Episiotomy stitches advice

[user1494270143]

I had my son last week after being induced to high blood pressure, they broke my waters and put me on the drip to speed labour up. Baby came very quickly and I ended up needing an episiotomy as his heartbeat was dropping, I’d heard about them but never looked into it any futher. (Silly I know as he is my first baby!)

Anyways, they didn’t have time to properly numb me so I felt every single thing, including stitching me up after birth.

I’ve been really struggling with the pain, to do anything literally kills me and I’m so worried about them bursting open or becoming infected 😩 it really stings when I wee to the point I’m nearly crying every time I need to go, I’ve tried warm water whilst weeing but it doesn’t seem to help. I’ve been having two baths a day and have been prescribed some stronger painkillers from GP and am also taking paracetamol.

Does anyone swear by anything to help them heal? I just can’t wait to feel “normal” (if that’s even possible) and enjoy my beautiful newborn!!! X

You poor thing. I had an episiotomy, first baby as well and wasn't prepared for the pain. A friend on the other had had one delivering her DS and had no trouble at all.

It took me 3 weeks to be able to walk properly, I think the angle of the cut makes a difference but do get it checked if you think it may be infected. Things that helped me:

Pads soaked in witch hazel in the freezer.
Codidramol (spelling?!?) which I had to get on prescription. Keep on top of it, OTC paracetamol didn't touch the sides.
Same for a laxative.
Lean forward to pee and then quick rinse with a squeezy bottle with cool water.
2 baths a day but literally dip your bum in and out and air dry.
Ice pack wrapped in a damp towel a few times a day to help the swelling.
Bed rest if you can. I was naked and breast fed in bed for the majority of the time.

It will get better 

One more thing OP, if your pan is affecting your mobility, you nee to be really aware of the risk of blood clots in your legs. Your blood is really prone to clotting in the first six weeks after birth and if you are siting still for a few hours at a time, (easily done if you are holding or feeding a baby and if pain makes you not want to walk a lot), then you can easily develop DVT. Make sure not to sit in a position that restricts your circulation and get up and move around as much as you possibly can every day.

I don't mean to scaremonger but DVT is very serious and you are at significantly more risk in the immediate post-birth period.

I had an episiotomy in November after the birth of my first child and I got totally obsessive with it. It was agony for about 3 weeks and made me so down but then suddenly it just seemed to stop hurting and had scarred over. I managed to 'get it on' 5 weeks after birth with very minimal pain.

I did not go down the bath route, I found that the hard surface of the bath put extra pressure on the wound.

I showered twice a day using no soaps at all on that area and also washed with water and cotton pad after going to the toilet every time.

I looked at my wound one week after delivery and it was open about 5mm and filled with goo (sorry if tmi) I went to hospital presuming it was infected but turns out this is how this type of wound heals. She said it's a wet healing wound and they don't fully stitch closed as it can then heal too tight.

It's a horrible wound in a horrible place but it will turn a corner!

Also forgot to add, airing the area really helps, I walked round with a towel wrapped round my waist

Agree with pp about airing the wound- I would put a towel down on the sofa and sit (more like lie down) there with no knickers or pad on for a few hours. It really made a different and helped with the itching during healing.

Leaning forward when peeing helped as well, and the midwife told me to get some poo softeners for the first week or so which made things less daunting.

It wasn’t pleasant at the start but as another poster said, the pain went away overnight after about two weeks. After six weeks I felt pretty much back to normal- something that one week post partum I never thought I’d be able to say!

I did the airing thing too. I would shower, towel dry, then sit on a towel on the bed for a bit. Sometimes I would feed my baby at the same time- bit of skin to skin and would end up staying there for a bit longer that way.

I would also recommend setting an alarm to remind you when you can take more pain killers. I would always notice when I’d forgotten to take mine. Sometimes I would think I’d got to the point of not needing them but after a few hours would really notice the difference.

I was in a lot of pain for quite a few weeks
I remember ringing my cousin who is a gp in an absolute state!
I didn't have an infection just a 'slower healer' as my midwife put it!
I made sure I was bone dry after every wee, shower or bath
Used a hairdryer on cool or kept a piece of cardboard in the bathroom to fan myself dry after wee's
And stay off google reading horror stories!
It did take a few months to feel 'normal'
I'm pregnant again and I'm terrified of having stitches again!
Sending hugs
Xx