2.
aniball 
medical device
The prospective cohort study "Investigating antenatal pelvic floor training using a vaginal balloon device in Czech women"conducted by Dr. Fousek and colleagues, was published after 6 years of intensive research in the prestigious British Journal of Midwifery, (February 2023, Vol 31, No 2).
This study examined the results of births in Czech first-time mothers giving birth vaginally head first and compared the differences between women exercising with Aniball and non-exercising women.
The study concluded that Aniball helps to prevent injury of the perineum by episiotomy. It also confirmed that Aniball is safe - its use does not increase the risk of damage to the pelvic floor and does not cause urogynaecology problems later on. There was no difference between the two groups in the incidence of pelvic floor injury (avulsion injury to levator ani muscle). It refuted the opponents' fears that Aniball violated the integrity of the pelvic floor and worsened the quality of a woman’s life after childbirth.
More frequent exercise does not lead to a further reduction in the number of birth injuries or degrees of tears. On the contrary, less frequent exercise (every other day) seems to be more beneficial.
The most frequent maximum circumference of the balloon was 25 cm - this confirms that it is not desirable to inflate the balloon further. The aim of the training is to practice the relaxation of the pelvic floor and not to reach the largest circumference of the balloon.
The practising women did not indicate a decrease in life quality (in terms of incontinence or sexual dysfunction) after childbirth. On the contrary, incontinence and deterioration of love life quality after childbirth were reported by more women who did not exercise: Stress incontinence (p = 0.066) and sexual dysfunction (p = 0.14).
Analysis of the reasons for excluding women from the study after childbirth additionally revealed a non-significant reduction in the number of vaginal extraction operations in women who exercised (6.8% vs. 17.3%, p = 0.0895). This interesting side finding could serve as a stimulus for further research into the potential benefits of using the balloon.
