Post birth trauma, severe damage to rectal area

[Uptheapplesandpearstobed]

Good evening, name changed due to a rather personal nature.

I had an extremely traumatic birth, baby crowned but was stuck and needed an emergency CS pushing baby back up the birth canal. Despite only birthing babies head, I tore from front to back requiring repair in theatre.

Due to the dire agony and post CS constipation, I lost the sensation to go as such and found myself having to manually disimpact. Since this, I have relied on disimpaction on a daily basis as nothing can come out without the help of myself.

Recently, I ended up in emergency surgery for a large impaction that had to be removed under general anaesthetic.

Baby is 8 months old, would I be unreasonable to pursue compensation for this awful and life changing damage, it effects everything and I feel utterly depressed that at not even 30 I have lost the normal ability to use the bathroom. Thank you.

@IKnewPrufrockBeforeHeGotFamous

Obviously if any compensation is due it will pay for private surgery, if that's what the OP wants.

It doesn't sound to me that compensation will be relevant. What is relevant is getting the help and support you need to get through this and get better.

So fucking rude to make assumptions as to why that poster needed to placemark this thread.

Oh, here come all the faux-wide-eyed "can you explain how compensation would help you?" brigade

Compensation would:

1. allow her to access private care if reconstruction is a possibility. This would probably be faster than current NHS wait times.
2. cover her if this debilitating health condition affects her ability to work and earn money
3. allow her to access private counselling for the birth trauma she has suffered
4. allow her to afford more childcare, help at home, or anything else which might make it easier to function while managing a young child and a traumatic injury

If indeed clinical negligence has occurred here, then OP should definitely receive compensation.

That sounds so distressing. To claim compensation there are three aspects to prove it was negligence, there are three strands to prove, 1- a duty of care (the easy on to prove) 2- that care was breached (essentially this is where a clinician had to have made a mistake or omission or made a decision that caused the problem. This is can be hard even assess but basically if another clinician/clinician would agree with what was action was taken it’s deemed reasonably) 3 - this breach in duty leads to the harm, again hard to prove. It could be argued you could have had this injury regardless of even if definite mistakes are proved because childbirth can result in injuries regardless.

The expert opinions ( remember an expert is there for the court not either side regardless who seeks or arranged it) would contribute to this assessment.

Im by no means an expert so that’s very basic and it is I am very sure it’s much much more complicated. What I’m trying to explain is that even though you have an awful injury that doesn’t entitle you to compensation in the legal sense ( not in the kind of moral that’s awful you deserve compensation)

You could well receive compensation but it’s accepted in medicine things don’t always work out and sadly people have to manage the consequences of that it’s doesn’t always follow there was negligence.

Quite often people will receive a settlement because of a lack of documentation/notes so not that a hospital admits fault more they can’t prove certain things happen or were discussed. Or the trust assess the cost of settling compared with going to court is worth settling.

Sorry this is such a long post and it’s from a clinician side not from any legal point of view. If you did decide to go ahead it will take a long time to actually get anywhere. I’m an advocate for people who are caused problems by medical treatment being compensated regardless even if negligence isn’t proved. I do think there should be a different approach as most of the money goes to solicitors and it takes years to reach an end.

The surgeon didn’t say nothing could be done just they wouldn’t try before 12 months and I suspect that’s because there is a high chance of making things work.

I really hope things improve for you soon. Even exploring the possibility might help you focus and get through until you reach 12 months and see what options there are for repair/improvement.

Medical negligence is really hard to prove. I totally believe you should without a doubt get some type of compensation.

but you’d have to prove that they caused the issues and that your life can never go back to normal.

I would without a doubt get in touch with someone in the know. Have you started the complaints process? This is the first step regardless of what happens

yeh you’re right, it would be a real hardship to type ‘I’m interested to see the responses, sorry you’re going through this’

Sounds absolutely miserable @Uptheapplesandpearstobed I'd certainly talk to a relevant lawyer to see if I had a case, you must be so angry about all the pain and it dragging on month after month, it is hardly the normal run of outcomes.

But your energy is better spent getting the situation fixed, I just can't imagine how hard this is for you day to day.

I had much more minor PP problems and it was horrible while it lasted

@IKnewPrufrockBeforeHeGotFamous Yes its well rude of me to bump a thread so more people see it and the OP can get help and advice.

How is it a placemark when i had already posted on the thread? Please enlighten me!

I didn’t realise you’d already posted helpful advice upthread, apologies

Hello OP. I had birth injuries, not quite like this and not as traumatic. But bad enough that I was scheduled for corrective surgery. About 10 months after the birth, my symptoms started to get a lot better and I cancelled the surgery on a wait-and-see basis. I also am planning a second child so the surgery’s work could have been destroyed again. My point is, like a PP, it does seem like the healing does absolutely keep going on for about a year.

