Can post partum prolapse REALLY get better?

First of all, congratulations on the birth of your beautiful little daughter!

You have come to the right place, the women here are incredible.

I am 3 1/2 months postpartum and although I don't have a uterine prolapse or rectocele, I do have a cystocele and can very much relate to your feelings of despair. I can say that the cystocele has been getting better gradually and on most days I am asymptomatic from it. My urogynecologist has been great at reminding me that I am still in the postpartum recovery phase and that it is entirely within the realm of possibility that things will get much better with the prolapse over time, especially after weaning. I am hoping to nurse my daughter as long as possible so that might be a long time from now. Honestly, starting at about 10-11 weeks postpartum, I could notice daily improvements in the prolapse.

Hugs to you.

Dear Mickuo,

I hope you can gain some inspiration here from all the women who have learned to live well with their conditions. Yes, post-partum prolapse of the uterus is known to resolve on its own. I’m sure you’ve taken a look at my articles and also the posture description in the FAQ section. These organs are meant to be carried forward over the pubic bone so they do not fall back against the vaginal walls. Give the sitting and walking postures a try! This is not something we do once or twice a day, but is a new way of learning to hold the body at all times. It’s tiring at first and should be balanced with lots of rest. And, of course, you should be resting most of the time now with your newborn. Understand how supportive (or aggravating) clothing can be and start to think about how you might begin to dress to better support the natural shape of your spine. The lower spinal curvature actually flattens in advanced pregnancy, and it’s very possible that once that curve is reestablished, it will help pull your uterus up and forward. Don’t rush things, but have faith in your body’s built-in capacity to respond to prolapse.

Wishing you well,

Christine

I just wanted to respond. You will probably feel soooo much better in a few months. I know I did and do. After a big baby comes out, everything is sooo stretched out. I remember not even being able to squeeze the muscles. Now, everything is nice and firm. Hang in there!!!:)

I am one of those woman whose prolapse didn't get better gradually postpartum. It did get somewhat better over the first few months but then it started to get worse again. I am 8 months postpartum and have found Christine's site and ideas to be life saving. I was getting very depressed and felt hopeless (I wish I had found this site sooner!!) My advice is to start immediately working on your posture. That is the main thing that has improved my symptoms. As Christine has said, at the end of pregnancy your lower spine isn't as curved because of the weight of the baby. After birth I didn't work on getting my lumbar curve back and continued to lift baby, walk a lot etc. thinking that what I had was normal and would "fix" naturally. If I had known about Christine's work early on I could have started right away to work on my posture and do the exercises. You will get a lot of encouragement here. I finally feel in control of my situation thanks to Christine and the wonderful women here. Your prolapse may improve naturally but I just wanted you to know that that isn't completely truthful for everyone. So if you start Christine's program you will guarantee healing. Now I am actually looking forward to more babies in the future. Before I thought my life was over. Something that has helped me while getting used to the posture is the v2 supporter. The posture has been very tiring for me and using the v2 supporter when I know I will be on my feet for a while helps give me support. Also, I have changed my clothing to help support this new posture. I have several pairs of maternity "after" pants that you can't even tell are maternity. They are so comfortable and by not digging into your stomach, they help you maintain the posture while sitting. Know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I have been where you are and I just want to tell you it will get better as long as you start taking care of yourself now, rest and cherish your sweet baby :)

I just sent you a long reply and somehow lost it :(
I would also like to know Christine's opinion on this. I have the same prolapses as you (front and back). My gyn. told me I needed a hysterectomy after I'm done having kids.....FUNNY considering my uterus hasn't prolapsed DUH! Since that visit I don't trust anyone telling what I "need to do". Christine makes sense and what she suggests isn't invasive.

My question Christine to add to Michelle's is the posture is helping my prolapse front and back but I don't understand how it helps the rectocele? I know the uterus and bladder get supported by your pelvis but what about the rectum? I'm guessing here....is it because the weight of the uterus and bladder isn't sitting on the rectum in this posture? It is only the rectocele that bothers me now so I just want to make sure I'm doing everything to continue stabilization in that area as well.

Michelle how do you feel about more kids? I am wondering if any other moms on here will be going on to try more births.

Hi Michelle and Mommynow,

Ob/gyn has provided virtually no data on these relatively common conditions. What surprises me is that midwifery has not stepped in to fill the gap. Nor, of course, PT.

