URINARY INCONTINENCE THREE MONTHS AFTER DELIVERY;

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate prevalence of urinary incontinence at 3 months postpartum andto study how continence status during pregnancy and different factors influence urinary incontinence at 3 months postpartum inprimiparous women. Setting: Pregnant women attending routine antenatal clinic at Ziauddin hospital and Kharader general hospitalKarachi were recruited to this study. Methods: Urinary incontinence before and during pregnancy was assessed at study enrolment earlyin the third trimester. Incontinence was re-assessed three months postpartum. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the role ofmaternal and obstetric factors in causing postpartum urinary incontinence. Results: Urinary incontinence was reported in 15 women(10.6% ) out of 141 women, mode of delivery, onset of labor weight of the baby, episiotomy, and the length of the second stage of labor,were not predictive of urinary incontinence after delivery. Adjusted RR for incontinence after spontaneous vaginal delivery compared withelective caesarean section was 2.200(95% CI .6-7.28) among women who were continent during pregnancy. Conclusions: Urinaryincontinence was prevalent 3 months postpartum. The association between incontinence postpartum mode of delivery, onset of labor,perineal trauma and weight of baby was not statistically significant.