Ferne McCann wants to end the stigma surrounding post-pregnancy incontinence.
Ferne McCann
The former 'Only Way Is Essex' star has bravely spoken about how pregnancy has affected her after she suffered a prolapsed bladder during childbirth when she welcomed Sunday Skye 22 months ago.
She said: "At first it was a bit of a joke between friends, but then over time it progressively got worse and I was like this isn't normal. I was 28 at the time, I feel very much in my prime and I just felt with incontinence I would associate that with the elderly. Definitely something that wouldn't happen to someone of my age. 'For me it was really embarrassing and even now sitting here I'm wincing a little bit thinking, am I really on This Morning talking about this? For me it got to the stage where it was affecting my day to day life, and I couldn't do cardio anymore which is something I absolutely loved. I really feared going on long journeys when I was at work I wanted to act super professional, just day to day life."
And the 29-year-old reality television star says the prolapse happened to her because she didn't do her pelvic floor exercises like she was advised and she is now urging pregnant mothers to make sure they complete their exercises because they're very important.
Speaking on ITV's This Morning, she added: "Fortunately when I went to see a women's physio, I found out it was a stage one prolapse bladder, so it wasn't a prolapsed womb so it could be fixed with doing exercises.
"But you can't physically feel it, it's more the symptoms of leakage or losing complete control over your bladder. For me when I was pregnant of course you go and see your community midwife and they encourage you to do your pelvic floors, and my mum said to me make sure you're doing them, but because I was pregnant and so excited about that I didn't do them. 'You'll be so surprised by how many women don't."
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