Mummascribbles – Continence management with Hartmann Direct – Mummascribbles

I once wrote a post about my wee problem. Some people think that having had a c-section with Zach would mean that my bladder and pelvic floor are completely in tact but that couldn’t be further from the truth – after all, I was still carrying a watermelon around inside me. Needing to wee more frequently than I was used to was something I had to get my head around and it was one of the things I was most scared of about being pregnant again. 

I have now been pregnant again for eight and a half months. I have wee’d a lot and I have panicked a lot. 

I have panicked when the train has got stuck in a tunnel. What would I do? Where would I pee? Honestly, with something leaning on your bladder constantly, even a minute stuck on a tube train can feel like an hour and you can immediately feel like you need the toilet!

I have panicked when I have seen the break lights of traffic on the motorway. I do my best to avoid the motorway nowadays and if there is a route that is ten minutes longer but has more possible diversions and places to stop, I’ll go that way. 

Then there is the other side of it. Not the feeling like you need to pee and get all panicky but the sudden sneezes! Yep, you might not realise you need to wee but I can guarantee that that surprise sneeze will catch you! Most sneezes are ok, you tend to know they are coming and you can prepare yourself. Get yourself into position, tense everything, cross your legs and bingo – successful sneeze without leakage. If it catches you out of nowhere though…not good. I have sat there on the sofa before with the other half, sneezed a suprise sneeze and had to say the words,

I just pee’d myself a little bit

The worst though is when you have a really bad cough. There is just no stopping it then! 

There is of course no shame in this. As I learnt from the response to that previous post, it happens to A LOT of women. We all need to do our pelvic floor exercises and yes, I am totally guilty of not having done them in this pregnancy either.

So, until the time when we have completed enough of the damn things, we are stuck with these little leakages that catch us unaware and leave us with soggy pants. There is an answer though and recently I was sent a little selection of incontinence pads from Hartmann Direct to try out. Now, I will add here that I am not incontinent and that I opted for the lowest absorbancy of pad. I knew I wasn’t going to have a severe urine accident but equally it would be nice to have a little back up in case there was a tiny leak. 

Hartmann have a brilliant website which features a product selector to enable you to answer some questions and discover what type of pad and absorbancy is most suitable for you. I did this test and it was suggested that I try out the MoliMed Comfort and I opted for a mini which covers the lightest of absorbancy (like I say, it was more of a back up than something I’d need to hold a lot of fluid). 

The MoliMed Comfort has the most resemblance to the sanitary towels that us women are all used to. They are a little bit thicker and wider than a pantyliner. I made sure I spent quite a bit of time in each pad to mainly test out the irritation side of things. I know that with sanitary towels, I can find them quite irritating, especially having to use them for a week per period. These products are so soft, there was no irritation there at all. They are made to be skin friendly with pH 5.5, are dermalogically tested, air active and feature odour neutraliser. I was wearing mine on my commute on a sticky train and had no discomfort at all. 

Now, typically, I didn’t manage to have any of those surprise sneezes that I mentioned up there. However, when you are in the later stages of pregnancy, there is one thing that comes along in a larger quantity and that is discharge. It can go through quite different changes in pregnancy and in the latter part, it can be quite mucussy. I quite often found it happening when I was moving more, specificaly on the underground with all the changing around and I would get to work feeling quite damp. This pad really stopped this from happening, even if I was only wearing it for the tube because once sat down at work, there was a lot less to have to deal with. I felt really comfortable in them and saved myself having damp pants for the morning! 

If you know someone who has bladder issues of any stage, I would definitely recommend getting online and completing the product selector to see what would be best for them. Hartmann do a massive range of products along with guides on usage and underwear etc. Their website is full of advice for continence problems and since it’s all done on the internet, it is obviously all done without any embarrassment needed. Of course, if you are worried about any issues you do have, please do go and see your GP. 

Disclosure
I was sent a few samples of the Hartmann MoliMed Mini for the purpose of this review and was also paid for my time writing. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.