Associations of urinary incontinence and postpartum physical activity

Introduction: Physical activity (PA) is essential for the promotion of health and prevention of disease in the postpartum period (birth through 12 months after delivery) and across the lifespan. Yet, PA decreases during pregnancy and does not fully recover after birth, suggesting that interventions are needed to promote PA postpartum. Urinary incontinence (UI) is common postpartum and is associated with low PA outside of the perinatal period. UI has a variable presentation with four main characteristics: presence, severity (slight, moderate, severe, or very severe), type (stress, urge, mixed, or undefined), and level of bother. However, little is known about the association of each UI characteristic with postpartum PA, and so, our knowledge is inadequate for determining the needs of postpartum women with UI.