Episiotomy sewn too tight

[sabby1]

Hey all, I had my first baby almost 7 weeks ago and I needed a vacuum delivery which resulted in an episiotomy. I had lots of problems with it like the stiches bursting which left me with what the doc described as a "gaping wound" (they wouldn't restitch) and then it got infected which was agony.

Weeks have passed and I feel much better but I am now left with a what seems to be a vaginal opening that seems much too tight and narrow for anything to ever enter . Ie. Having sex with hubby.

I went to the doc who suggested I try and see if it still seems too narrow after 6 weeks we may need to get it revised. She said sex can help to stretch it a little but not to grit my teeth through too much pain. I am so stressed about it. Also in Ireland the wait times for any procedure like this would be close to two years. Does that mean I will not be able to be intimate for my husband for this long 😢

Has this happened to anybody else? Does it ever sort itself out?

I had something that sounds similar. And yes, I did stretch out over a few months. TMI but I stretched myself gently in the bath every day. DH was very very worried and patient. And I was cross! DS2 I found myself asking to be stitches less tightly and the lovely midwife said ‘oh dear, was it a male Dr, love?’. Good luck!

@DelurkingAJ omg was it painful?

I feel like if I tried to have sex it might actually just break/tear. I am so traumatised over all this I can't believe I might be facing into this procedure and go through all the healing again 😔

I am glad that yours is better now 💕💕

Sex certainly didn’t happen the first few times! Poor you but yes, it was all fine in the end.

I had a very similar issue to yourself, burst episiotomy down to the muscle layer, couldn't be restitched, then mishealed after several infections. The pain and discomfort was awful, even just sitting at the wrong angle. However I had a lovely consultant who suggested a 'Fenton's procedure', to cut open, remove the scar tissue and restitch. I was terrified of healing again, and didn't have the procedure until 15 months after the birth. But it was honestly the right decison, I feel so much better now, and can comfortably have sex again. And I was able to heal properly, and take proper pain killers, becuase my body wasn't having to recover from child birth.

I would ask for it to be inspected as if you have been sewn up too tight that would be awful and I believe it's considered a form of assault/harm.

So I'd want to know whether there really was a problem with the stitching or whether it's just scar tissue/pain from the episiotomy itself which is making things difficult for you.

Mine was stitched a little too tight. Was quite uncomfortable the first I would say 10 times we did it, used lots of lube anyway as I was BF-ing which helped (although we didn't have sex for like 4 months BTW, so hats off to you trying at 7 weeks). I would say now I very rarely get a moment of sort of feeling it catching, but it definitely has stretched over time and it's basically totally fine now and I wouldn't want to have any surgery on it. Might be worth having a go with some lubricant a good few times when you're ready, before committing to a more invasive procedure

I had the same and I actually had an operation 18 months down the line and it was the best thing I ever did. I'm better than ever!