To ask if you have (or had) a prolapse after birth? I'm 25 and mortified

[Jessy111]

I gave birth 6 weeks ago and needed stitches for a second degree perennial tear.

I have reluctantly examined my bits to see how everything was healing and noticed things looked odd on the inside, a swelling of sort.

A closer inspection has revealed what I'm %99 sure is a prolapse (to be confirmed at my doctors appointment next week)

If i insert my finger past some tissue i can feel a lump and my cervix is well within reach, it has dropped down very low.

I'm only in my mid twenties and I'm mortified at the prospect of having a damaged vag

Can I have your experiences please, perhaps some reassurance that it can be resolved without intrusive surgery? I'm already doing my pelvic floors.

I'm so sad about this

Has anybody on here had any problems with tight pelvic floors after birth? I’m 8 months postpartum & been seeing a private psysio for 2 months. I’m lieterally besides myself with the symptoms I’ve had which started 5 weeks postpartum. Burning & stinging but not when I wee & like a heavy feeling that makes me feel like I need a wee but it isn’t a full wee. I e got really bad health anxiety as the doctors didn’t know what it was & kept telling me it was normal & I keep looking thinking I’ve got incurable things & it’s not going to get better

Have a look on FB for POP Fitness, there is a load of info, files, pictures etc and it's run by a female physio, all confidential.

It takes some time mentally too, be kind to yourself.

@Fayy I had very similar symptoms to you and I did have hypertonic pelvic floors. I'm now 10 months postpartum and feel a lot better than I did at the beginning although have some other ongoing issues.

It did take a few sessions for my nhs physio to realise my pf was too tight so we then concentrated on relaxation techniques as I was constantly clenching!

We have only recently started pf again to build up strength although my pf is obviously pretty strong anyway.

Just as another thought are you on any contraceptive pills? I was on the progesterone only pill and some of my symptoms - mainly the burning and irritation feeling got much better after I stopped taking the pill. Saw a private gynae who suggested that and also recommended d-mannose tablets for bladder irritation as well which I think have helped.

So hang in there, things will improve!

@iheartgin - that’s what I was going clenching without realising, the NHS pyshsio didn’t deal with tight muscles just loose ones & there wasn’t any who dealt with it in my radius so ended up going private but it’s still 50 miles away from me. What other ongoing issues do you have if you don’t mind me asking? I’m on the combined pill so I think the oestrogen is in there aswell. I’m always taking cranberry tablets, I’ve got some of those other tablets so I will try them although I did have a camera in my bladder in March & the urologist said everything looked normal. Has the burning & stinging & feeling like you need a wee calmed down now, how long have you been doing it for? I’m so glad you replied I was starting to think it was just me who had it x

@Fayy honestly you are not alone, there's a Facebook group called pelvic prolapse uk and there are lots of women all at different stages on there with lots of information and advice to share.

My other issues are I think to do with low estrogen as my symptoms of irritation, heaviness and general vaginal discomfort get worse around ovulation and then again right before I get my period. I'm seeing the GP next week to discuss it with her and see if I need some topical estrogen or something.

The gynae I saw did say that going on the pill after giving birth can affect you differently than before. Things have improved a fair bit for me since stopping the pill and as time has gone on.

My physio is planning to do some core work with me next as basically my core is shot to pieces so that further adds to the pressure on my pelvic floor so might be worth discussing with your physio to try and improve things from the top as well as the bottom as it were.

Honestly it is miserable though so persevere with the physio and don't be afraid to go back to your gp and ask for gynae referrals if things aren't improving

@iheartgin I’ll follow that & have a look Thankyou. I saw an NHS gynae who had a look & said my symptoms were all normal & that they will eventually go back to how they was, he was the one who referred me to the NHS psysio & there was a wait, so I went private in the meantime & when I rang the NHS psysio she didn’t even deal with tight muscles anyway just loose ones. The doctor did prescribe me vagifem but it didn’t really make a difference, are you breastfeeding at all? my burning & stinging is intermittent, honestly I’ve had every test done & tablets, I’ve even been given overactive bladder tablets that made me have IBS so i stopped taking them & didn’t make a difference anyway. I will mention that to my psysio tho about core excercises, she did check & said I didn’t have a gap or anything, but will ask again. I was there today & she did trigger point massage inside, which was really strange, that might help you cause I felt similar pain elsewhere she called it referred pain, it was like spots of tightness that she released if that makes sense. I just hope I don’t have nerve damage or anything cause it’s been going on for so long, I’ve been told it can cause the same symptoms. I have seen an improvement in the last 2 months but it just seems to be such a long process & it’s ruined my time off with my baby :( it’s been bloody hard to say the least. I’m so glad I’m not alone.

I'm not breastfeeding anymore - I stopped when my baby was 3 months or so.

My gynae said similar to yours, that eventually things will settle but my baby is almost 10 months now and I don't feel anywhere near like I did pre baby. She's my second and I had none of this first time round.

As you say it's been so hard trying to enjoy maternity leave with all this going on, I'm back to work in a couple of weeks and I was hoping to feel 'back to normal' by then. Keep getting told it takes a year....long time when you are feeling awful and in pain!

My physio has done the trigger point massage which is definitely weird, I do think it all helps though. I only see her every 6-8 weeks due to availability so I do wonder if progress would be quicker going private.

