OK for women to shit themselves 7 months post partum?

[Sugargliderwombat]

I've come away wondering if this is normal or if standards for women really are just this low.

I am 7 months PP. Had a vaginal breech baby with a 2nd degree tear. TMI - I get a dragging feeling in my vag and when I need a number 2 I get a bulge in my vag from my back passage.

Decided I needed to sort my health out and invested in a running pram. Did first session of couch to 5k. Clenched whole way round. Next day, shat myself. 'Jesus this is bad' I thought. ' I'll never run again.'.

Just been to GP. She can't see anything. Not a problem to shit yourself once. Keep doing pelvic floors. Keep running.... Really?! Is it really not that weird to actually shit yourself?!

Yabu - totally fine to shit yourself.
Yanbu - womens healthcare is in the gutter.

Women's health is absolutly on the gutter. Where i am the average wait for a first Gynae appointment is 38 weeks, with 10% of patients waiting 82 weeks or more. Yet they are not advertising for a single Obs/ Gynae consultant on NHS jobs. It is shameful.

Go and see a pp physio. Private is best, costs around £80 for the first visit. GP told me I didn’t have a prolapse and wouldn’t refer me. He didn’t bother to examine me, just told me it was a perineal heamatoma, ie bruising. I was 28 years pp at that point! Two months later when I went for a smear I was told I had a double prolapse. If you can’t afford to go private ask for money for Christmas to pay for it, it is the best present you will get.

It sounds like rectocele. I've got that and cystocele after birthing my 10lb baby in rapid speed on the bathroom floor. I was planning a home birth but still. I saw my GP about 4 months postpartum, she didn't think there was any issues so I self-referred to the NHS womens physios and later saw a private therapist, both of who confirmed my suspicions. I love exercise so it felt like the end of the world for a while but with more knowledge I've been able to get back to everything including running and lifting weights.

Yes, pelvic floor exercises aren't going to do a great deal for rectocele (not an expert but based in my own experience and reading) but there is lots that can help in Pilates to strengthen the core generally and how you breath when you exercise. I wonder if the clenching you did when running exhausted the supporting muscles so when your body sensed the need to poo the next day, there wasn't anything it could do to stop it. Same as any other muscle if you over work and exhaust it.

There is help available. I know it can feel so awful when you discover something like this. I found a great private physio that offered The Mummy MOT as a starting point.

I had an episiotomy (with complications) and mild prolapse. Physio was very insistent on a veeeeery slow phased return to running. I'm talking running for 20 seconds at a time to start with. This is the handout I was given:

https://figshare.cardiffmet.ac.uk/articles/online_resource/Your_guide_to_return_to_running_following_childbirth/26403592?file=49387537

Yanbu, OP! Women's healthcare is garbage. I staggered out of the hospital about ten hours after giving birth and was asked to drive back the next day as they were concerned I might have lost too much blood. 🙃 Took six months to get a consultant gynaecologist appointment, only to be told very plainly by the consultant that the NHS wouldn't do anything for me, as on the sliding scale of mangled--->total loss of function, I was (mercifully) closer to the former.

I did actually manage to get an appointment for NHS pelvic floor PT (after three referrals) but it turned out the clinic was about 90 minutes away on public transport, which is a bit tricky with a baby - so I shelled out for a couple of private appointments (which were absolutely worth it).

Maybe they'd be good at dealing with the resultant birth injuries, then?

To give you hope: I used to run a lot. When I tried to get back into it after my second vaginal delivery ( too exhausted to try between child1 and 2nd pregnancy!) I was faecally incontinent when I ran even a very short distance. Eventually got a GP referral and saw a women's physio. She wasn't much help either ( just offered 'bung' type options to hold the poo in place!!!). HOWEVER, whilst I still have a rectocele, over the years things have improved, and I can now run again without any issues. So hang in there - hopefully things will get better for you too

This. Shitting self when running not uncommon. Other symptoms need looking at.

Tips. Definitely stop running if you feel urge to poo. Try and run round the block before running further to get the poo out. Prepare running routes that go past toilets.

This is a great idea and a very good point, I will contact the team.

Just wanted to say that I can't thank everyone enough, this morning I just thought '...Right, so this is just my body now?! The one thing I loved that kept my mind and body healthy and if I do it I'm going to risk shitting myself the next day?!' And it's great to realise that no, it isn't ok, there are things I can still do to help myself and I do not have to accept that level of care.

I'll definitely be seeking out the mummy mot, I had no idea I could self refer to a couple of services where I am so thank you for everyone who signposted those.

I'm also reading all the info on returning to running with a lot of hope and determination! Thank you.

Aren't women bloody amazing?! 👏👏👏

Thank you for taking the time to share this, it really does give me hope xxx

Glad you’re feeling more hopeful OP! Just to say as well, if you want checking for a missed 3rd degree tear it’ll be colorectal you need to see, not gynae. Pelvic floor physio will be able to poke around and tell you if there’s a defect, but to really know what you’re dealing with you’ll want an endoanal ultrasound. For the prolapse it’s specifically a urogynaecologist. Just making you aware because there isn’t a lot of knowledge about this specific thing among GPs (understandably because they are general practitioners), so you may need to spell it out and nag a little to get the referrals to the right places. Hopefully if you get sent to a general ‘bladder and bowel’ type clinic they’ll be able to sort you out. And Mummy MOT in the meantime, it’s the best money I’ve ever spent.