Post Partum Incontinence
Postpartum urinary incontinence is common
Urinary stress incontinence may affect up to 50% of women in their postpartum period. This is often present during pregnancy with 54.3% of sufferers experiencing an impact on quality of life antenatally and 71.1% postnatally.
Antenatal stress incontinence is caused by a combination of factors including anatomical factors and connective tissue changes. Changes have been shown in the bladder neck, functional urethral length and intravaginal and intra-anal pressures in relation to pregnancy and childbirth.
Postpartum incontinence occurs for these reasons and additionally, delivery-related factors. Whilst vaginal delivery is a risk factor for the subsequent development of postnatal symptoms, the evidence of a protective effect of performing caesarean sections is less compelling. Evidence regarding delivery factors and their influences on the development of stress incontinence varies regarding infant weight, mode of delivery, head position, duration of labour and use of epidural analgesia.
Eighty percent of women have partial denervation of their pelvic floor after their first vaginal delivery.
The relationship between epidural analgesia and postpartum stress incontinence has become a contentious issue and as anaesthetic techniques have changed, the literature is no longer valid. It is not clear whether pelvic-floor exercises will prevent stress incontinence.
Many clinical studies have attempted to discover the particular obstetric event that causes the incontinence.
The obvious suspects include large babies and “difficult deliveries” marked by lengthy pushing phases with or without instrumentation. No clear single event has been found to be responsible, suggesting that postpartum urinary incontinence arises from a multifactorial physiological insult. [i]
Pelvic floor muscle training is considered a reliable method for treatment of the symptoms in the postpartum period, however, in one randomised trial providing new mothers with a bladder program that outlined healthy bladder habits and muscle training, only 7% of incontinent new mothers reported reduced symptoms.[ii]
The two main types of incontinence are stress and urge.
Loss of urine in association with sneezing, coughing, laughing, jumping or running or jumping is stress incontinence component. Urgency accompanying loss of urine is urge incontinence component. Stress incontinence is the most common type of incontinence 6 months postpartum.
Postpartum incontinence is reported in 10%-75% of women, with pooled prevalence at 33% . Longitudinal studies within the first year postpartum show reductions in prevalence over time, however, one study found 29% SUI four years after the first delivery
Stress UI increases with multiple pregnancies; in a study at 1-year postpartum, SUI for first time birth (primiparous) was 10% vs. up to 30% for multiple births (multiparous)
Urox® Mechanics of action
- Stabilizes bladder muscles
- Independently improves tone of pelvic floor muscles
- Strengthens collagen and connective tissue of bladder and pelvic floor
- Stabilizes neural stimulation of the bladder detrusor muscle (OAB)
- No anticholinergic/antimuscarinic effect
Our concentrated herbal extracts are sourced from wild crafted and/or pesticide-free locations in India and China. Urox® is manufactured and tested to the highest quality and regulatory standards in registered GMP and TGA facilities.
[i] Brubaker L. (2002). Postpartum urinary incontinence. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 324(7348), 1227–1228. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.324.7348.1227
[ii] Serhat Pirincci, Tolga Atakul, Izzet Kocak, Hasan Yuksel, Erdal Beser, Pinar Okyay, Urinary incontinence in pre/postpartum period and effectiveness of pelvic floor muscle training: Pinar Okyay, European Journal of Public Health, Volume 27, Issue suppl_3, November 2017, ckx187.239, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckx187.239