Having seen a few different Hcps the general consensus is that things aren't 'bad' enough to need anything like surgery or more tests as will improve in time....really hope that's the case.

@iheartgin yeah I’m annoyed really cause if I hadn’t of gone private no one would of picked up on it, it defiantly wouldn’t of got ‘better’ on its own. Don’t think they know what they are talking about tbh. I would defiantly go private, I Carnt really afford it but I will pay anything to be back to normal. My lady does biofeedback aswell which has really helped, have a look at mummymot.com & find the nearest one in your area. The progress would be a lot quicker, yeah me too, I see mine every 2 weeks & do my stretches at home in between. It’s so hard isn’t it, I really hope it goes back to normal. I just keep thinking if it was the other way round they were loose it would take 3-6 months so hopefully it will x

@Lotsofpots hi, I am just reading through this and saw that you have a recommendation for a London women’s health physio...are you able to send me the details?

Have a look on mummymot.com you can type in your postcode & the nearest one in your area will come up

OP please do reach out for help with your feelings of trauma resulting from your birth. No one can undo what's happened to you but there are techniques they can take some of the emotion out of it and help you to process what's gone on. The Birth Trauma Association is a good place to start

Keep doing your pelvic floor. I did weights after last child but still had a repair.
It was good as new after...
Like others said, pelvic physio may well be able to help you so ask gp for a referral.

@Linny88 of course - I'll message you.

Firstly do not panic, a prolapse after giving birth can reverse as it can be hormonal.
2) Don’t push down, keep everything pulled up, walk tall. No sit ups, planks or heavy weights, no running. Don’t sit on the toilet for ages
3) try to squat to poo, look into a squatty potty, or raise your feet on a small step, don’t push down
4)Download the NHS Squeezy app, it a few £ but good
5) see a womens health physio
6) Look into Hypopressives, this saved me. It’s about rebuilding your core in a low pressure environment. It helped me reverse a bladder prolapse and kept me sane. It is a breathing technique that opens up the space internally so your organs have space.
6) consider investing in a Kegel8 unit.

All of the above really helped me manage and control a prolapse which developed years after a difficult birth due to a bad cough. So I didn’t have the hormonal changes to help restore normality.

Don’t panic there is lots you can do if it doesn’t rectify soon.

Hi, 6-ish months on from this thread I was wondering how you were all getting on?

I'm 4 weeks pp and discovered a prolapse at 2 weeks (although think it happened at around 34 weeks pregnant when I had the double whammy of chest infection and constipation as had some immediate bulginess that went away with kegeling. Midwives just told me to keep doing PFEs when I tried to discuss it at antenatal appointments).

Kegels (with squeezy app) have helped it to move from the entrance of my vagina to just inside after around a week so I'm hopeful it can be improved, but any amount of walking seems to bring it back down again. Will be speaking to gp about it in a few weeks at my follow up appointment

Hi Jessy, just wondering did things get better for you?
I’m experiencing something very similar any advice would really help me right now! :(

It's early days yet , physio will fix it

Has anything like this happened to you? It’s just so worrying and if so how long did it take to resolve?

@Runningonempty84

What kind of prolapse did you have? and amazing to hear you can still exercise well! Xxxx

My daughter had one after her first baby
She didn’t want surgery so saw a Bowen therapist
She was fine after 2nd and third babies
Second one was 10lbs 7 oz as well

I had uterus, bowel, bladder and urethra prolapse. Sex was fine (missionary best as everything goes back into place. TMI). Ten years later I had a repair, recovery time supposed to be six weeks but I couldn’t manage a whole family weekly shop well. I would get home exhausted and family would unload car and put stuff away. However I was working full time and running a busy household. Sex was much better after the repair.
I think it is a little early to think you will definitely need a repair. Your hormones are still erratic and you are doing pelvic floor exercises. Keep doing them, seek advice but hopefully you will be fine.

Hi, I was wondering what happened?
I’m also 25 after 2 kids, 11 weeks pp with a (mild I think) cervical prolapse, did the PFE work? I’m also very upset too, I never knew this could happen to women at this age!

I’d like to know how everyone is getting on too? Any positive stories? I’m 4months post partum and gutted at my ongoing prolapse symptoms :( hope you are ok @Chloe1297 - are you doing your exercises? My physio told me to try postpartum Pilates or yoga too so might be worth a try if you are not doing that already?

Hi @FarmerJo2020, also 4 months postpartum after 1st baby and struggling with ?prolapse symptoms. GP and private gynae have both denied any prolapse, at most suggesting anterior wall ‘laxity’ but I know my body and I know it isn’t normal.
Planning to start Pilates soon.
Have you been checked? X

Hi @Magpie4, yes my gynae said ‘mild’ bladder and bowel prolapse - doesn’t feel mild to me though! She also wrote in her letter that I have a deficient perineum; but don’t really know what that means to be honest. What sort of symptoms are you having? Are you breastfeeding? The gynae didn’t tell me to stop breastfeeding but she did say that she thought I would feel better when my oestrogen levels go back to normal, she prescribed oestrogen cream too. Have you had anything like that? I think the Pilates is a great idea, my body definitely feels stronger since I started although it has not improved my prolapse symptoms.