Anecdotal evidence from this and other forums suggests that the postpartum prolapsed vagina can resume much of its former shape. Our member CandiceP responded to you on this thread that everything has tightened back up for her after several months. Michelle, she was REALLY BOTHERED when she first came here with a prolapsed front vaginal wall. When I read that I jumped for joy. Keep doing the postural work!

Mommynow... the pelvic organs: urethra/bladder, vagina/uterus, rectum/sigmoid colon all have the same axis, or direction within the pelvis - like this: 777. They all start traveling up and back and then flip over to end up at the front of the body over the pubic bone. Natural female posture stretches the rectum/vagina back toward the spine and holds the bladder/uterus/intestines over the pubic bone. I try to visualize this sometimes when I'm standing. :-)

I was told by the uro-gyn that if I decided to have more children that I would have to have my uterus "tacked" up and then have a C-section, and then have a hysterectomy. Of course, he's a surgeon so of course he's going to suggest the hysterectomy. I assume he said the C-section so I wouldn't have further damage? Or maybe that was because of the hysterectomy. I don't know. I am leaning towards no more children although I am not ready to commit to that decision, my baby will be 1 on the 22nd. I have had two very stressful pgs and 1 miscarriage so I think the prolapse issues on top of my history would be too much for me. But again, I am not ready to hear the fat lady singing ;-).

Anyone else told about the "tacking" up of the uterus?

Kathy

I know a prolapse can get a bit better cos I was a Grade2 and now am a grade1

If I decided to have another baby I would use a belly bra in pregnancy (Lifts the weight UP - you can see one on bloomingmarvellous.com) also buy on ebay etc.

I also read about non pushing birth etc.

I think from what my own Gynae said that sometimes the damage is done in the first pregnancy and another one unless has lots of intervention does not make it significantly worse (I had forceps in pregnancy1 in 1988 and after i felt like a brick was falling outta me - pregnancy2 ended in 1990 and i didnt have that feeling that time - pregnancy3 was in 2002 and i didnt have that feeling either)

I found the prolapse when she was nearly 3yrs old - Was told it was a grade2. Now told a grade1 with kegels (Not overdoing kegels) and the posture.

I think it is a gamble, depends on whether you want a further child and the want is soooo strong you just hafta go on as you cannot live your life with that void.

As i said above - I would use the belly bra to lift the weight up off of the pelvis and then I would have a peaceful birth (Unless something bad happened) and my midwives would KNOW that I wanted to control my own birth - And not push AT ALL until my body told me to. In two of my births I have been told to push push pushhhhhhhh and after the fact now - I know that was wrong.

I hope some of my rambling helped - :)

Sue

Hi Kathy,

I've said about all I can say regarding the risks of reconstructive surgery. There is no "tacking up" the uterus. There is only: bone anchors into the spine, plastic mesh anchored to the spine, or permanent suture material wrapped round and round the uterine ligaments. The latter might not sound so bad, but the uterosacral ligaments are actually the carriers of the major nerve vessels to the uterus and are therefore more pliable than strong. Some surgeons are using mesh to anchor the round ligaments at the front of the uterus to the abdominal wall. This version of the classic ventrosuspension pulls the front vaginal wall forward and virtually guarantees problems in the posterior segment. Also, when the uterine body is strongly anchored in one place the elastic cervix is much more likely to stretch, often all the way to the vaginal opening.

Of all beings on Earth, we are the embodiment of strength, elasticity, and resilience. The best we can do is to support our natural design back toward radical verticality so that every corpuscle is expanded in the right direction. Surgery obstructs the basic energy grid of the body so there is no longer any possiblity of complete expansion.

Christine

P.S. Vaginal birth is one of the most empowering experiences available to humans. We already have anecdotal evidence that a gentle birth does not worsen an existing prolapse. Women must be able to see this for themselves, however, and also embrace the reality that there are no guarantees.

our first baby was born in 2003- during the pregnancy my tailbone hurt as did my lower back- I went to pt for the back pain and at about 6 months pp felt alot better- I got prego again @ 9 months pp and the pain returned. I just figured it was the pregnancy causing the pain- well after our second was born my husband actually noticed the rectocele-of course we had no clue what it was and didn't really think much of it and it went away. then this past sept. we had our third baby (that is 3 in 3 years). The midwife noticed the rectocele and named it for me. She didn't really know what it was and so I started researching which is how I ended up here. So to answer the question...I think that I got my rectocele during my first pregnancy- and it got better each time post partum- but not to the normal level and I think each pregnancy had a significant impact on the degree of the prolapse. YES for me after the first two births I had significant healing. I have no idea what will happen this time-I do think there is a chance this issue will resolve again in time.