I'm 11 weeks pregnant and leak wee when I cough or run. Why?

Alison Bourne

BabyCentre's physiotherapy expert.

You're not alone! This leaking is called stress incontinence and it's common during pregnancy. About a third of pregnant women experience it.

As soon as you become pregnant, hormones cause your pelvic floor tissues and muscles to stretch. This can lead to weakness in the sphincter muscles that control the release of wee from your bladder.

When you laugh, cough, sneeze or run, the pressure inside your tummy and around your bladder increases. This pressure squeezes your bladder. Normally, your pelvic floor muscles help to close off the bottom of your bladder. If these muscles are weak or can't squeeze fully, they can't do this job.

The good news is that there are steps you can take to prevent the leaks. Doing regular pelvic floor exercises will strengthen the muscles that control your bladder. See our article on your pelvic floor to find out how to do the exercises.

If you're used to going for a jog, give it rest for a couple of weeks. Do as many regular pelvic floor exercises as you can in this time.

If you find that you still leak wee when you jog again, put your running shoes away until after your baby's birth. Try a different sort of exercise. Swimming, cycling on an exercise bike or even brisk walking are all gentler on your pelvic floor.

Walking downhill causes more leakage than walking uphill. If you can, adapt your walking route to stay on the flat.

It's worth asking your midwife or GP to refer you to a women's health physiotherapist if:
  • After trying pelvic floor exercises for several weeks, you find that you are still leaking wee when you run or cough.
  • You can’t feel anything happening at all when you try your exercises.
  • You experience pain while doing your exercises
A physiotherapist can check whether or not you are doing your exercises correctly.

You may find you leak wee later on in pregnancy too. As your unborn baby gets bigger, she'll put extra pressure on your bladder. During the third trimester more than half of all women will experience leakage.

Strengthening your pelvic floor will help to prevent incontinence after your baby is born. The benefits of doing pelvic floor exercises don’t last for many years unless you continue to do them. You may find it harder to do pelvic floor exercises once you're a busy mum. So get into the habit now and make it a habit of a lifetime!

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A BabyCentre Member
How Can I prevent it there something i do
06/11/13 Report this

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