Anyone have any advice/experience on giving birth with a Hernia?

[becklesparkle]

Am due in 3 weeks and have an iguinal hernia in my groin area but the MW has not given me any advice on what effect that could have on me during labour! I also have SPD although thankfully not too badly.

Doc had never come across a pg woman with a hernia (which I find hard to believe) and all he has said is that the hernia may pop out more while pushing - v helpful - not!

Am waiting for an appointment with consultant surgeon but TBH it is unlikely to be before my due date.

I am starting to worry a bit about the labour as I tend to have large babies and don't really know what effect the pressure will have on the hernia. I am trying to stay away from Evil Google so thought I would ask you ladies if you had any experience of this at all.

Would be lovely to have it here before Christmas - like my family would be complete!

Really hate the thought of missing Christmas morning (or any part of the day really) with my DSs though.

Would be great. A friend gave birth to her dd (dc #2) on christmas eve, and they were home for christmas day.... a lovely present to bring home....

That would be great! Christmas Eve is my favourite day of the year! Although the girl's name we like the most is Evie which I am just not sure about for a Christmas Eve or New Years Eve baby!

Evie sounds lovely, no matter what eve she might or might not be born on!

Hey there Becklespeckle- Purely in the interest of helping you with your enquiry, I obligingly gave birth earlier this week (Monday). Baby came at 36 + 5 so a surprise to us all! (but a nice surprise obviously).

I can reliably say that while giving birth the hernia could not have been further from my mind. It caused no pain at all and the midwives were completely uninterested in it. I just forgot all about it! It has got smaller rather than larger after all the pushing, and it is bliss that the bump no longer sits on it. I saw a surgical consultant while on the post-natal ward, just because I asked repeatedly so they bleeped him. That's an idea while you're in hospital, to ask to see someone earlier than/ as well as your other check-up after the birth?- especially if it seems very far off.

The SPD on the other hand- make sure you know how far apart you are happy to spread your legs, because the midwives will be constantly asking you to spread them wider, and it can be hard to remember your limits. My hospital was very good at also sending a physio to see me, to advise on recovery from SPD; I can post about that if you're interested?

Evie is a gorgeous name BTW.

My god, motherhood is knackering- I had no idea! Off now for a quick lie down while the baby sleeps.

Wow Wobbegong!!! Congrats! What did you have??? Am very of you as mine is being v stubborn and has not begun to engage yet despite being due in just over a week!

Glad to hear that the hernia gave you no problems and that it has got smaller. I may ask about the consultant while I am in but my appt is on 11th Jan and if I go far enough over I will only just have had LO.

MW has recommended I give birth on all fours to help the SPD as there is not such a need to spread the legs. All sounds very undignified but then what part of childbirth isn't??! Any advice on recovery from SPD would be much appreciated thanks - MWs and Docs are not much help here!

Glad you are okay anyway and your LO arrived safely! Motherhood is knackering but all worth it!

Hi Becklespeckle!- great to hear from you.

I gave birth on my knees, while facing backwards on the bed, with the head of the bed raised. Have I described that properly? Yes, it was extremely undignified especially when I was marooned up there after she was born, and had no idea what was going on behind me. My glasses went missing in all the fuss- that didn't help matters!! I think it was a good position for me. Others which were suggested were on all fours (like you) and also, on my side. Guess it depends what grabs you in the moment!

It was more when they wanted to deliver the placenta or do internal checks about dilation or tears that they were asking me to spread 'em. And you'll find that you or your birth partner has to explain it every time someone heads down there - with me, that was about six times explaining SPD argh!

Recovery from SPD- I was much better directly and walking again, just as soon as the weight of the baby was off. The hospital physio advised me to take it easy for three days and then to start testing out what I can do which I couldn't do before. It has not gone completely- I still feel a bit "loose" especially when lying down, but it is much better. You'll get conflicting advice on when you'll be "back to normal" but I've been told six weeks. I have also managed to get a six week check with the hospital physio- is it worth asking for a referral? I really had to badger to see a physio but when I did she was great.

I do hope your LO arrives soon and safely. Let me know if I can help with anything else- it is nice to feel not alone!

