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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

Catheter after Birth

15 replies

DLD1201 · 10/06/2018 16:27

Hi I had my 3rd baby 9 days ago and had a quite traumatic birth with forceps then contracted sepsis. The result being I still have a catheter in which is awful. Anyone else been in this situation unable to urinate after birth. Im so scared that I will never get rid off it and it’s really destroying what should be a happy time? Any positive stories welcome x

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Aprilshouldhavebeenmyname · 10/06/2018 16:28

I had a catheter for a week after a fast 2 houf labour!!
Try not to let it spoil things.

DLD1201 · 10/06/2018 16:34

Thanks hun. They have tried to take it out twice but no luck and then yesterday it came out by itself (burst) still couldn’t wee. Just want to feel normal again well as normal as I can

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CoolGirlsNeverGetAngry · 10/06/2018 16:36

You tried to take it out??? What? Shouldn’t it be removed by medical staff
shudder

Aprilshouldhavebeenmyname · 10/06/2018 16:39

I had to self catheterize for a year afterwards which wasn't pleasant but gave my bladder time to recover. I had more dc and no issues at all again. Let the mw know if you haven't been able to pass anything or you do risk damage.

DLD1201 · 10/06/2018 17:07

Oh no mw took it out twice but never been able to wee. Yesterday it came out by itself and they said the bag holding it in had burst 😫

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DLD1201 · 10/06/2018 17:08

Can I ask what self catheter is? I have a bag and a valve which I have to use to empty the bladder.

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Aprilshouldhavebeenmyname · 10/06/2018 17:31

Sterile straw type thing insert through urethra direct into the loo!
Needed a mirror every time!! Blush

FoxgloveStar · 10/06/2018 21:48

You need to keep a catheter in or self cathertirise until you can wee properly again, otherwise you’ll risk overfilling and damaging your bladder.

I had an indwelling catheter for 2 weeks and went home with one in after not being able to pee at hospital. It was awful. Then the nurses taught me to self catheterise - which means sticking a disposable catheter up each time after you try and pee yourself.

My sensation slowly came back and I was back to normal after about 2 months.

DLD1201 · 15/06/2018 16:42

Thanks for the message I have started to self catheterise, I can only do it on the bed with a mirror and torch not good enough to do without. Still have very down days, I hope like you mine gets better

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xMrsAx · 15/06/2018 18:04

I had a similar problem to you - long slow labour that ended with forceps and I was unable to pee at all afterwards. I felt the sensation of a full (and painful!) bladder that night but was just unable to go. I told the midwife and she told me to keep trying. When they finally catheterised me, they drained 2 litres which I was told was a very large amount for the bladder to be holding but "fingers crossed it didn't do any damage" 😐

They ended up keeping me in hospital for 4 days with a catheter in, then they took it out to see if I could go. I couldn't, so they sent me home with an indwelling catheter that I had to empty every 3 hours, even through the night. It was honestly the most horrendous thing ever - you're very sore down there anyway, and bleeding heavily, not to mention having to look after a newborn. Urgggh I remember feeling so down and panicking that I'd never get bladder control back.

After a week I had my follow up appointment at the hospital and another test without the catheter, and thank christ I could just about empty my bladder (they gave me a bladder scan after I peed and apparently I retained 98ml, the cut off to me having to keep the catheter in being 100ml so it was close!)

I was advised afterwards to try and go twice each time I went to the loo to make sure I was getting it all out. I practically skipped out of the hospital after that, and I've been fine ever since.

I know it's scary for you, but please try not to panic. Your bladder has been through trama and is having a hard time communicating to your brain that you need to go because of this. It WILL heal in time.

I remember feeling so alone after it because when you google it, urinary retention seems like such a rare problem and there is very little information about it out there. And all the professionals seem to be so vague about it 😣 I'm currently pregnant with baby no 2 and I'm so terrified of the same thing happening again that I'm thinking about begging for an elective c section!

Anyway, I hope yours resolves itself soon x x x

DLD1201 · 15/06/2018 18:56

Thank you so much for your message and congratulations on number 2. I’ve started to be able to wee a little each time I go but still
Self catheterise. I definitely won’t be having any more children but would agree push for c section xx

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DLD1201 · 09/08/2018 23:22

Just to report that all ok now. Had to self cathertirise for 2 weeks but mainly back to normal.

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SiolGhoraidh · 10/08/2018 13:23

Glad you're on the mend. Those two weeks must have felt like a lifetime!

DLD1201 · 10/08/2018 18:35

Yes I felt so alone and didn’t see things getting any better, it was a very low time which tarnished my first few weeks after birth but wanted people to know it does get better even when like me I couldn’t wee at all x

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Akazkaz · 20/10/2023 09:12

I know this is probably very late but I found your post and wanted to ask you if you ever had problems with self catheter? I was given them, once I did it at home and it worked and second time I couldn’t insert it and had to go to a&e and get full catheter back again.

Also, what did you find changed that you were able to pee again? Do you think the healing down there helped to relax more or did you try a different technique?

I’ve been unable to go for 3 weeks now. I am doing an exercise of clamping catheter every 3 hrs to let bladder fill up and then unclamping it until it empties so that the bladder keeps expanding and “working” but any advice you have is super appreciated ☺️

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