Rebecca Judd reveals the awkward side effect of having four children

Rebecca Judd reveals the awkward side effect of having four children – and how a hack involving a Macca’s thickshake has changed her life

Rebecca Judd revealed the downside to having a large family during a frank discussion on KIIS FM’s 3pm Pick-Up on Monday.

The mother of four, 37, said she suffers from occasional incontinence and has learned strategies to cope with her loss of bladder control.

She made the admission while speaking to her co-host Katie ‘Monty’ Dimond, who is pregnant with her third child and is experiencing a slight loss of urine while sneezing.

‘I realised I’m at that stage in pregnancy that when I sneeze, I wee,’ Monty began.

‘Oh, yeah, welcome to my life!’ Rebecca exclaimed, to which her colleague replied with a laugh: ‘Yeah, that’s still you!’

Monty then explained she’d been out walking with a friend recently when she had to sneeze.

She performed her usual routine of bending ‘right over’ and crossing her legs to stop urine coming out, but even this technique didn’t work.

‘I got in the car and I’m like, “I’m going home to change my pants as a grown woman,”‘ she added.

A sympathetic Rebecca replied: ‘Been there, mate, been there.’

The wife of AFL star Chris Judd then offered her advice for women experiencing incontinence during and after pregnancy.

‘I’ll give you a little tip: point your toes together, like you’re pigeon-toed. If you point your toes together then when you’re putting your pelvic floor on, you’re just really isolating that and you’re not accidentally recruiting your glutes.

‘It helps you be able to switch it on more effectively.’

Monty added: ‘So, stand up straight and put your feet in together?’

Rebecca continued: ‘The best thing a physio told me was, “Imagine you’ve got a Macca’s strawberry thickshake and you’ve got the straw and you’re trying to suck that thickshake up? That’s your pelvic floor pulling your baby’s head up, or pulling your wee up.’

This isn’t the first time Rebecca has spoken candidly about incontinence.

In October last year, she mentioned in passing on her radio show that she wears ‘leak-proof’ underwear because she ‘wees her pants’ every time she sneezes due to hay fever.

FACT BOX TITLE

Urinary incontinence is the loss of bladder control.

It affects up to six million people in the UK, five million in Australia, and 17 million in the U.S. to some extent.

Some sufferers occasionally leak urine when they sneeze or cough, whereas others get urges that are so sudden they do not get to the toilet in time.

It is more common with age and can occur due to conditions such as arthritis if patients cannot undo their trouser buttons quickly enough.

Other causes may include a urinary tract infection, pregnancy, childbirth, menopause, a hysterectomy and prostate cancer.

Alcohol, caffeine, carbonated drinks and spicy foods can stimulate the bladder, making symptoms worse.

Sufferers should seek help from their GP as urinary incontinence can indicate a more serious underlying condition.

It can also restrict people’s everyday activities and increase their risk of falls if they rush to the bathroom.

People can reduce their risk by maintaining a healthy weight, eating lots of fibre, practicing pelvic floor exercises and not smoking.

Source: Mayo Clinic