5 Ways to Support Your Pelvic Floor in Pregnancy
Pregnancy changes the way your whole body moves and feels, including your pelvic floor.
As your baby grows, your pelvic floor is adapting to more weight, pressure, and changes in posture. You may notice things like leaking, pelvic heaviness, vulvar swelling, low back discomfort, or simply a feeling that things are different.
The good news is that pelvic floor support during pregnancy does not have to be complicated. You do not need to avoid movement or obsess over doing everything perfectly.
Here are five practical ways to support your pelvic floor throughout pregnancy.
1. Focus on More Than Just Kegels
Kegels are often the first thing people think of when they hear “pelvic floor,” but strengthening is only one piece of the puzzle. Your pelvic floor also needs to relax and coordinate with your breathing, core, hips, and abdominal muscles.
Jordan Searles, a GGS & PRONATAL Certified Pre/Postnatal Personal Trainer, speaks directly to this:
“Learning how to fully contract the pelvic floor is important, but so is learning how to fully relax it. A lot of women have trouble fully relaxing those muscles, and that can be really helpful for birth—especially when you understand how to coordinate that relaxation with your breath.” — Jordan Searles
For some women, strengthening may be helpful. Others may already hold too much tension and benefit more from relaxation or coordination work.
A pelvic floor physical therapist can help you understand what your body actually needs.
For Hem's founder, Lauren Fleming, pelvic floor PT became an important source of support after she developed prolapse following her first pregnancy. Her PT helped answer questions, track progress, and create a personalized recovery plan. If you’re curious about pelvic floor PT but feel unsure about what actually happens during an appointment, Lauren also shares a firsthand look at what pelvic floor physical therapy is really like, including what to expect, what an assessment may involve, and why the experience was so helpful in her own pelvic health journey.
2. Pay Attention to Pressure During Movement
Instead of only asking, “Is this exercise safe?” try asking:
“How does my body feel during and after this movement?”
Watch for changes like:
- Increased pelvic heaviness or pressure
- Bulging
- Urinary leakage
- Pelvic pain
- Low back discomfort
- Feeling like you need to bear down
Those changes don’t necessarily mean you need to stop moving. They can simply be useful information about how your body is responding that day.
Pelvic health physical therapist and birth doula Dr. Ally Loupe, PT, DPT, encourages women to pay attention to those signals rather than automatically pushing through them:
“We can learn so much from having symptoms if we are really tuning into them to see what our body is asking and requesting of us.” — Dr. Ally Loupe, PT, DPT
It can also be helpful to keep track of what you’re noticing. Our free Pelvic Health Symptom Tracker gives you one place to note things like heaviness, pressure, leaking, discomfort, and the activities that seem to make symptoms better or worse. Over time, those notes may make patterns easier to spot and give you more useful information to share with your pelvic floor PT or healthcare provider.
Pregnancy is a great time to get comfortable listening to your body and adjusting as needed.
3. Exhale During Effort
Pelvic floor pressure is not limited to workouts.
Think about how often you:
- Pick up a toddler
- Carry groceries
- Stand up from the floor
- Push something heavy
- Cough or sneeze
One simple strategy is to exhale during the hardest part of a movement instead of holding your breath.
For example, exhale as you stand while holding your child or lift a heavy laundry basket.
You do not have to do this perfectly every time. The goal is simply to reduce unnecessary breath-holding and pressure when possible.
4. Use External Support When It Helps
Some women find external pelvic floor support helpful during pregnancy, especially when dealing with pelvic heaviness, vaginal pressure, vulvar swelling, or vulvar varicosities.
Pelvic floor support garments can provide additional support to the pelvic floor muscles, but fit matters a lot during pregnancy. A garment should feel supportive without restricting your growing belly.
Hem currently offers a high-waisted pelvic floor support style, which may work well for some women earlier in pregnancy. As your belly grows, however, the current fabric and waistband may become too restrictive or uncomfortable because the style was not designed to stretch throughout an entire pregnancy.
For that reason, we do not recommend assuming that our current garment will work for every stage of pregnancy. If you choose to wear it while pregnant, pay close attention to fit and stop wearing it if it feels tight, restrictive, or uncomfortable around your belly.
We are also working on a lower-waisted style designed to better accommodate a growing belly and provide support throughout more of pregnancy.
Think of external support as one possible tool, not something you need to force if the fit is not right for your changing body.
5. Consider Pelvic Floor PT Before Baby Arrives
Pelvic floor physical therapy is not only for postpartum recovery.
Seeing a pelvic floor PT during pregnancy may help you better understand:
- How your pelvic floor contracts and relaxes
- Breathing and pressure management
- Exercise modifications
- Pelvic heaviness or pressure
- Preparing for birth
- Planning for postpartum recovery
It can also give you a professional resource before symptoms become more frustrating.
Lauren has written openly about how valuable it was to have a pelvic floor PT early in her own journey, especially after initially feeling dismissed when she raised concerns about prolapse.
That kind of support can make a big difference in how informed and confident you feel.
What If You Already Have Prolapse?
If you entered pregnancy with pelvic organ prolapse, it’s completely understandable to have more questions about movement, symptoms, delivery, and what pregnancy might mean for your pelvic floor.
Lauren experienced that uncertainty before her second pregnancy. Talking through her concerns with her pelvic floor PT gave her a clearer understanding of what to expect, what to pay attention to, and how she could continue supporting her body throughout pregnancy. Having that guidance helped her feel more informed and more confident moving forward.
Because prolapse can look and feel different from person to person, there isn’t one universal approach to pregnancy with prolapse. Your OB-GYN or midwife and a pelvic floor physical therapist can help you think through exercise, symptom management, support options, and any changes you may need to make as your pregnancy progresses.
You don’t have to have every answer at the beginning. The goal is to have a care team you trust, pay attention to how your body is responding, and adjust along the way.
The Bottom Line
Supporting your pelvic floor in pregnancy is not about doing everything perfectly. It is about having more tools.
You can learn how your pelvic floor works, pay attention to symptoms, manage pressure during movement, use external support when helpful, and work with a pelvic floor PT for more personalized guidance.
At Hem Support Wear, we believe women deserve better information about pelvic health before, during, and after pregnancy.
If pelvic heaviness, pressure, or vulvar discomfort is making everyday movement harder, explore our pelvic floor support garments to see whether added support could be a helpful part of your pregnancy toolkit.
About the Hem Support Wear Team
Meet Cristin, Lauren, and Alexa: a small, mission-driven team passionate about helping women feel supported, seen, and strong—especially when it comes to pelvic health. Hem Support Wear was founded by Lauren Fleming, whose personal journey with prolapse sparked a mission to make healing feel less lonely and a whole lot more empowering.
**Medical Disclaimer: This post is intended to provide information and resources only. This post or any of the information contained within should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis, treatment, or advice. Always seek the guidance of your qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding your healthcare, conditions, and recommended treatment.
