Leaking of urine or stress incontinence is a common side effect of pregnancy. About a third of pregnant women are affected by it. For some women, the amount is little and barely noticeable. However for others, it may be a real cause for concern. 

Normally, your pelvic floor muscles help close off the bottom of your bladder to prevent urine from escaping. However, once you become pregnant, various hormones cause your pelvic floor tissues and muscles to stretch. This can make your sphincter muscles weak. Sphincter muscles are the ones that control the release of urine from your bladder. 

During pregnancy, the pressure inside your stomach and around your bladder increases and squeezes it, when you laugh, cough, sneeze, run or lift weights. As a result, you may find that you leak pee without being able to control it. 

Stress incontinence can increase in the third trimester as your baby continues to grow bigger and puts more pressure on your bladder. 

You could prevent these leaks by taking a few simple steps:

1. Regular pelvic floor exercises. Studies show that starting your pelvic floor exercises in early pregnancy helps to prevent leaking after your baby is born. Remember, it will get much harder to do these exercises after your baby is born. So try and practice now as much as you can!

2. Change of exercise. Changing the other exercises that you’ve been doing through your pregnancy can help. Avoid running or jogging for a couple of weeks. Do as many regular pelvic floor exercises as you can instead. Start running again after two weeks, and if you still leak urine, avoid this type of exercise until your pelvic floor has recovered after the birth. If this is the case, try swimming, cycling on a stationary exercise bike or even brisk walking as an alternative. These are gentler on your pelvic floor.

3. Walking downhill causes more leakage than walking uphill. If possible, try to stay on a flat surface while walking.

Even after regular pelvic floor exercises for several weeks, if your stress incontinence has not stopped, talk to your doctor. She will assess your pelvic floor muscles to check if you are doing your exercises correctly and advise accordingly. You should also talk to your doctor if you can’t feel anything at all when you exercise, or if you experience pain while exercising. 

You could also see a physiotherapist. However, make sure that you visit a registered practitioner who is experienced in treating pregnant women. 

There is a common belief that women who’ve delivered more than one baby vaginally are more likely to experience stress incontinence than women who’ve had caesareans. However, not all experts agree and more research is needed. 

What the research does show is that it is the hormones of pregnancy that cause the pelvic floor to weaken, and not the process of birth. Women may experience more stress incontinence immediately after a vaginal birth, but there seems to be no difference in the longer term between a vaginal birth and a c-section.