Fiona Falkiner: “It’s time women stopped suffering in silence”

Model Fiona Falkiner shares her Poise Pledge journey and how addressing bladder leakage has changed her life

Model, Podstcast Host ​ and TV personality, Fiona Falkiner, is among the 82%* of Australian mothers who have experienced bladder leakage. Here, the former Dancing With The Stars contestant talks about taking the Poise Pledge, a first-of-its-kind initiative to help break the silence around bladder leakage and to empower women to take action.

“It began after giving birth to my son, Hunter. Bladder leakage was something I never imagined would happen to me; I always thought ​it ​happened to older women. It was really difficult. I started to avoid a lot of the situations that would make it occur and I wasn't living my full life. I stopped going to certain gym classes, jogging, or doing any of the activities that would make me leak – I just didn’t want to have to deal with it.

Then came the last straw that made me jump into action – literally. We’d invested in a trampoline for my son, and he wanted us to go on it together – but I couldn’t bounce without leaking.

For me personally, I didn’t realise how common this issue actually is. In fact, one in three** women experience bladder leakage at some stage in their life, often during pregnancy, after childbirth, or before or during menopause. Since joining the Poise Pledge campaign, I've started speaking about it, and it's just incredible how many women, how many of my friends, who I had no idea are suffering from it. Even some of my friends who haven’t had kids told me that when they laugh, they pee their pants. It’s liberating to talk about it and to realise that it wasn’t just me, rather that it’s so common and nothing to be ashamed of.

The thing is, no one talks about bladder leakage because everyone’s feeling the way that I felt like it’s this big, horrible, shameful secret. So, it’s important for me to be involved in this campaign to help remove the stigma. I want to make other women realise that they’re not alone. It’s time women stopped suffering in silence.

With Poise Pledge, there is now help out there and there are things you can do to strengthen your pelvic floor. It made me realise that I shouldn’t be putting my life on hold, and I don't think anyone else should be either.

* Research conducted online by YouGov in 2023, commissioned by Poise AUNZ. Findings based on nationally representative sample of over 1,000 Australian women aged 18+ who are expecting or have ever given birth.

**Millward Brown U&A 2018, based on women 35+ with light, medium or heavy bladder leakage. Excludes those with minimal or very light leakage.

With Poise Pledge, there is now help out there and there are things you can do to strengthen your pelvic floor. It made me realise that I shouldn’t be putting my life on hold, and I don't think anyone else should be either.