{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T18:23:23Z","timestamp":1793125403975,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776384000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Med."],"abstract":"\n Objective<\/jats:title>\n This study aimed to explore the immediate effect of abdominal muscle contraction on the pelvic floor morphology in postpartum women.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n This observational cross-sectional repeated-measures study recruited 90 participants who visited the Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital from May 2024 to March 2026. All participants underwent pelvic floor assessments using four-dimensional (4D) ultrasound in seven different positions.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n The results showed a general decreasing trend in the hiatal area and retrovesical angle and an increasing trend in the urethral tilt angle during pelvic floor muscle contraction. The bladder neck position, cervical position, and rectal ampulla position descended during drawing-in (\n Padj\u202f=<\/jats:italic>\n 0.005,\n Padj<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f=\u202f0.106, and\n Padj<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f=\u202f0.018, respectively), head-lift1 (\n Padj\u202f=<\/jats:italic>\n 0.002,\n Padj\u202f=<\/jats:italic>\n 0.032, and\n Padj\u202f&lt;<\/jats:italic>\n 0.001, respectively), head-lift2 (\n Padj\u202f&lt;<\/jats:italic>\n 0.001,\n Padj\u202f&lt;<\/jats:italic>\n 0.001, and\n Padj\u202f&lt;<\/jats:italic>\n 0.001, respectively), and 90\u202f\u00b0flexion of the hips and knees (\n Padj\u202f&lt;<\/jats:italic>\n 0.001,\n Padj\u202f=<\/jats:italic>\n 0.055, and\n Padj\u202f=<\/jats:italic>\n 0.495, respectively). The differences remained significant for pelvic floor muscle contractions during the drawing-in, head-lift1, head-lift2, and one-leg lift for bladder neck positions (\n Padj\u202f&lt;<\/jats:italic>\n 0.001,\n Padj\u202f=<\/jats:italic>\n 0.014,\n Padj\u202f=<\/jats:italic>\n 0.023, and\n Padj\u202f=<\/jats:italic>\n 0.033, respectively) and head-lift2 for the rectal ampulla position (\n Padj\u202f&lt;<\/jats:italic>\n 0.001). In contrast, the cervical position were higher than rest during pelvic floor muscle contractions in drawing-in (\n Padj\u202f&lt;<\/jats:italic>\n 0.001), head-lift1 (\n Padj\u202f=<\/jats:italic>\n 0.011), one-leg lift (\n Padj\u202f&lt;<\/jats:italic>\n 0.001), and 90\u00b0 flexion of the hips and knees (\n Padj\u202f=<\/jats:italic>\n 0.006).\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n Drawing-in, head-lift, and flexion of the hips and knees were associated with immediate pelvic organ descent and hiatal area enlargement in this study, with the head-lift2 maneuver showing a relatively higher mechanical loading degree. The simultaneous contraction of the pelvic floor muscles during these maneuvers correlated with an immediate reduction in pelvic organ descent.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2026.1800064","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T05:20:20Z","timestamp":1776403220000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Immediate effect of abdominal muscle contraction on pelvic floor morphology in postpartum women"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Yu","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ultrasound, Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital","place":["Fuzhou, Fujian, China"]},{"name":"Fujian Key Laboratory of Women and Children\u2019s Critical Diseases Research [Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital (Fujian Women and Children\u2019s Hospital)]","place":["Fuzhou, Fujian, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiajia","family":"Ye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Assessment, Rehabilitation Hospital Affiliated to Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine","place":["Fuzhou, Fujian, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yao","family":"Lu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fujian Key Laboratory of Women and Children\u2019s Critical Diseases Research [Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital (Fujian Women and Children\u2019s Hospital)]","place":["Fuzhou, Fujian, China"]},{"name":"Department of Women\u2019s Health Care, Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital","place":["Fujian, Fuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yan","family":"Zhuo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ultrasound, Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital","place":["Fuzhou, Fujian, China"]},{"name":"Fujian Key Laboratory of Women and Children\u2019s Critical Diseases Research [Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital (Fujian Women and Children\u2019s Hospital)]","place":["Fuzhou, Fujian, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jianqi","family":"Fang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Women\u2019s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University","place":["Zhejiang, Hangzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4","DOI":"10.1002\/nau.20798","article-title":"An international Urogynecological association (IUGA)\/international continence society (ICS) joint report on the terminology for female pelvic floor dysfunction","volume":"29","author":"Haylen","year":"2010","journal-title":"Neurourol Urodynam"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"26","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejogrb.2021.01.047","article-title":"Does pregnancy affect pelvic floor functional anatomy? 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