daft question alert

[extreamlybroodybutrealistic]

I know that this is really daft question hence the name change but I need to ask, is your pelvic floor permanently damage after a vaginal birth or can you do exercises to try to repair a certain amount of the damage (bad word but can't think of a better one right now) after delivery?? Serious question as it is a concern of mine...tia.

[JennyLeevesmilkandcookiesforSa]

it is permanently different even with no stitches and no tears and easy birth but damaged does not really apply to me, but different even with lots of exercises, is just part of life

[pesha]

Not a stupid question at all.

What sort of damage are you concerned about?

You can do pelvic floor exercises which can repair it alot, dont know if it makes it as good as before having children but i can jump on a trampoline and laugh hysterically without wetting myself after 2 vaginal births and im rubbish at remembering to do pelvic floor exercises!

[extreamlybroodybutrealistic]

pesha you hit it on the head. I am 29 now, and I am concerned that the older I get, the weaker things are going to be when hopefuly my time comes, and what I can look forward to! Should I get lucky enough to be pregnant, I have a hundred questions going around in my head and we aren't ttc just yet! why i asked is: Unless in an emergency or is necessarily required, i don't want to have a c-section (but will do whatever is necessary) but worry about the longer term effects of natural childbirth. What a selfish thing to think of, but I need these questions answering before rather than later. Although when the time comes, I am hoping to just go with the flow.

[prettymum]

im 21 and have 2 dc, both natural births, after i gave birth to dd i was horrified with my bits but it went back to normal (kind of) after a while.

with ds who is now 3 months, there wasnt much change, it was better then when i had dd!!

i dont wee when i laugh and i stopped doing pelvic floor excercises after few hours!!

[Gemmitygem]

I gave birth 4 weeks ago, and quite honestly it is pretty much the same as before.. I was lucky not to tear or have stitches, which I put down to lots of pelvic floor lifts while pregnant and doing perineal massage (where you stretch your bits, feels really horirble) in the last 4 weeks. I also called for my clarins oil in the delivery room (what a drama queen!) and asked the doctor to put some on my perineum at crowning.

Now everything is really and truly back to normal, so you could be lucky like me. I think abotu 80% of it is down to the size and position of baby, I had a little one (6 lb 2) with a fairly small head that was in the right position, so a lot of it is luck.

In any case if you do pelvic floor ex religiously during preg as well, and try perineal massage, you'll give yourself the best chance of a quick recovery! Best of luck!

[spinningkittywheel]

I'm on baby 6 and it is only really this time that I'm keeping up with the pf exercises.
I have to say honestly that although I don't ever have leaks things down there have never been the same since passings babies through them. Everything certainly feels stretched. My babies have BIG heads unfortunatly and tend to come out with their hands up by their faces too.
Things won't be the same once you've had a baby vaginally, why would it be, but if you do you pf exercises you can keep the change to a minimum iyswim

[auntymandy]

I've had 5 and dont wet myself!!
Rubbish at remembering exercise.
One GP told me to practice squeezing on my partner!!! IYSWIM!!!

[MrsTittleMouse]

I gave birth less than 3 weeks ago. I ended up having the birth that I'd really dreaded (induction, instrument delivery and episiotomy), but it wasn't that bad.
The things that I had been really worried about were faecal or urinary incontinence, or a change in orgasm (), but none of those things have happened. Right from the birth I could cough without worry.
Hopefully this is reassuring that even if things don't go well at the birth your bits can still function.

[lulumama]

agree with everyone.......! did lots of pelvic floors......when i remembered!

perineal massage is helpful...there is a thread on it at the moment..if can;t find it i will do a link......

a nicely controlled delivery is helpful to keeping the perineum intact.....

as is a water birth...does reduce perineal trauma.....

i had a teeny graze internally, intact perinuem with a 7 lb 8 ounce LO......

DH assures me all is well and i can trampoline..laugh & sneeze without a problem!

HTH!!

[3andnomore]

HI there, imo I don't think a natural Birth necessarily damages the pelvic floor, indeed, whilest pg there is a lot of pressure on the pelvic floor, so, a C-section really would not change anything in that respect anyway!
Pelvic exercises will defiantely help though in respect of avoiding incontinence, etc...!
Obviously if you tear badly or a a huge Episiotomie, etc...that might have some impact of course , but then, your belly ain't all the same after a C-section neither....

[belgo]

There are lots of different ways you can do pelvic floor exercises to make them as effective as possible - I read several descriptions of different exercises. I also saw a physio therapist post birth who gave me advice and incentive on how to get back to 'normal' and taught me how to do the exercises effectively.

[spinningkittywheel]

I have a pelvic toner which I find much more effective at targeting the muscles and improving their strength.
It's like any muscle. If it isn't exercised it loses tone, except that it gets extra stress during preg and birth so needs extra looking after.

[crimplene]

I've ended up with a lot of damage though one vaginal birth with a very long pushing stage - although the alternative was an instrumental delivery which is what a lot of people blame for damage. My partner refers to it as 'fanny collapse'. The gynaecologist I've just seen wants to do lots of surgery to re-assemble it all so I look like a 17 year old virgin, as PFEs alone won't sort it out - you can't tighten muscles that are no longer anchored where they should be.

On the plus side, I can't imagine a nicer (and almost painless) birth experience. I've also found that I have much better orgasms since, as have a couple of other women I've talked to who've had vaginal births - things seem to loosen up in a good way.

On the negative side, I'm likely to need some fairly major surgery in the future if my Gynacologist's right(once things flop to the point of incontinence) which is a longer recovery than a c-section and not guaranteed to work for ever. I think that perhaps PFEs can hold it off or probably make it quite a lot better. It's also quite common: 1 in 10 women will have pelvic floor surgery at some point.

I'm still glad that I went for a vaginal birth as it was such a good one, plus the recovery from cs sounds horrible to me, but I would absolutely understand wanting a cs instead.