APPEAL is an NIHR programme grant led from University of Birmingham and brings together a programme of research to prevent pregnancy- and childbirth-related urinary incontinence. The overall aim of APPEAL is to increase the number of women doing pelvic floor muscle exercises during pregnancy and ensure that they are doing them ‘properly’. This should reduce the number of women who suffer with symptoms of urinary incontinence after birth.
Background
Pregnancy and childbirth are important risk factors for urinary incontinence (UI) in women.
Pelvic floor muscle exercises are effective for prevention of postpartum UI. Guidelines for the management of UI recommend offering pelvic floor muscle training to women during their first pregnancy as a preventive strategy.
Method
APPEAL has 4 linked stages:
Stage 1 (Exeter team)
We will review the literature (using the Critical Interpretive Synthesis approach) and interview women and midwives to explore their views about the exercises and how and when they are offered. This information will be useful when identifying the best way to encourage midwives to offer and teach the exercises, and women to do them regularly.
Stage 2
Being able to carry out these exercises properly is essential to get the most benefit from doing them. So, stage 2 will look for the best and most acceptable way for women to judge how well they can do them.
Stage 3
Stage 3 will use information from previous stages to develop and test a motivational training package for midwives to help women to perform pelvic floor exercises correctly and regularly; and for women to view this as important. We expect it will help women keep a healthy pelvic floor that works well.
Stage 4
In this stage we will test the motivational training package in a study where midwifery teams will be selected (at random) to either receive this training or continue to provide their current routine advice on pelvic floor exercises. We will collect information on women’s health, how often they did their exercises and how many report urinary incontinence 10-12 weeks after birth. We will also measure if the package is good ‘value for money’.
Project aims
To improve the implementation of preventative structured antenatal pelvic floor muscle exercises and thus reduce the risk of urinary incontinence following childbirth.
PenCLAHRC (Exeter) is leading the first Work Package of APPEAL – Context Awareness: Identifying barriers and enablers:
1. Synthesis of qualitative and observational research
Objective: Understand the barriers to, and enablers of, implementation and uptake of pelvic floor muscle assessment and exercises during the childbearing years. Read the sythesis protocol here.
2. Focused Ethnographic observation of clinical practice
Objective: Explore how individual, professional and organisational factors interact to enhance or reduce effective pelvic floor muscle exercises implementation in the UK context.
The findings from Work Package 1 will inform the wider APPEAL research project’s development and evaluation of the training package for midwives. Dissemination of findings will include presentation at local, national and/or international research meetings, and publication in an appropriate peer-reviewed journal.
Outputs and Impacts
Pelvic floor training in pregnancy could help prevent the need for ‘barbaric’ vaginal mesh surgery.
Funding
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) programme grant for applied research (RP-PG-0514-20002).
Related Publications
Salmon VE, Hay-Smith EJC, Jarvie R, Dean S, Oborn E, Bayliss SE, Bick D, Davenport C, Ismail KM, MacArthur C, Pearson M. Opportunities, challenges and concerns for the implementation and uptake of pelvic floor muscle assessment and exercises during the childbearing years: protocol for a critical interpretive synthesis. Systematic Reviews (2017) 6:18
This protocol has also ben published in PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews.
An article was published in The Conversation discussing how training in pregnancy for pelvic floor exercises could reduce the need for “barbaric” vaginal mesh surgery.
Related Projects
Pelvic Floor Muscle Training – Professor Rod Sheaff ran this project evaluating if a package of Pelvic Floor Muscle Training (PFMT) delivered in primary care resulted in fewer referrals to secondary care for UI.
Collaborators
- Rachel Jarvie
PenARC Staff
