First birth prolapse - worse, better, same with subsequent births?

[everydaysablessing]

Interested to hear those that had a difficult first birth that resulted in prolapse did you find it worsened after subsequent births.

Stitches failed for me and needed 2 years of physio to treat rectocele that's still not great

I don't know whether to have a second vaginal birth and insist on a surgeon to stitch and maybe make it better or to insist on c section.

Cannot bear to think it would get worse or be just as horrific as last time.

Bump

Yes, you can have a vaginal birth. Your woman's physio can talk about birth positions to reduce further prolapse.
I would also suggest you look at spinning babies and birth coach Freya killet who can offer lots of research and advice.
The extra issue you will have is women birthing these days are birthing without the support team they aimed to have due to hospital policy restrictions. This seems to be leading to a lot of emergency c-sections where women are prepped for theatre alone and one person you know is present and you then are whisked off to a ward full of strangers, trying to lift your lovely squiggly baby with no tummy muscles and short staffing.
Birthing at home might be a much better option as less stress and more 121 care.

Thank you

Not a positive story from me I'm afraid. My first birth resulted in a rectocele. I was also worried about it getting worse with a second birth but was constantly told that there was no reason why it should.

My second DC was a whopper. 10lb 8oz. My rectocele is worse and I also now have a cystocele too but that comes and goes end isn't so bad.

I wish I'd had a csection. It's really affected my sex life. Nothing feels right down there and it's affected my confidence even though my husband is very supportive.

I had a moderate rectocele after my first birth 18 months ago. I'm pregnant now with no 2 and my consultant has signed off on a section. I didn't ask for it - she mentioned it was an option if I wanted to avoid having to push and I decided to go for it.

No idea if it's the better option overall as I'm nervous about the general recovery after the section, but I also don't want to worsen my prolapse as it has really affected my general body confidence as well as now having fear around doing any sort of exercise since giving birth.

Interestingly I've hardly felt my prolapse since getting pregnant but pretty sure it will reappear once my hormones change post birth.

Would you be able to discuss it with your physio?

Prolpse wth first but second fine.

I have a rectocele, I don't know how bad as my GP laughed when I tried to be examined, and said I'd just given birth and shouldn't expect everything to be the same. Funnily enough it hasn't magically gone away! I don't think the second birth worsened things though.

I had a vaginal prolapse with my first that had never gone away (physio waiting lists were insane and then covid hit) and I was terrified of how bad it could get when I was pregnant with my second but it hasn't changed.

I plan to get physio in the future for it.

@beggingforsleep so sorry to hear that, hope it gets better and you're getting some help x

Thank you @BuffaloMozzerella glad to hear you're getting a section, though I understand the apprehension.

I think a few weeks of supported recovery would be better than the uncertainty of a prolapse recovery. I struggled to get support from my GP, saw private physio, gynae and counsellor so my suffering is pretty off the record. I'm sure I could get some notes from them though.

I'm sorry to hear it's affected you mentally, I hope it gets better and you feel better.

I had a c section second time round to avoid making all my problems from first time round worse. Consultant recommended it and I couldn't have been happier with the experience. No damage or incontinence to put right after number two thank goodness. Recovery was a walk in the park compared to my vaginal birth.

Thank you @june2007 and @Mrsmummy90 - very pleased to hear it didn't worsen for you, must have been a relief

Thank you @ApplestheHare I must say a walk in the park sounds very good!

@ApplestheHare

I had a c section second time round to avoid making all my problems from first time round worse. Consultant recommended it and I couldn't have been happier with the experience. No damage or incontinence to put right after number two thank goodness. Recovery was a walk in the park compared to my vaginal birth.

I echo this.

If you have a vaginal birth this time, your prolapse may or may not get worse from the birth. If you have a caesarean, it definitely won’t. I wasn’t prepared to take the chance so has a section, which was a great experience!

Good luck

I had a difficult birth with ds and it resulted in a rectocele. Physio helped it lots and it is manageable. I am currently pregnant again and my consultant said I need a c section. I got referred to an obstetric consultant before I became pregnant to see if a pregnancy would affect it. The c section surgery has better outcomes than potential rectocele surgery which they think I may need if I have another vaginal birth. Consultant thought pregnancy wouldn't cause any major issues. I am a little more aware of it but but so far it is no worse. I'm happy with the c section decision. I was expecting a discussion regarding pros and cons etc but I was told immediately that I should have a c section at 39 weeks.