Almost certain I have a bladder prolapse

[Muse84]

I'm 3 weeks post birth and I've had a leaky bladder. I also felt a bulging down there and having investigated today I'm almost certain I have a small bladder prolapse. I will of course go to gp but I'm pretty devastated. I'm young, this is my first baby- I cant believe this is happening. I have no idea how common this is. I need words of encouragement or stories from others who live with this problem. Please help, I'm so sad

Almost everyone has a mild bladder prolapse after birth. It is very normal. Do your pelvic floor exercises and things should improve- it's far too early to panic and be devastated about this!

Hi Muse84,
The bulging sensation is horrid. I remember.
3 weeks postpartum is too early to know how it will all resolve. You need to do diligent pelvic floor exercises every day 3 times a day (and relax the muscles afterwards). It will take 3 to 6 months to improve, sometimes longer (I think that for stress incontinence after childbirth, for more than 80% of women the problem is resolved in the first year postpartum).

It takes a long time (sigh) but I promise that everything will gradually improve and get much better. You won't stay as you are.

I felt very similar after birth (probably a similar time afterwards) and I was absolutely terrified.

It’s been 20 months now and whilst it’s not quite the same as it was, I can’t feel a bulge and I rarely leak (a terrible coughing fit maybe). I used the Squeezy app to help pelvic floor exercises and was referred to urogynaecologist and from there to physio. Both said not to let this stop me thinking of aNother baby.

When you do your pelvic floor exercises it’s best to try and feel like you’re stopping farting rather than stopping wee, as it’s a stronger sensation.

I promise you there’s lots of chance of feeling better and now is not as good as it gets, but I remember being terrified at this stage.

Thank you all for words of encouragement - it also really helps to know that others have been through the same AND they have improved with time. If somebody said to me that it will get better with say a year of hard work, I wouldn't mind at all. It's more a fear that this is it now for life. Catastrophising is what I do at the moment, I think it's general low level anxiety post-birth mixed with sleep deprivation; I'm much faster to react to things. Not minimising my concerns though, it's quite upsetting that such damage can occur and so few people are open about it. I want to concentrate on my baby, not be distracted by serious and surprising health worries!

I'm continuing kegels and will have a good chat with GP

I had some pretty significant incontinence post birth - I spoke to the GP about it at my 6 week check up, got a referral to a uro-gynecologist and she prescribed some physio. I had 4 months of NHS physio, followed by 5 months of private physio and I am very very pleased to say it has worked miracles. Really helped my self confidence.

I've currently got a terrible cough which has really set me back but I know that following my physio exercises and I'll be fine again in a few weeks.

Oh Muse, it’s suck a shock isn’t it?! I have a small bladder prolapse from the very easy delivery of my average sized first baby. She turned 1 a few weeks ago and I’m slowly seeing improvements now we're cutting back on breastfeeding. My situation is a little more complex as my prolapse is caused by something called levator avulsion. So basically the majority of one of my pelvic floor muscles was torn of my pubic bone as my daughter was born. I only mention this as managing this sort of injury requires a specialist physio who really knows what they’re talking about, so if you go down the physio route make sure they’re an excellent one. Even with sure significant damage I am seeing improvements and mentally I’m doing so much better than I was a few months ago.
It is very, very common. Around 50% of women who give birth vaginally with have a prolapse by middle age. A lot of women don’t know the symptoms or the have one without symptoms.
3 weeks is very, very early. At 3 or 4 months I would still have days where I couldn’t be out of the house for more than an hour or 2 because the bulgy feeling was so horrible. Fast forward to now and I’ve just spent 3 weeks on holiday (with a 24 hour plane flight to get there and back!) and spent a lot of the days on my feet, carrying my daughter, having long lunches and dinners with friends and generally having a wonderful time.

Thanks needadvice- so glad your physio has worked, and good to know the timescale involved.

Elderberries- so helpful to know about the possibility of injury that requires a very good physio (because as open as everyone around me is, I don't feel I can start a conversation about urinary incontinence quite as easily, in order to get their treatment recommendations!) well done on the epic plane journey (Aus/NZ?) - hope you had a great time

I have no shame, and discussed how I was feeling with loads of people. Shocked how many had experienced bladder problems, even at relatively young ages. In the interests of public health, I keep talking!