Academics from the University of California claim the key lies in telehealth.
Infections, increased risk of haemorrhages and extreme fatigue are just a few problems women face when experiencing childbirth, not to mention urinary incontinence.
With the latter in mind, a new first-of-its-kind study, which has been published in the Journal of Women’s and Pelvic Physical Therapy, shows women who experience stress urinary incontinence can get just as much relief from telehealth as they do from physical therapy. The condition can affect postpartum women and without sufficient pelvic floor muscle training it can become difficult to cure.
Stress urinary incontinence is an illness that causes urine to leak out of the bladder when increased pressure is applied including coughing, sneezing or exercising.
‘This paper provides valuable preliminary evidence of telehealth’s effectiveness and overall satisfaction for treating urinary incontinence,’ Jennifer Kinder, associate professor in the UCSF Department of physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science and a women’s health clinical specialist, said. ‘This is an important step in creating more accessible and affordable care for our postpartum mothers.’
To conduct the research, which included a group of 30 postpartum women, experts provided half of them with in-person and care and the other half with telehealth, a healthcare service that is delivered remotely often via video or the telephone. The group had a medium age of 37, have given birth to two children and didn’t have any major health complications.
The study lasted four weeks, in which women reported their symptoms and at five weeks and one year after the entire thing had ended.
To give context into how needed research is into this subject area, it is estimated that over the next two decades 43 million women are predicted to have a form of pelvic floor dysfunction. What’s more, up to 30% of women develop incontinence following their first labour and if it is left untreated it can become chronic.
Upon giving birth women are offered physical therapy to help treat the condition but factors including childcare and limited maternity leave make it difficult to access.
However, on a more positive note, all of the women involved in the study reported improvements in their symptoms and no major differences were found between using telehealth and in-person treatments. Could this potentially pave the way for particular postpartum treatments? Only time will tell.
Photo by Alexander Grey via UnSplash
In related news:
Better studies of mental health apps needed – BMJ Mental Health
Leave a Reply