Are you able to pay for a private consultation mean time? I did this. I saw one of the NHS consultants at my hospital privately at his clinic. The appointment lasted an hour rather than 10mins and I felt listened to and could understand and make informed decisions about the plan of action rather than being shown the door asap.
good luck xxx

Really not hard to RTFT and see that she already posted something along those lines…

Just wanted to tell you how sorry I am that you're going through this. I would ask the hospital to release the full report about your birth to you and then take it to a lawyer that specialises in medical negligence.

Only they can advise whether you have a case.

I would also make a complaint to Pals. I had my son in August 2020. I was stitched up incorrectly and basically had a hole underneath my vagina (basically I had two vaginas). The hospital kept on fobbing me off until I made a complaint to Pals. I was then booked in for corrective surgery 1 week later.

The NHS should also do corrective surgery on you ASAP (if this problem can be fixed with surgery).

All the best xxx

I had a fourth degree year (my anus) and I was in a lot of discomfort and a little incontinent for months. I struggled to control flatulence for over a year. Sex was so uncomfortable. So, I did not have it as bad as I did not lose a lot of feeling. Just wanted you to know that after about a year things were a lot better. I am 20 years past it now and totally normal.

I will start by saying I’m sorry you are in this position OP, it is not easy. However, from your OP impossible to say whether this injury happened as a result of negligence- in which case you are completely entitled to compensation and corrective treatment (if appropriate/possible)- or a case of terribly bad luck. If the latter you will not get compensation simply because you had a negative outcome.

If you believe (or know) it to be caused by negligence, then you should make a complaint +/- seeking legal advice.

It is true that not every birth injury occurs as a result of negligence/ medical malpractice. Some are, of course, and it is also true that even those which are not as a result of medical error can also be treated ineffectively (or worse, sometimes not at all)- in which case, again, you would be entitled to seek redress.

It is also true that sometimes the injury could not have been said to be reasonably anticipated/prevented, but was identified and treated correctly, yet the woman still be left with impairment. In these unfortunate cases, although the outcome is potential devastating for the patient, she would not be entitled to compensation because the problem was not caused by poor care.

Gosh OP this sounds horrendous. I really hole you get the corrective surgery you desperately need to get your life back. I can’t even imagine what you must be going through

You could try contacting the charity birthrights to see if they can offer you any advice. Unfortunately the nhs will always aim for vaginal birth at all costs, whether it's in the interests of the mother or not. I almost lost my dc because of it when they refused me an ELCS. Its absolutely worth exploring whether there has been any negligence here.

Have you been referred to the women physio to look at your pelvic floor tone? Might be after all the trauma that your muscles are permanently in a spasm causing part of the problem.

I had a 4th degree tear and the womens physio did assessment but also some internal massage/ knots/ pressure points. I swear it was the weirdest feeling and I could feel it all the way up to my shoulders but everything released. It did tighten up again but not so badly.

Might be worth asking the question and have a look at the FB page Pop fitness.

You are not alone but lots of women have shared their experiences.

If you know that errors were made and particularly if anyone has admitted this, then I would absolutely pursue a medical negligence claim.

and I'm so sorry this happened to you.

Oh wow. This sounds horrific. You poor, poor, thing.

Go to a solicitor and discuss if there is a chance you could claim.

Could you go back to the hospital and ask for a birth debrief? This might help you understand what happened and what led to the way your dc was born.

I'm so sorry this happened to you. It sounds awful. You definitely need more help - surgery, physio, review of meds? - so I'd push for this. Good luck.

This sounds absolutely horrific, I'm so sorry you had to go through such an ordeal!

I had a 3b tear with my first child so I tore through to the outer anal sphincter muscle, it was repaired very well but I was definitely recovering and healing for much of the first year after birth. Things got better quite quickly after about 11 months.

I'm not saying things will improve for you without help, and you absolutely may need surgery to sort things out cause your lasting issues seem a lot more extreme, but there's likely a good reason the surgeon you saw said they wouldn't do surgery before a year.

Have you not been offered daily wash outs like an enema . I have to do these on my grandson as he has a bowel condition ? I hope you get this sorted soon but these are a daily routine that perhaps your partner could help with on a temporary basis ?

Glycerin suppositories are your friend. You can get them on Amazon.

I had faecal and urinary incontinence due to birth injury. It's was awful. Massively impacted my life, I didn't want to leave the house or have people over due to fear of an accident. I'd spend hours on the loo to stop accidents when I was out. My diet became really restrictive. It affected my mental health, my self confidence, my relationship and sex life just disintegrated. I got PND, it affected my bond with my baby. It was just hideous. There was no surgical solution for me, which made it feel hopeless. The physio I saw was lovely but it made no difference. I felt suicidal at times.

6 years later and life is much, much better. I found pads that worked for me. I tried a different physio who made the urinary incontinence much more manageable. The nerve damage causing the faecal incontinence did improve somewhat meaning I at least had knowledge of when I needed to go - I still can't stop it but I now have at least a bit of warning. I keep a clean up pack with me, which helps my anxiety about it massively. And I had counseling which really helped the PTSD.

I really feel for you OP.