Childbirth post episiotomy- how was it??

[Smurfy23]

Im not pregnant again but have started thinking about gearing up to DC2.

Dd was a heavily intervention birth culminating in a rather large episiotomy (due to forceps delivery) that took 3 months to heal. There are a few things I want to do differently second time round but I was just wondering what experiences anyone had of birth after episiotomy. Did you need to have another one? Was there much tearage?

I had a huge episiotomy that took months to heal, too. It was hell.

During 2nd pregnancy, dr said that I had a 50% chance of having another big episiotomy because "the skin around previous episiotomy doesn't stretch". I got so scared that I pushed for an elCS. It was one of the best decisions in my life.

Good luck.

I've had 2 babies. First one was a forceps delivery and only required one set of stitches, 2nd one was a 'normal' birth (no intervention required) but I ended up having 2 lots of stitches. 2nd time took slightly longer to heal but was only a matter of weeks x

I've had 3. First was episiotomy for forceps. Second and third were natural tears during water births. Neither were too bad. I guess however I'm not going to escape this time either considering all the existing scars.

I had two. First one was tough to heal, had to go in and get it revised 3 months later and it was all so uncomfortable and stressful.

2nd one was cut in a different spot (obvs) and to my surprise healed perfectly and with any discomfort whatsoever. I barely felt it after birth at any stage, even in the very beginning. Totally different experience. Im still shocked at the difference.

I didn't notice any difference.

My best friend had an episiotomy first time and gave birth second time round with not a single tear.

Bit different but I had a massive tear first time (surgical repair blah blah blah) and had an episiotomy second time to preserve the existing scar tissue and prevent a bigger tear again.

No episiotomy but I had a nasty 2nd degree natural tear with my first. Loads of stitches and was tender for a long time afterwards. Still felt funny with sex right up until I had my second.
Second (much bigger) baby, I had no stitches or tears. And the soreness from the first set of stitches went away once I stopped feeling generally bruised and stretched, for want of a better word.
I think having the second helped heal the first in a way.

DC1 - episiotomy and stitches got infected
DC2 - water birth, small tear which needed stitches, but healed up fine
DC3 - water birth, slight graze, no stitches at all

Had an episiotomy and then tore behind the cut. Bloody awful, lots of stitches.

3 years later I had a very slight tear which was left to heal naturally.

Like NC4, my second birth seemed to resolve some issues lingering from the first birth ...... first birth episiotomy with forceps, second birth super straightforward, very small tear lower than my episiotomy but I didn't need stitches.

I'd had some lingering discomfort and scar tissue following the first birth which seemed to get stretched out and disappear once I'd healed from the second birth. Still wouldn't win any beauty awards but feels a lot better

My second birth (7 weeks ago- waterbirth and second degree tear) has also resolved issues from my first birth (vacuum delivery and episiotomy). Recovery much quicker and easier, and the heavy dragging feeling I sometimes had in my pelvic floor around the scar is now entirely gone.

Had an episiotomy with DS due to forceps. Also had a second degree internal tear. Was a bit concerned what would happen when DD was born 22 months later but was fine - just had a graze - no tearing, no stitches. Birth much better second time round

I had episiotomy and ventouse for my first baby. I was pushing for over an hour before intervention. I was massively swollen and bruised afterwards but recovery was largely ok after an initial painful week. For days 2 to about 6, I had to sit on an inflatable ring and it really was quite sore for that period. Luckily I never had the stinging pain when urinating that others described. That baby was almost 8 pounds and had a large-ish head.

My second was much over two pounds smaller due to growth problems and delivered early. He was delivered in just three contractions-worth of pushing, probably less than ten minutes pushing in total. I tore along the previous episiotomy scar and required stitching. As I had an epidural, I didn't feel any pain then. I was much less swollen and felt much less pain in the immediate aftermath. I imagine the vastly reduced swelling was due to the much shorter pushing stage. Without the swelling and bruising, the recovery seemed quite a bit easier.

Episiotomy & kiwi for DC1.
Second degree tear with DC2 which was apparently because the episiotomy was tight. It hurt but in the grand scheme of things wasn’t too bad.

I never had any issues with my stitches and even went spinning 6 weeks PP with DC2 (although that was probably a bad idea as it was a bit sore)!

Small episiotomy with first and needed another with second. Not sure if it was due to lack of stretch in the scar tissue or just big babies with big heads!

Elective c section.

Thank you all- I think the main thing to take from it isnt that it isnt always a complete disaster afterwards which I think is my main concern!

Out of curiousity those of you who had electives- was the reason behind that related to the episiotomy or other factors?