Why Women?
One of the main reasons is because women have babies. Your body goes through a million wonderful, crazy and mysterious changes on its way to delivering your baby. As your baby grows, it puts pressure on your bladder. A sneeze, cough or even a hearty laugh adds even more pressure on your bladder. Pushing your baby through the birth canal places all sorts of stretching pressures on most of your pelvic organs which can trigger a slight loss in bladder control. Some women seem to be able to withstand this stretching better than others.
The act of childbirth is just one factor. Other factors include such things as long term coughing or sneezing, constipation and increased body mass. Also menopause with its decreasing hormone levels contributes to the changes.