Aibu to be really expected to carry on and give birth?

[Zeolitehg65]

I am heavily pregnant and my insides have started falling out - known as prolapse
and apparently I can just carry on as normal no early induction or C-section. No help for symptoms and no information about it.
id not being told this could happen
the whole part of whatever is prolapse is out and painful had bleeding and struggling with toilet - but apparently it is ok and I can still push an estimated large baby out of there!!
has anyone else had this ? and can it be done? I’m terrified I’m going to be left disabled, or baby will get stuck ,or emergency caesarean , all the nightmare possibilities are running around my head!

I had a difficult birth with DS1 (undiagnosed face up) and developed a prolapse with DS2 during pregnancy- I swear I could feel his head just sitting there towards the end. My stage 2 Labour with him was really quick - I gave birth on my knees and I think he basically fell out because my muscles were weak. He was a big baby and I had no tears or any further damage. I did go on to have prolapse repair about 18months later.
I think the medics are probably right- it’s the weight of the baby on already weak muscles during pregnancy which does the most harm.

Thanks for your experience and perspective on this I’m going to call some of the numbers I’ve got today and see what information I can find out
i just feel really poorly informed about this condition in pregnancy and the lack of information available regarding giving birth! X

The lack of care and information is just awful and I experienced the same, but can I please give another perspective? Because of how dire the support was, I sought out some alternatives.

I discovered I had a prolapse ten days after my lovely 10 1/2lb son was born.
I'm putting it more down to the previous birth when I had a tear that healed over, combined with being encouraged to be out doing things the very next day- and probably set me up for a weakened pelvic floor for that subsequent pregnancy. For that first baby, he was back to back and I was made to birth on my back, for the second I stayed upright and the rested after his birth.

11 months on I'd seen lots of improvement just from normal post birth recovery and everything gradually starting to lose laxity - the Chinese consider the postpartum period two be 2 years. I discovered plenty of walking is a really good this thing. The main thing was the everything about to fall out feeling was still painful and scary.
I had seen an obstetric physio who didn't examine me but said she advised a 'little fix' and also a gynaecologost who managed to further damage a small graze from the birth that I hadn't even known I had! - which then took weeks if not months to heal.

I then started to see a Bowen therapist at 11 months postpartum - they work gently on soft tissue. After three sessions I was out of pain for the first time in 11 months.

Within a couple of months I was pregnant with my 3rd child and understandably quite terrified about what this might mean for my pelvic floor. I continued to see the Bowen therapist until 2/3 way through that pregnancy. I sailed through that pregnancy and birth and the prolapse remained in it's improved state throughout pregnancy and after the birth. While I still have mild prolapse(s), I have no symptoms so to me they're as good as not there. - It's now 13 years on.

I'm pleased I avoided surgery - it would have been at the height of the mesh scandal. Good luck with the birth. If you decide not to go for a c section (look up and read about fascia - it's fascinating) then try to read about the positions to give birth that are gentlest on womens' bodies.

Yes I think you have to be really pushy (polite, but not willing to be fobbed off) and ask for a section.

@Buzzinwithbez im so glad to hear your story, I have a prolapse since the birth of massive DC2. Both births have been hours of pushing on my back. Im now unintentionally pregnant with DC3 and im dreading it. I feel like once this is over I’ll be ruined forever. I can barely walk now and im only halfway through the pregnancy.

OP. I spoke with a consultant and he said he couldn’t sway me either way as pregnancy causes most of the damage, so worst case scenario could mean recovering from a CS plus also having a bad prolapse from the pregnancy. Nobody wants to give you any information or tell you what to do, I think you need to make a decision yourself and then push for that which is a disgrace really.

Whoneedsleep, best wishes for this e pregnancy. I hope you can find some respite from the pain and have a much easier birth this time.

I ended up with a prolapse after DS's (difficult, forceps) delivery. When I fell pregnant with DD I was terrified about the impact giving birth again would have on it, but it was absolutely fine. She was a very easy birth, presumably because I basically didn't have a pelvic floor anymore, and she only needed 2 pushes and she was out. Post DD's birth, my prolapse was no worse than before. I did have it surgically corrected a year or so later, but just to offer some reassurance. If you want to have an ELCS you should, of course, have that option, but it was absolutely fine for me.

Agree with all PP to advocate for yourself Strongly women have the right to give birth however and wherever they want. Medical professionals can make recommendations but ultimately it's your decision and they can't force you to do (or not do) anything.

As an aside, if you can spare the cash, find yourself an specialist pelvic physio. If you happen to be in or near Hertfordshire I can't recommend Becky Aston enough but I'm sure there are many across the country.

You have to remember they don't just offer c sections - they come from a starting point of thinking you really want a vaginal birth. If you don't then you have to make your feelings known! If you see a consultant they're usually more sympathetic than midwives (some of the community midwives seem to see c sections and epidurals as some kind of moral failure )