent; VAS 3.6) were significantly higher than during PFMC (8 percent; VAS 2.2).
At nine weeks after delivery, a third of all women experienced perineal pain during sexual intercourse and 18 percent during defecation, but none during PFMCs.
In conclusion, many women suffer from perineal pain immediately after childbirth, especially during ADL, micturition and defecation. But not during pelvic floor muscle exercises!
Although the pain can be intense in some women, the discomfort felt during exercises was always slight. These results show that fear of perineal pain should not discourage women to start pelvic floor muscle training shortly after giving birth.
> From: Neels et al., Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 208 (2017) 1-5 . All rights reserved to Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Click here for the online summary.
