Things they're not telling you about vaginal birth..

[Viola82]

Just wondering what expecting mother should know about the natural birth and AFTER it please?
There is so much info about c-section and recovery after, but what about recovery after the natural birth? Even the vanilla standard one with no complications ect?
please don't sugercoat, write it as it is

Just for context, when I had my first I was on the bed strapped to the monitor. No real reason as far as I could tell apart from it was convenient to the staff and I did as I was told because that's what I assumed needed to happen. It was by far my hardest labour. Babies 2 and 3 were birth center and home birth respectively and I found that birth can actually be a positive experience if you do it your way. When I found out I was expecting twins I was told my only option was a hospital birth. I was ok with that, but not when at the height of labour one of the midwives said 'she's going to have to have an epi if she won't lie down!!!'. I asked her to leave and had a natural delivery after a 1.5 hour labour with only gas and air. The point is by all means take advice, but the decisions you make are yours and you should do what's right and easy for you. In my case that was staying on my feet, with gravity on my team. Good luck!

Do you pelvic floor exercises pre and post birht. They will prevent so many problems with incontinence in the future! Honestly, it's the best advice I got! My midwife told me to do them every time you feed baby to make sure you get them in. 10 quick squeezes and 10 slow, hold for as long as you can managed squeezes!

I had a tear and stitches. Sore for a couple of days especially with the big maternity pads rubbing. Stock up on paracetamol and ibuprofen and take regularly. Put your pads in the fridge or freezer to help soothe things. Mine got stingy on day 5, just everything heeling apparently but cold pads helped!

The bleeding the first couple of days really is something else. I was not prepared. Expect big clots too. It also smells weird and did for a few weeks even once the bright red blood stopped and it was just lochia. If you're worried or have excessive pain just call labour ward. They were always very helpful.

You'll get achy period like pains for a couple of days after as your womb shrinks.

I recovered quickly really and don't think it was that bad. Peeing never really hurt that bad and my first poo, although scary thinking my stitches would burst and my organs would fall into the toilet (they won't), didn't hurt either.

Only wee when you have a wet flannel held on your bit. No stinging!

The bleeding and discharge that comes out really smells awful. It literally smells like something died inside you. That is definitely something that I did not expect! Nobody tells you these things! Just expect soreness. I had an episiotomy and my god I could not walk properly for quite some time after.

Oh yeah my whole body ached like MAD after labour. For days. I could barely lift my arms up to wash my hair cause they ached so so much. My groin ached, and neck, my shoulder. It was crazy.

That was actually my worst post birth symptom!

I was also completely hyper and a bit manic for the first 3 days. I was up showered and dressed, hair and make up done wanting to go to the supermarket with my 2 day old. Although baby was asleep I couldn't shut off just thinking about labour and my gorgeous sleeping angel beside me.

Then on day 4, it all came crashing down. I was exhausted, I couldn't stop crying and just wanted to live in a cocoon of me, husband and baby. I felt extremely protective and didn't want anyone near my baby. We just locked the doors, ordered takeaways and watched Friends on Netflix. It was wonderful. Think that was the baby blues. By day 7, I was back to normal really.

Your body will tell you when to slow down, just do what you can and lie down for 6 weeks if you want to. Everyone is different.

I had bladder problems after as couldn’t empty my bladder. Had slight problems with the first and had a catheter for 2 weeks after with the second. I’d not heard about this being a thing which happens but I doubt I was the first

Compared to how I felt while heavily pregnant (piles, rashes, sweaty, huge...) I felt fine after. I had a tear with stitches but it was manageable and it’s all fine after two weeks. Never really hurt to pee but had been prescribed iron tablets because of blood loss and they didn’t tell me it would cause constipation...get yourself a box of Dulcoease if you have them!

One thing I wasn’t expecting or told was he back pain from constantly leaning over a Moses basket, slumping on the sofa 24/7 while holding a newborn and getting up and down without aggravating my stitches - for me that was worse than any of the other symptoms.

My actual labour was fine - had gas and air and don’t remember much actual pain at all after that until they did the stitches. It was really fast and an absolute blur - I was just in shock that there was a baby in my arms.

Oh I also had a very achey jaw after both of my labours as I’d been clenching my jaw as I was pushing! Took several days to wear off.

