ArticleInternational urogynecology journal2022
Recovery of pelvic floor muscle strength and endurance 6 and 12 months postpartum in primiparous women-a prospective cohort study.
Article in International urogynecology journal, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Electrical stimulation and biofeedback combined with pelvic floor muscle training for pelvic floor dysfunction in postpartum women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Pooled it
- Pelvic Floor Workout for Preventing Stress Urinary Incontinence in Primiparous Women: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2026Trial
- Prediction of late-pregnancy pelvic floor dysfunction: a nomogram model based on proton density fat fraction and synthetic magnetic resonance imaging.Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2026Article
- The Immediate Impact of Heavy Weightlifting on Pelvic Floor Morphometry in Vaginally Parous Women: A Repeated Measures Study.International urogynecology journal · 2026Article
- Influence of a Structured Teaching on Targeted Pelvic Floor Muscle Contraction Ability in Pregnant Women: The pelviTrust Trial.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Effect of Interpregnancy Interval on the Development of Pelvic Floor Disorders.Urogynecology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2026Article
- Association between neonatal birthweight and maternal vaginal wall prolapse: a retrospective analysis of postpartum women.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Association of labor epidural analgesia with early postpartum pelvic floor function in primiparous women undergoing vaginal delivery: a retrospective cohort study.Frontiers in surgery · 2026Article
- Surprised by the transition to an unknown body: quantitative and qualitative aspects of activity limitations and physical changes during the first year post-partum.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Observational
- Pelvic Floor Muscle Strength and Bothersome Urinary Incontinence After Pregnancy: A Cohort Study.International urogynecology journal · 2025Article
- Magnetomyographic assessment of pelvic floor muscles compared to ultrasound during pregnancy.Physiological reports · 2025Article
- Differences in Pelvic Organ Prolapse and Diastasis Recti Abdominis Between Primiparous and Age-Matched second-Parous Females After Vaginal Delivery: A Retrospective Cohort Study.International journal of women's health · 2025Article
- Prioritise safety, optimise success! Return to rugby postpartum.European journal of sport science · 2024Review
- Up for the tackle? The pelvic floor and rugby. A review.European journal of sport science · 2024Review
- The Impact of Exercising on Pelvic Symptom Severity, Pelvic Floor Muscle Strength, and Diastasis Recti Abdominis After Pregnancy: A Longitudinal Prospective Cohort Study.Physical therapy · 2024Article
- Pelvic Floor Muscle Training versus Functional Magnetic Stimulation for Stress Urinary Incontinence in Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Flexi-Bar Training for Restoring Muscle Strength in Postpartum Women: A Pre-Post design.Indian journal of community medicine : official publication of Indian Association of Preventive & Social MedicineArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introduction and hypothesisTo date there has been scant knowledge on the natural recovery of the pelvic floor muscles (PFMs) after childbirth. The aims of the present study were to investigate whether PFM variables at 6 and 12 months postpartum had returned to mid-pregnancy levels and assess risk factors for reduced recovery at 12 months postpartum.
methodsThis was a prospective cohort study following 235 nulliparous pregnant women from mid-pregnancy to 12 months postpartum. Vaginal resting pressure (VRP), PFM strength and endurance were assessed by manometry at 22 weeks, 6 and 12 months postpartum. Multiple linear regression was used to address factors influencing PFM variables beyond birth mode.
resultsCesarean section was protective for change in PFM variables. From mid-pregnancy to 12 months postpartum there was a 20% reduction in VRP (p<0.001) and a 7.5 % reduction in PFM strength (p=0.007), and an increase of 9% in PFM endurance (p=0.002) in the normal vaginal birth. The instrumental vaginal group had a decline in VRP of 21% (p<0.001) and PFM strength of 15% (p=0.011), but no significant change in PFM endurance. Higher BMI at 12 months postpartum, longer second stage of labor, and major tears of the levator ani muscle had a negative influence on the PFM recovery beyond delivery mode.
conclusionsAt 12 months postpartum following vaginal delivery, the PFMs are not fully recovered compared with mid-pregnancy values. More follow-up physical therapy may be warranted in the postpartum period, especially for women with complicated vaginal births and higher BMI.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.