The experimental group followed a specially designed PFME programme with training conducted by the researcher in small groups of 2–5 participants for 45 minutes per session once every 2 weeks for a period of 6 weeks. In addition, the pregnant women were encouraged to perform PFME with both slow and fast contractions. The slow contraction was performed by contracting or squeezing the perivaginal and perianal muscles by holding a strong contraction for 10 seconds while continuing to breathe naturally, then slowly relaxing the muscle for 10 seconds. These exercises were followed by fast contractions which were performed by briefly contracting and relaxing the muscles rapidly for a total of 10 times wherein holding the initial contraction and relaxation of the pelvic floor muscle followed by rapid contraction and relaxation of these muscles equalled one set. The women were instructed to repeat 20 sets of these exercises twice a day for a total of 40 sets per day at least 5 days per week for an overall period of 6 weeks and exercise frequency was recorded in a training diary.