Pregnancy, labor and delivery: The pelvic floor injury

Efrat Hadi*, Asnat Groutz, Ronen Gold, Joseph Lessing, David Gordon

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

The association between pregnancy, labor and delivery, and pelvic floor injury is well known. Pregnancy itself may be associated with some injury, but the main damage occurs during vaginal delivery. It is well documented that vaginal delivery may cause denervation of the pelvic floor as well as direct injury to muscles and connective tissue. These injuries may lead to the development of stress urinary incontinence, anal incontinence, voiding difficulties, and/or urogenital prolapse. Previous studies showed correlation between various obstetric risk factors and the development of these symptoms, however, there is no consensus regarding the relative contribution of the different parameters. Moreover, the apparently protective effect of cesarean section is questionable. Further studies are required to define obstetric risk factors as well as patients at increased risk. These factors should be taken into consideration in modern obstetric practice.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)525-529+547
JournalHarefuah
Volume143
Issue number7
StatePublished - Jul 2004
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Anal incontinence
  • Labor
  • Pelvic floor
  • Pregnancy
  • Stress urinary incontinence
  • Urogenital prolapse
  • Voiding dysfunction

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