Birth and the pelvic floor

Spontaneous birth is known to increase every womanʼs risk of urinary incontinence and/or uterovaginal prolapse later in life. The search for effective preventive measures and optimizations in birth management has therefore been a focus of research for many decades. The main causes of pelvic floor dysfunction after childbirth include injury to the pelvic floor due to compression, straining, rupture and tearing of nerves, muscles and connective tissue fibres. Levator ani muscle rupture plays an important role in the development of incontinence and prolapse. Delivery by caesarean section is often regarded as effective in the prevention of urinary incontinence and prolapse, but a look at the current data does not confirm this theory. The only evidence-based methods for the prevention of urinary incontinence and prolapse are currently pelvic floor training during and after pregnancy as well as lifestyle modifications. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, ein Teil von Springer Nature.