The Unspoken Floor

There are parts of the female body we have learned to speak about easily.

And others that remain strangely hidden.

The pelvic floor is one of them.

Leaking urine, pelvic pressure, discomfort, bowel symptoms and prolapse affect many women, particularly around pregnancy, birth, ageing and menopause. Yet embarrassment and the belief that these things are simply something women must tolerate can keep them silent for years.

I once sat with a woman who had carried her pelvic symptoms quietly for a very long time.

There was something striking in the relief of simply saying it aloud in a room where nobody flinched.

Sometimes being heard is the first loosening.

The pelvis sits at the physical centre of us. It supports our pelvic organs and participates in continence, sexual function, breathing, movement and the management of pressure through the body.

And yet many women reach midlife knowing remarkably little about it.

That silence did not arise from nowhere.

The pelvis is intimately connected with sex, birth, blood, elimination and ageing, all territories the female body has historically been encouraged to keep private.

But common does not mean something must simply be endured.

Persistent pelvic symptoms deserve assessment, often from a GP, pelvic-health physiotherapist or other appropriately qualified practitioner.

And alongside treatment there can be something quietly powerful about becoming acquainted with this part of ourselves.

Feeling the ground beneath the feet.

Noticing the relationship between breath and pelvis.

Understanding how we lift, carry, strain, soften and move.

Knowing our own anatomy without embarrassment.

The pelvic floor does not need to remain a place we discover only when something goes wrong.

It is part of the body.

It was always ours to know.