Post birth incontinence- very worried

[Muse84]

I had my beautiful baby boy on Tues. Normal very speedy vaginal birth, no assistance and normal size baby. Second degree tears.

Now, I have no sensation in my bladder, consequently it constantly leaks. I'm really worried- this is more than just stress incontinence, is there permanent nerve damage? Everything feels very swollen down there, and I'm doing my pelvic floors as much as possible but everything I read online talks about mild stress incontinence, which is very different. Midwife says to talk to doctor if still problematic after 6 weeks but right now I'm feeling very emotional and worried

[BertramTheWalrus]

Is your LO only 48 h old? If so, you need to give it a bit of time, the lack of sensation can be down to swelling and should gradually return. In 90% of cases, urinary incontinence after childbirth resolves without any intervention, so chances are you will be back to normal once you've healed. Keep doing your pelvic floor exercises religiously - for the rest of your life btw, not for the next 6 weeks!

Congratulations on your baby

[IAmcuriousyellow]

Everything should relocate/calm down/get back to normal day by day. You've just had a baby bless you. I well remember my continence slowly returning and even now when I do a huge wee I am so proud because there was a time I couldn't be more than 20 paces from a toilet! Give yourself time. Just cuddle your baby - congratulations!

[Batterseapark]

Hi OP,
Congratulations!

Incontinence is horrid but it's too early to really worry. Like others have said, the swelling needs to come down and you need to do pelvic floor exercises 3 times a day (and yes, they're for life).
I've come across threads on here where (poor) women needed to self catheterise for a few weeks and they made full recoveries (some might come along and comment). It's not a nice experience but there really is time for everything to heal and get back to normal. You should feel better after 2 weeks already.

[Muse84]

Thank you so much for your advice and support. I actually feel as if I have more sensation down below today, so swelling must be improving. Doing those pelvic floors with every feed, I have serious motivation now!

[NutellaLawson]

I had this. 72 hour back labour and baby with a huge head and was told yes it was never damage (nerve shock) but it's not permanent. I was kept in post natal for a week and left the hospital in adult nappies because my urinary continence was completely zero.
It took a while for things to get back to normal (though I still have mild stress incontinence). Give it 6 weeks.

[Steeley113]

I peed myself loads after my first baby, a lot of my friends said they did too. We're all ok now (unless we bounce on a trampoline or get the sneezes)

[AuntLydia]

I had this with my second child, I had no sensation at all, it freaked me right out! One tip the midwife gave me was to try not to go to the loo constantly as this would make it worse. The bladder needs to be allowed to fill up properly to get everything working well again. I had been constantly going for a wee to try and prevent me wetting myself.

[scaredofthecity]

I had this and I found the big maternity pads really great for saving my dignity. It took about 2 weeks until I was able to leave the house (eyeing up the toilets on route!) and after about 4ish weeks I stopped leaking. I have no problems now and can even bounce on the trampoline!
Like others have said, keep doing your pelvic floors and the chances are it will disappear fairly soon

[NutellaLawson]

I think the op is talking about a whole other level of incontinence. If I'm right and you mean if you stand up from lying down for a while, urine just pours out of you and there is fuck all you can do stop your bladder emptying completely all over the floor then this is what I had. It's not normal or common. Midwives and gynaecologists and urologist i saw at the hospital were shocked but mystified. Nerve shock was best guess.

Op, nerves are incredibly slow to heal but they do. It took a while and improvement was gradual but over time I regained the ability to feel my pelvic floor and to hold wee. I feared I would be in huge adult nappies forever but after a month just big ass incontinence pads did me and they gradually for smaller and now I don't use any.

Ask to see am incontinence nurse. They can assess your needs and you may get boxes of pads on nhs until it improves.

[scaredofthecity]

nutella that is exactly the level of incontinence I had. And yes it did resolve itself.

[ellesbellesxxx]

Oh gosh totally had this (and I actually lost control the other end too after third degree tear)
However plenty of pelvic floor exercises, physio and yoga later it isn't happening yay. So hang in there

[Muse84]

Thanks for the reassurance everyone, it does help. Things are a bit better now - no leaking, so I can hold it in. Just! Can't stop the flow once I start but that's ok for now. Midwife checked my stitches yesterday and said all looked good but I had massive bruising which would definitely continue inside. I can't take anti inflammatory meds so I actually haven't been on any pain meds since birth. (Not in masses of pain) Bruising will take longer to resolve wuthout - wish I could have a neurofen!

[Batterseapark]

Oh that's looking encouraging! I knew some women would come along and be able to reassure you
You can take paracetamol 4 times a day to help with pain. To reduce bruising and swelling, you can use a frozen maternity pad (3 times a day for 10 min each time). Put a little bit of water on pads and stick in the freezer.
Good luck with everything

[Muse84]

Ah thanks Battersea- very helpful