A new awareness drive has been launched to educate new mums about what to expect during childbirth.
The Know Your Bits campaign was developed after a survey that found 48 percent of women are too embarrassed to ask about what physical changes they can expect during pregnancy.
The research was carried out by My Expert Midwife, and also revealed that 51 percent of new Irish mums suffer a tear during childbirth.
The company's founder and One Born Every Minute midwife Lesley Gilchrist says mums need to get moving to get their body ready:
"Our pelvis, our big thigh muscles, they don't get the same exercise as they used to maybe 50 or 100 years ago. Your pelvic floor muscle is actually connected to a huge array of muscles, and they all need to be exercised in conjunction with each other. So, as much as you can do, you can sit and do your pelvic floor exercises, it's not as beneficial as doing squats, lunges, and Pilates."
