Women's reluctance to seek help for stress incontinence during pregnancy and following childbirth.

OBJECTIVE: to identify whether women were made aware of stress incontinence around the time of childbirth, whether symptomatic women sought help from professionals caring for them at this time, to look at what help they receive in the first instance and to understand why some of those experiencing it chose not to seek help.
DESIGN: a qualitative survey was conducted using semi-structured interviews.
SETTING: interviews were conducted in participants' own homes. PARTICIPANTS: 42 women who reported symptoms of stress incontinence at eight weeks postpartum, and 15 women who were symptomatic one year following the birth of their baby.
FINDINGS: women were reluctant to seek help, although they were often inconvenienced and troubled by the condition. This was predominantly due to the nature of the condition itself, although the relationship with their health care professionals was also a consideration in some cases. The majority of women were not provided with information on the condition but wanted health professionals to provide a warning that the condition could occur. They also wanted health professionals to seek out information about symptoms, rather than the women themselves having to broach the subject. The first line of treatment at this time was usually a recommendation to perform pelvic floor exercises. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: health professionals caring for women during pregnancy or following the birth of their baby need to raise awareness of the condition, the treatment available, and to be pro-active in seeking out those experiencing incontinence rather than expecting women to approach them for help. Copyright 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.