It’s Never Too Late for Pelvic Floor Therapy: Why it’s about more than Kegels

ParentData with Emily Oster

For many of us, our first exposure to our pelvic floors is through the Kegel exercises we learned about in Cosmo, promising us great sex. The reality of our pelvic floors comes roaring back in pregnancy, when they are are more taxed than they've ever been. The pelvic floor turns out to have a hand in many things, including peeing, pooping, sex, pregnancy, labor, birth, postpartum, and menopause. And like with all muscles, the more we take care of them, they better they can take care of us.

Today on ParentData, we welcome the Vagina Whisperer herself, Dr. Sara Reardon. Sara's new book, Floored: A Woman’s Guide to Pelvic Floor Health at Every Age and Stage, which will be released in June, explores the seasons of life with a pelvic floor, from puberty to menopause. In this conversation, we talk about the optimal ways to pee and poop. We discuss what actually happens when you go to pelvic floor therapy. We discuss Kegels and why they are often good but also not a panacea. More than anything, Sara takes something that we all experience privately, and encourages us to shine a light on it, take the stigma away, and tighten up with confidence.

Subscribe to ParentData.org for free access to new articles every week on data-driven pregnancy and parenting.

Follow Sara Reardon on Instagram

This episode is generously supported by:

• Hatch
• LMNT
• Little Sesame