Hi! How are you getting on with your LO?! I am getting so impatient to meet mine now! I can picture the position you gave birth in, there are pictures up in the MW unit here showing it too! Sounds a bit more dignified than all fours TBH.

Hopefully I will be okay with internal checks and such as I seem to be okay at parting my legs as long as they don't have to stay parted for more than a couple of minutes. Thankfully my SPD seems very mild compared to many others, my main difficulties are with rolling over and getting up from sofa or floor!

Glad it has eased for you already! Really good that you saw the hospital physio already too. I think by 6 weeks my friend was fairly much recovered from it and she had it quite badly. I will certainly ask about seeing a physio to check everything is okay afterwards although I don't hold out much hope! I have also read that seeing a chiropractor is worthwhile, some of them specialise in pelvis problems so I will look into that if I get no joy from the hospital.

Do you know yet what is going to be done with your hernia? Do they give you a recovery period or just get you booked to have it done?

Thanks again for sharing with me, it is really nice not to feel alone.

Hi backlesparkle.... please do tell us when you have your lo and how it goes! Merry Christmas to you and good luck with the birth!

Don't know yet about the hernia and getting it "done". I have an appt with someone in the new year to look at it and decide what to do. It was bigger and softer before the birth and is now harder and smaller but not painful. I am a bit worried about it but have been told that so long as it is not painful then not to fuss.

Weirdly the MW suggested yesterday it might be a varicose vein and not a hernia- she told me to ask for a scan before they plunge in.

Have been finding motherhood tough to be honest- breastfeeding went wrong so we wound up back in hospital when she lost a lot of weight. Then I got a horrid stomach bug virus, which means I can't eat or drink, and again- back in hospital (probably where I got it!). I was going bonkers so forced to switch to formula feeding and feel absolutely terrible about the decision. But that's another thread! At least the SPD is much better. I hope you have a better time of it than me. Stay in touch.

Thanks Orangina, I will! No sign yet other than lots of tightenings though (due in 6 days...)!

You poor thing Wobbegong! BF is hard so don't beat yourself up about it, sounds like you gave it a great shot, they get the best and most important stuff in the first few days anyway. I am a firm believer that what is best for baby is a happy Mum, whatever type of milk they have so don't feel bad. Motherhood is not always easy either, you expect that it will all come naturally but there is so much to learn and I found it far more tiring than I thought it would be the first time around. Hope you are recovering now from your bug too.

Interesting that the MW suggested your hernia may be a varicose vein as I have several at the moment and not just on my legs ! Definitely ask for a scan first, you don't want unecessary surgery (or the wrong type). My hernia is quite large though, maybe golf ball sized (?), and the doc said he could feel the tear in the muscle. We'll see! Let me know how you get on x

Becklesparkle. A friend of mine gave birth to her first dc, with a hernia. She was advised to have it operated on some time afterwards, which she did. I don't think the hernia troubled her during the birth. The 2nd dc birth about 18mo later did not cause any trouble or recurrence of the hernia.
Good wishes for your labour.

Thanks Hathor, it is so reassuring to hear of other people's experiences, feel much more prepared and less in the dark than I did! Thanks for your good wishes too!

Hey Becklespeckle, just resurrecting this thread to let you (or anyone else with a pregnancy-related hernia) know what happened in the end. I went looking for the hernia just before my six week check, and found it was nowhere to be seen. It had simply "tidied itself away"- hurrah!

Physio says expect it to come back if you get pregnant again, but otherwise I can forget it. So no need to worry about ops etc. I wish I had known this could happen-it would have saved weeks of worrying.

Hope you had a similar experience?

Hey Wobbegong! Fab news! Had my consultant appt last Fri and mine has tidied itself away too - yay! He gave me the option of surgery to find it and repair it but I decided to leave it unless it comes back again.

Phew!

How are things going for you now? Is your DD doing well? Mine is all phlegmy at the mo and needing cuddles (hence having some MN time). How is your SPD now? My hip is still quite painful when I am walking any distance but I think that is due to how the MWs shoved my legs apart and back so quickly when DD got stuck, hopefully it will get better by itself although I think I may visit the chiropractor later this year to make sure everything is in line properly. Noticed you on the Dec post natal thread although have only posted a couple of times since DD was born (no time!). Hopefully we can keep in touch on there? xxx