Pregnancy is a hugely transformative experience both emotionally and physically. Your body changes to prepare itself in the lead up to and after childbirth, and some of these changes can go unnoticed – particularly if they cannot be visualised.
One of these changes is how your body deals with proprioception. Proprioception is the ability to perceive the position and movement of the parts of your body, allowing you to interact with the environment around you without having to completely rely on visual feedback[i]. When you pick up a glass of water and instinctively lift it to your lips without thinking, that’s proprioception.
The hormonal changes experienced during pregnancy have a direct impact on proprioception. This is because of a surge in relaxin, the hormone produced by the ovaries and placenta which loosens and relaxes the muscles, in preparation for birth[ii]. This can decrease awareness of muscles, particularly the pelvic floor which can already be hard to connect with. This is partly why incontinence is common following childbirth.
Regaining that connection and rehabilitating proprioception can be challenging without the right support.
Empelvic and proprioception
Just like all the other muscles in your body, your pelvic floor muscles can be trained, and you can do so using the Empelvic cushion and method.
Proprioception aligns seamlessly with the Empelvic method by increasing awareness and feedback between your mind and pelvic floor muscles. Initially, just sitting on Empelvic and taking deep breaths will help you to be more mindful of the muscle groups that make up your pelvic floor.
Once this awareness has been built up through regular use, you can start to train your muscles, strengthening and relaxing them to allow better ease of movement. You can learn more about the breathing techniques and how they can promote awareness here.
As with anything related to your health and wellbeing – you should speak to a healthcare professional to learn more about any conditions you might be experiencing and potential treatments. Remember – you’ve got this.
[i] Swink, C. (2022). Proprioception & Your Pelvic Floor | Origin. [online] Available at: https://www.theoriginway.com/blog/proprioception-your-pelvic-floor
[ii] Ratnani, G. R., Patil, S., Phansopkar, P., & Deshmukh, N. S. (2023). A Comparative Study of Knee Joint Proprioception Assessment in 12-Week Postpartum Women and Nulliparous Women. Cureus, 15(11), e48101. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.48101
