The prevalence of stress incontinence during pregnancy and following delivery

the prevalence of stress incontinence during pregnancy reported in the literature ranges from 20 to 67%. Following delivery the reported prevalence is between 6 and 29%. In the present study 59% of women reported stress incontinence during pregnancy, and 31% following delivery. Ten per cent of the women had daily episodes of incontinence during their pregnancy, 2% of all women reported daily incontinence following delivery. An association was found between parity and stress incontinence, with women of higher parity being more likely to experience the condition. No difference in the prevalence of stress incontinence was found between women who had a normal delivery and those having an instrumental delivery. A caesarean section was found to be associated with a lower incidence of stress incontinence compared with a normal spontaneous delivery.