NORTH DAKOTA ( KXNET ) — A new national survey found out that most Americans think it’s normal for women to experience pain, pressure, and incontinence after having kids.

However, experts are saying these are signs of pelvic floor issues, and while extremely common, it’s not normal.

Within the poll, 71% of people agree that it’s normal for women to have some urinary leakage, and 51% believe that it’s normal for women to experience pain after recovering from childbirth — both of which are signs of pelvic floor damage.

“When we say it’s not normal,” stated Occupational Therapist Tessa Ladd, OTR/L, “what we mean is it’s not something you should have to live with. It’s something you can rehabilitate and improve. By strengthening and coordinating pelvic floor muscles, and learning how to breathe and move in a way that supports the pelvic floor, these symptoms that so many live with for years can be drastically improved.”

What is the pelvic floor? It’s a group of muscles and ligaments that are kind of like a hammock that supports the vagina, uterus, bladder, and rectum.

When those muscles and ligaments are damaged, they cause incontinence (along with pain and pressure) when they slip from their normal position.

“Childbirth puts a lot of trauma on the body,” Ladd explained, “but just like with any other injury, muscles, and tissues should have the ability to recover and support the internal organs. If that doesn’t happen, we can step in and help. The muscles within the pelvic floor are skeletal muscles. They’re something that we do have control over, just like our biceps or our calves, and we have the ability to strengthen, lengthen, and relax them.”

Ladd warns that even though 71% of people think women should start working out right after childbirth, it can actually be counterproductive, as women feel the societal pressure to “bounce back” right away.

“You can begin to do some deep breathing and learn correct body mechanics in that early postpartum phase,” Ladd noted, “but it’s also important to allow your body time to heal, and not to do too much too fast.”

Before women can get the medical help they need, they should acknowledge the problem, and talking with their healthcare provider is the first thing to do to find solutions.

“If we have a problem with our knees,” Ladd continued, “we could talk to anyone about it without shame, without feeling uncomfortable or weird about it. Everyone has pelvic floor muscles, yet it’s something many women shy away from talking about, even with medical providers. When we open up about the symptoms we’re struggling with and understand that so many of us have this shared experience, we can help women live their lives free from pain and symptoms caused by these common and treatable issues.”

The survey was done by the Orlando Health Advanced Rehabilitation Institute .

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