'I felt ashamed in my own body and was even scared to play with my son'

"My one piece of advice to women experiencing bladder leakage is that they are not alone and don’t need to suffer in silence. There's help out there," Fiona Falkiner writes exclusively for Kidspot.

My bladder leakage first started following the birth of my son, Hunter. 

I won’t lie, it was difficult at first. I would have never imagined that it would happen to me, I always just thought that it happened to older women who were my mum’s age.

This made me feel ashamed and let down by my own body, which was a horrible feeling that I didn’t want to share with anyone.

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"I wasn't living life to the fullest"

I started to avoid a lot of the situations I knew would make me leak. I stopped going to certain gym classes and going on jogs around the neighbourhood.

I used to absolutely love doing boot camps and HIIT training, but I started to avoid these things because I was too ashamed to tell my instructor, “I can’t do that because I might pee my pants,” it wasn’t something I wanted to share in front of a room full of people.

Before I knew it, I was letting my bladder leakage control what I did and didn’t do, and not living my life to the fullest.

In the beginning, I had kept it from my wife, Hayley.

I was ashamed and felt embarrassed by bringing it up. When I did tell Hayley, she reassured me that it was okay and completely normal. I felt liberated to talk about it and realise that there really shouldn’t be a stigma around bladder leakage because so many women experience it too.

Image: Supplied

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'You are not alone and don't need to suffer in silence'

The very moment I knew I wanted to take action was when Hayley and I invested in a trampoline for our son. I remember he wanted us to bounce on it together, but I was afraid that it would make me leak. This is when I realised I needed to take action and do something about it, I didn’t want to look back and miss out on making memories with my kids.

I didn’t know much about bladder leakage and the support available until Poise reached out to me about their new campaign. I never knew it was so common! Poise commissioned research revealing four in five Australian mothers experience bladder leakage, which was so surprising.

Since being part of the Poise Pledge campaign, I’ve started speaking up about my own experience with bladder leakage and being open about it with friends and family. The more I spoke about it with other women and even my own group of friends, I realised that it wasn’t just me going through this. It’s so common and not something we should be ashamed of.

I’ve started educating myself with the information on the Poise Pelvic Floor Hub and am doing the 12-week pelvic floor exercise program and have already learned so much. I’m looking forward to seeing progress as I continue to strengthen my pelvic floor.

My one piece of advice to women experiencing bladder leakage is that they are not alone and don’t need to suffer in silence or feel ashamed.

There’s help out there and things you can do to strengthen your pelvic floor. It’s time to make yourself a priority and allow yourself to live your life without the fear of bladder leaks.

Image: Supplied

Bladder leakage is more common than people think

One in three Australian women experience bladder leakage at some stage in their life, often during pregnancy, after childbirth or throughout menopause

Despite its prevalence, bladder leakage is a “silent syndrome” with new commissioned research finding a quarter of mothers have never discussed their condition with anyone.

Now, a first-of-its-kind Poise Pledge campaign looks to break the silence around bladder leakage and empower women to take action. To find out more, visit the Poise Pelvic Floor Support Hub which includes a FREE physiotherapy-led 12-week online Pelvic Floor Program that will help women achieve a stronger pelvic floor and reduce bladder leakage symptoms.

Originally published as 'I felt ashamed in my own body and was even scared to play with my son'