(TMI) Recovery after forceps - please share your advice and experience

[Odille]

I had a forceps delivery a few days ago. I've been checked by MW etc who have advised there's a lot of swelling and bruising etc but it seems within normal limits. I'd appreciate any advice on things that helped, how long your recovery took etc.

I'm doing the pelvic floor exercises and am finding that bladder sensation is returning but not quite there yet.

I had forceps and a 3rd degree tear. Recovery was very quick (as in a couple of weeks) - I had no pain at all or bladder sensation issues that I was aware of and my stitches came out within about a fortnight.

DH reports no horrendous difference in sensation from where he is although I have noticed a slight drop in sensation generally, so think there may have been a bit of nerve damage, but that might be from the subsequent MROP (nice) or the tear itself rather than the forceps (and probably why I had no pain)

I had a horrible forceps delivery 12 years ago. I recovered well and have had no lasting effects in 'any' department . It took a few months for everything to go back to 'normal' or at least feel normal! I did do pelvic floor exercises every day for the first few months and maybe that helped.

Congratulations by the way!

I had to sit on one of those valley cushions for a week or so, and kept a jug of water by the loo to pour over bits when going for a wee. Seemed like forever before it got better, and they had given me some pretty excellent painkillers too which helped. Probably 2 weeks and then it was pretty much bearable. Good luck and congrats!

I had forceps deliveey with ds 23 weeks ago. Felt fine initially just some discomfort when moving from stitches ( was petrified would rip them out - had extended episiotomy)
A week or so after i started to feel a lot more pain, and needed to start taking the pills i was given in hospital as was sooo bruised and got a very heavy sensation if i walked around at all. This improved after a couple of weeks to be intermittent and after 3 months or so everything was fine. It did take around 12 weeks for me to regain sensation enough to isolate my pelvic floor uscles and for full bladder sensation to return.
One thing that remains ( tmi sorry) is i am sure my perineum is now about half the size is was before, dp insists all looks/ feels the same, but need to brave a trip to docs as they didn't do internal check on my postnal appointment.

I used arnica 200c for the bruising, bathed with lavendar too. Drank LOADS of water, which meant no stinging with peeing and used lactulose so my stools were soft.

I've just had an EMCS and can honestly say I've recovered physically more quickly than I did frm my forceps delivery - the pain in days 1-3 was greater, but I've been much more mobile since then.

I had an episiotomy but a lot of tearing too, so loads of stitches and the whole area was swollen for a couple of weeks. It was at least a week before I could walk for 5 minutes, and I was in a lot of pain for a few weeks, but pain free by about 8 weeks. Also took quite a few weeks to regain full bladder control. After 15 weeks I still haven't been brave enough/awake enough/had enough energy for DH (and me) to find out if there is any difference in sensation though :o
It took a long time to recover so take it easy and rest as much as you can.

Same as pootle - lots of arnica, cream and tablets. Bathing in essential oils from qualified homeopathic doc. Changing pad every hour. Drink lots of water x x

Would second rhe advice on bathing arnica and water. Plenty of dried fruit too for constipation reasons- and for iron. Also easy to way mixed fruit and nuts whilst bf baby!

It took me 9 weeks to be able to start running again as j thought everything was going to drop out when j tried earlier.. Bladder sensation returned quite quickly. Erm sex I think was about rhe 10/12 week point and no pain. Overall though, despite doing pelvic floors, j don't think everything is quite the same in that department if I'm honest.

Bumping this as I too had a forceps delivery and episiotomy 11 days ago. Feeling rather low due to the discomfort.

Thanks everyone for your posts. I've had a look in the mirror and things look a lot better than I'd expected. I've had my stitches checked by different midwives and they all had the "car crash" face afterward. The bruising and swelling is still there one week on but from how I felt in the first days I suspected this would take longer to heal. Bladder sensation is returning (woo hoo) and I'm getting on better with the pelvic floor exercises. The whole area was numb for days.

Also, in case it helps anyone else, one of the midwife team dabbles in aromatherapy and made me up a gel which others may like to try:
Base KY jelly + cypress, lavender and geranium oils. I was also advised to continue anti-inflammatory and painkilling drugs for at least 10-14 days post-delivery before cutting down the dosage. And to stay at home as much as possible and definitely no long walks. This may sound daft, but until it was pointed out to me, I hadn't thought of it in terms of recovering from surgery.