Am I expeiriencing prolapse symptoms

Hi Newmum72,

Congratulations on the birth of your little one!

Classic prolapse symptoms usually present as bulging of the front or back vaginal walls, or uterus, (which tends to bulge down in the middle to a greater or lesser degree), into, or out of the vagina. If you are not experiencing any bulging then it doesn't sound like you have prolapse! :)

Many of us had incontinence issues after giving birth. In fact, a friend called me this very morning, who had a baby on Friday, and is experiencing the very same issues. It takes a while for the muscles around the urethra to tone up again after all the stretching and trauma. I also had stress incontinence after my first baby which resolved.

Kegels are good for this, try sets of ten, holding for ten seconds three to four times a day. Don't worry if you can't hold for this long yet, it can take a while. If it persists there are definitely non surgical techniques which seem to be quite successful for dealing with incontinence, but it is very early days for you!

My same friend who called today had an episiotomy after her first baby and has said it took a long time before she felt better. She had a great deal of pain and discomfort for quite a while I am afraid. I don't know if the "tingling/pressure/ache" you describe is to do with that, perhaps someone else here has more idea?

If you aren't getting help from your Dr or midwife, it might be wise to find another who is more supportive of you. The early post partum period is hard enough without feeling unsupported by medical professionals.

Take care and try not to fret too much. Enjoy your baby and You will be fine.

Take care!

Michelle.

Hi Newmum,

I agree with Michelle not to worry and that you will probably greatly improve.

However, I do want to make a couple of points. First of all, it’s very possible that postpartum SUI (stress urinary incontinence) may have more to do with muscle and nerve injury than any stretching or weakening of pelvic supports. Since at least 1953 when this quote was published, doctors have known of the relationship between episiotomy and SUI:

“Any perineal laceration which permits the labia minora to retract laterally and expose a gaping vagina harbors the divided and retracted origin of the bulbocavernosus muscle. Such a lesion lowers the efficiency of the voluntary urethral sphincter and should be considered as an etiologic basis for stress urinary incontinence in the female.”

I have a hunch that the more superficial bulbocavernosus muscles that surround the vagina would be at least as subject to “destroyed portions of the muscle” (and nerves) from dissection and suturing as the levator muscles are, and that episiotomy leads to, if not a sudden, then a slow retraction and disintegration of these muscles and subsequently the perineal body. I recovered completely from my episiotomies, developed symptoms of SUI ten years later, and by thirty years later that area had completely disintegrated. Kegels may help with supplemental support of the urethra by moving it forward toward the pubic bone, but we have quite a collection of anecdotal data here that suggests they also stress this very area (the lower back vaginal wall and introitus.) I would proceed cautiously.

Christine

Dear Christine,

If you don't mind, can I ask what do you mean by "by thirty years later that area had completely disintegrated" in relation to yourself? Do you mean complete breakdown of the tissues at your old episiotomy scar? If so, what symptoms if any does this present?

Sorry for the questions as usual, I do hope you don't mind me asking! :)

Michelle.

Michelle,

Fan your first two fingers out on your left hand. With your right thumb and finger pinch the skin in between your left fingers. That’s exactly the thinness of this area (back of introitus) and there’s little behind it before the anal wall. After all the studying of anatomy I’ve done, I believe this area was the crucial “keystone” that evolved to allow us to become human – or at least stand up female human. I also believe it is the Achilles heel for women. The slash-n-burn practice of ob/gyn begins with that procedure, often delivering a lifetime of woe.

Christine

Things change in the first year post partum
But - As you are here - adopting the posture will help you as life goes on

I had terrible stress incontinence for over 17yrs - Now i dont... I sorted this by the posture and not overdoing the kegels. Now i do maybe 6-1 kegel holds of 6 seconds a day - nothing amazingly hard - and it has helped amazingly as no longer do i feel like I did back then

Thanks for your supportive words, Sue. Scaring the daylights out of our newmum was not my intent! I just want to bring a world of attention to this issue. Episiotomy IS the first cut until many go on to have bigger ones - really it's not radically different than posterior colporrhaphy.

And newmum, as soon as you can learn to shift your weight off that area by adopting the postural changes we are working with here, the less stress and deterioration there will be - theoretically! :-)

Hi Newmum,

I'm glad you found this site even though it seems like you don't have a prolapse. I find just reading the supportive emails amongst such evolved women to be so comforting.

I wanted to add that my tears were still healing at 9 weeks. My doctor refused to acknowledge that they were not done healing yet. She had delivered my baby and stitched me up, so I got the feeling that she wanted to convince me that everything was AOK. So, then I went to a different doctor who said my tears were nowhere near done healing and that it was OK. She prescribed estrogen cream (which I know is controversial) because she explained that due to my breastfeeding, my estrogen levels were low and that was contributing to my longer healing time. Anyway, it helped me.

Good luck!

Ann

I have had 3 kids - Two episiotomies (one for forceps which is where all my hassle started) One for no known reason - Just cos they were bored maybe - And I also had a tear in my last Birth in 2002 (First two births in 1988 and 1990)

Though I can still feel a scar line 'down there' Things really did get better for me after adopting the posture here - Now, I have been here just over a year (actually a year 3mths lol) I very rarely even notice the prolapse that was such a pain and the reason I came here in the first place.

I have no 'leakage' problems to worry about like I used to on a daily basis - ALL day.

Remember that your baby took 9mths to grow and it takes at least that to heal, more sometimes.

If you have no prolapse then adopting posture now will help through the rest of your life - especially if you go on to have more kiddies.

If you have something else to focus on rather than the obvious worry this causes (I noticed they mentioned nothing to me of Kegels or Prolapse or anything back then - This is something they leave us to discover on our own here in UK) Do not worry andknow that your body will do its utmost to 'normalise' again but things take time :)

Enjoy your babe :)
As I said I do very few kegels now - When i used to do HUNDREDS a day and ended up with a worse problem as I tired out the muscle down there lolololol Now - I am no longer in the same 'freakout' state I was when I arrived here :)

Remember....... Women are the stronger of the species - men would have gone to bed for twenty years if they had to go through what we do ;)

Sue

Good on you, Newmum72. It is great to hear a new Mum complaining about a botched surgical procedure, and very wise of you to get it attended to now. It is a pity more women don't jump up and down when doctors don't fix their bodies properly, which they are educated and trained for, and which we pay for!!

After all, we have to live with the results for the rest of our lives. Our bodies are the temples of our soul. We owe it to God to ensure that anybody who does something to our body does it properly, or we are not honouring God, or ourselves.

Cheers

Louise