Fit Mama Perth

I got this question from a client recently and I think many women going through menopause are wondering the same thing.

"I have started leaking a little when I laugh or sneeze and I am also feeling drier than I used to. Is this simply menopause or is something wrong with me?"

These symptoms are incredibly common during menopause, but they're not something you just have to put up with.

There's actually a name for what you're describing: genitourinary syndrome of menopause or GSM. As oestrogen levels fall, the tissues around the va**na, bladder and pelvic floor naturally change. For some women, those changes show up as bladder leaks especially with things like laughing, coughing or sneezing.

If these symptoms are affecting you, don't wait to ask for help. A pelvic health physiotherapist can properly assess what is happening for you and build a plan around it and pelvic floor muscle training has been shown to help improve both the physical symptoms and how they affect daily life. Depending on your situation, your GP may also talk to you about treatment options that support the tissue itself, that is a conversation worth having with them directly.

As your trainer, I can’t diagnose or treat these symptoms, but I can make sure your training is supporting your pelvic floor rather than working against it and I will always encourage you to get the right support alongside it.

Please don’t sit with this in silence, there is so much that can be done.

Has menopause brought changes you weren’t expecting? Share your experience below, let’s make these conversations more normal.

So much of what happens to the body during menopause gets dismissed as something to accept without question and I don’t think that is good enough.

Understanding what is actually happening in your body is the first step toward doing something about it, whatever that looks like for you.

What's one thing you wish you'd known about menopause sooner? Share it in the comments below.

Not every mum who follows this page is in the newborn stage and not every mum who trains with me is either.

Many of the women in this community are years, even decades, past having their babies and moving through a completely different chapter, perimenopause and menopause.

Their pelvic floor is still important and so is their core. Bodies at this stage are also going through significant change and they deserve the same depth of support and information as a mum bringing home her first baby.

So this week we are talking about menopause and the pelvic floor, what actually happens in the body during this transition and why so many women are never told about it.

Genitourinary syndrome of menopause, often shortened to GSM, is the clinical term for a group of changes that happen to the va**na, v***a, bladder and pelvic floor as oestrogen declines. Research suggests it significantly affects quality of life for around half of women going through menopause, yet only around one in four ever seek treatment for it.

That gap between how common this is and how rarely it gets addressed is exactly why we are opening the week here.

Save this and stay with us, this is information every woman deserves regardless of her age or stage.

I want to know how you can relate to this.

Something nobody tells you before your first labour: the pushing stage has a timeframe and knowing it in advance can stop you panicking that something is wrong.

For a first-time mum, the pushing stage can last up to two hours with subsequent births; it is typically shorter, often as little as five to ten minutes.

So if you are in the second stage of labour and it has been an hour, that is completely within the range of normal and understanding that beforehand is the kind of knowledge that can help you stay calm.

Equally, active labour for a first birth may last up to 18 hours. It is supposed to be a long time. Your body is doing extraordinary, gradual work and it has its own pace.

The more clearly you understand what is likely to happen, the less each stage feels like something is going wrong.

Was this something you knew before your first labour? I want to know how you can relate to this.

I got this question from a client and I think many mums wonder the same thing.

"How will I know when I am actually in labour versus just having Braxton Hicks?"

This is one of the most common questions I hear from first-time mums and it is a completely reasonable one because Braxton Hicks can feel surprisingly strong in the third trimester.

The key difference is in the pattern. Braxton Hicks contractions tend to be irregular, they don’t get progressively closer together or stronger and they often ease when you move around or change position.

Labour contractions do the opposite: they become more regular, they get closer together, they get longer and they intensify over time regardless of what you do.

In terms of timing, active labour is generally considered to have begun when contractions are regular and you are having them about every 3 to 4 minutes, lasting between 45 and 60 seconds. For a first-time mum, active labour is unlikely to last longer than about 18 hours once it is established.

A fast or rapid labour is defined as one that is completed in under three hours from the start of regular contractions which is much less common but worth knowing about.

The best guidance I can give is to talk through your hospital's or midwifery team's specific advice at your antenatal appointments because each provider has their own guidance on when to come in. Knowledge is preparation and the more clearly you understand what to look for, the calmer you are likely to feel when the time comes.

Did you know the difference before your first labour?

Birth can feel overwhelming especially when you're hearing unfamiliar medical terms for the first time while trying to make important decisions. This is why understanding the language of birth before labour begins can be so valuable.

When you know what common birth terms mean, you're better equipped to ask questions, understand your options and feel more confident in the conversations you're having with your healthcare team. It doesn't mean you need to know everything, it simply means you're more informed and better prepared for whatever your birth experience may look like.

Save this post so you can come back to it when you need it and share it with another mum-to-be who might find it helpful.

If you have ever sat in a midwife appointment nodding along while secretly not sure what half the words meant, this week is for you.

Birth comes with its own language; gestation, latent phase, perineum, Braxton Hicks, episiotomy, active labour. These words get said out loud in rooms full of pregnant women who have often never heard them used in a sentence before and the expectation is somehow that everyone just knows.

They don’t and knowing what these terms actually mean puts you in a much stronger position to understand what is happening in your own body, to ask better questions and to feel more in control during one of the most intense experiences of your life.

We are breaking it all down this week, so save this post so you can find the rest.

I want to know how you can relate to this, did anyone properly explain birth terminology to you before labour?

We believe every mum deserves to make her own choice about how she feeds her baby without judgement attached to whichever path she takes.

Breastfeeding, combination feeding, formula feeding or a journey that moved between all three during the first year, none of these choices say anything about how much a mum loves her baby or how well she is doing.

Conversations about breastfeeding can carry a heavy weight, sometimes from strangers, from well meaning family members and from a mum's own expectations of herself before her baby arrives. What every mum needs instead is information, support and the freedom to decide what works for her body, her baby and her life.

This week is about recognising the value of breastfeeding support for the mums who want it and need it and it is equally about making sure no mum reading this feels she has to defend a decision that was always hers to make.

Fed, held and loved is what every baby needs and there are many ways to get there.

One thing I see all the time is that mums don't need to be told to care more about their baby - they already do. What they're often missing is people who truly understand what life and their body look like after having a baby.

Breastfeeding support is one piece of a much bigger picture and I want to be one of the reliable pieces in yours.

I'd love to know, who has been part of your support system this year?

Today, I am asking the mums in this community a question.

If you could go back and tell yourself one thing about your body before you had a baby, what would it be?

Comment below, I will be reading every single one 👇🏼