Everybody talks about piles and I didn’t get any during or after pregnancy. It’s not a given like an of the things people experience. Everybody is different.

any

I had two vaginal deliveries, for which I fortunately didn't have any discomfort or pain from after, so a pretty easy recovery (with dC2 I was at the park with my toddler 2 days later).

I did however find I way extremely breathless, and couldn't stand for long without needing to sit down. It's lasted 2-3 days.

‘I had two vaginal deliveries, for which I fortunately didn't have any discomfort or pain from after.’

Whoah Namechange you must have a vg of steel not to feel any pain after childbirth. I wish I was so lucky!

I did feel however that a lot of the discomfort for me paled in significance to being a new Mum and severely sleep deprived. The physical aftermath was no where near as bad as I had imagined.

Omg Namechange I forgot about the breathlessness completely!!

I'm well, you bleed a shot load and will struggle to sit/walk for a few days up to two weeks. That is about it.

@passthestarmix...I know I'm very lucky and in the minority...I feel so sad when I hear of the difficult recoveries others have had.

I'm not really sure what I'd put it down to, maybe luck, maybe hypnobirthing, maybe genetics... Neither of my babies were small either, 8lb14 and 9lb6.

Mm the bits I thouht would be agony were not. Undercarriage was a bit trammelled but didn't hurt as such. Peeing was alright, didnt hurt, despite being catheterised for my 1st baby and having stitches with both.

It is strange reading the posts above as I'd forgotten about the horrible post-birth smell of lochia. Ughhhhh. It is such a strange smell. Be warned.

Aside from that, the sheer exhaustion. The bodily aches. And like someone else said, my jaw. And the sweats. They were more of a surprise to me as no-one had mentioned these at all.

I would say, really, don't worry unduly about the physical side of things.

If you have a natural birth every single muscle in your body will hurt.

I didn't bleed, I wasn't sore to wee, it didn't hurt to poo but my god my body was sore.

You'll probably be told about urinary stress incontinence but that's not the only condition women suffer from after birth. Other women can suffer from being unable to empty their bladder, urinary incontinence (ie not just when they laugh or sneeze but just not feeling anything and wetting themselves), loss of strength in orgasm or bowel incontinence (10%).
Some of these issues resolve and get better with physiotherapy but sometimes problems (even though they get better) never really resolve.
Many women suffer from a pelvic organ prolapse (often in combination with the above).

You walk like a cowboy for a few days. The first poo feels like another birth. You have no core muscles for a month or so. Episiotomies take months, not weeks, to fully heal (why do all baby groups involve sitting on wooden floors?!). I have a terrible anal fissure that still bleeds with every poo 10 months post partum.

BUT despite a 36 hour birth and an epidural I basically felt well much quicker than I had expected. It was fine. I'd rather do it again than have major surgery.

No one really talked about lochia apart from I was told to get a lot of maternity pads. No one really talked about how problems breastfeeding might make me feel unwell and not just frustrated.

The nurse after I gave birth told me that some clots could be the size of eggs and not to worry. Egg clots are WEIRD when they come out. You're numb in the first few days but you can still feel that.

I had a lot of red blood after a long time and also started to feel flu-y and terrible. It scared the shit out of me because I thought my uterus was having difficulties. It turns out that the difficulties I was having with breastfeeding was giving me the start of mastitis which made me feel rotten but no fever. With no fever, the hospital told me there was nothing wrong and not to bother coming in to be checked.

After the last weeks of pregnancy and midwives saying "oh please come in, we'd much rather you came in and weren't worried!" the sheer cliff face of indifference about me from the medical system was upsetting.
I wish I'd prepared myself for it.

Oh and jaw pain! My jaw really hurt for days after because I'd been clenching it during pushes.

With my first, I had an episiotomy and forceps delivery at the last minute, I remember FIL commenting a week later that I was walking strangely and asking if I was still in pain....oh yes!!

Piles - yes, very painful. Wish I hadn’t waited to talk to gp about them, the medicated cream and suppositories cleared them up so quickly!!

That if your first week and poo DON'T hurt, that could be an indication that you've got nerve damage, so tell someone.

Shonky, I was never warned about the clots and haven’t read anyone else passing them, but it was weird as hell!! Wish I’d known then it was nothing to worry about!!!