"Are you doing your pelvic floor?" An ethnographic exploration of the interaction between women and midwives about pelvic floor muscle exercises (PFME) during pregnancy.

Although HCPs and some women knew that PFME were important, they were not prioritised and the significant benefits of doing PFME may not have been communicated by midwives or recognised by women. There was a lack of confidence amongst midwives to teach PFME and manage UI within the antenatal care pathway and amongst women to ask about PFME or UI. A perceived lack of consistent guidelines and policy at local and national levels may have impeded clear communication and prioritisation of PFME. Furthermore, assumptions made by both women and midwives, for example, women regarding UI as a normal outcome of pregnancy, or midwives' perception that certain women were more likely to do PFME, may have exacerbated this situation. Training for midwives to help women in the antenatal period to engage in PFME could address challenges and concerns and to help prevent opportunities for women to learn about PFME from being missed.