Tips for recovery from forceps delivery

[NC2533]

Gave birth yesterday, spent 4 days in painful labour, spent hours pushing to no avail, the pain got far too much and at this point I was delirious and I opted for forceps in theatre delivery where they gave me a spinal block (honestly will be forever thankful to that doctor) had to cut me and then use forceps, the pain today is verging on unbearable and all they have said is to take paracetamol which doesn’t help, I can’t wee very well, can’t sit, can’t lift baby out of her crib, struggling to feed her because of not being able to get into any positions and feel pretty useless tbh...

Any tips on making the healing easier? Any miracle products?

I had the same it's a tough time I feel for you. I was recommended spritz for bits I brought on amazon really helped, also was advised by my midwife to lie on the bed on my side at least once a day with the area exposed to the air to aid healing. I did too much initially and split the stitches and got an infection so be mindful of that. Also keep on top of pain relief. I also had to have lacalose stool softer to help with going to the toilet in the beginning
Also has issues with incontinence so made sure I got a referral through my GP to womans health physio which I'm so glad I did. Good luck wity it all and it will get better it just takes time and congratulations on your baby!

Congratulations on your arrival and sorry you had experience the pain. I never had what you had, but I did end up with an extremely bad tear and surgery after with spinal block. I was told to when weeing lean forward as much as you can so you don't feel the burn. It work to a degree, I was told paracetamol but I also took ibrofern as well and invested in good comfort pads too. I hope that helps.

Entirely possible that I'm the odd one out but I really don't think the pain should be that bad! Is it worth getting someone to examine? I had the same birth story and was definitely in pain but mobile and lifting baby.
Re paracetamol it's worth carrying on taking it regularly as it's much more effective when taken regularly rather than a one off. It's a slow but steady recovery, I didn't think I'd ever be back to normal but I have, I hope your pain resolves soon and congratulations!!

Congratulations! Take it easy, I remember feeling so swollen down there and was hobbling around after my forceps delivery. If you have one of those cushions which you wear on a plane to fall asleep, sit on one of those, otherwise order a donut shaped cushion from Amazon for next day delivery (this really saved my bottom as I couldn’t sit comfortably). Ditto the lactulose, and drink plenty of water. I was shaking quite violently during labour (my husband thought I was dying!) but my muscles ached so much so make sure DH or family are helping you to fetch things so you can relax with baby. Have you tried laid back position for feeding if you are breastfeeding? That might help if you are struggling to find a comfortable position.

Congratulations on your new baby!

I had a forceps delivery in 2018 and it was a hard recovery. I found alternating Paracetamol and ibuprofen helped with the pain. So Paracetamol every 4 hours, and ibuprofen every 6 hours set alarms to time it properly too.

Also, give yourself time to heal. I'm almost a week post c-section and the difference between how I feel now to 3 says ago is huge.

Three things:

1. You should absolutely be able to take something more than paracetamol! If you haven’t been prescribed anything stronger ask that they get a doctor to write you up for something more. It’s totally unnecessary for you to be in pain and them not give you anything else to help
2. Ice packs! They can really help as both pain relief and to reduce swelling down there. Isn’t your hospital providing these for you? Ask them if they have any. When you’re at home you can also make some yourself - fill up some baby nappies with water and then stick them in the freezer (or half fill condoms with water and freeze them laying flat - for external use only!! And wrap them in some tissue so they don’t stick directly to your skin!)
3. Tell your midwife if you’re having issues weeing. They need to check you’re not having urinary retention.

Ask for codeine you need something more than paracetamol. Lie down as much as possible - have a look at laid back feeding positions as these might be easier. Wee in the shower whilst directing warm water over your bits or get a squirty bottle for on the toilet and lean right forward - you need to make sure your bladder is emptying so stand up and sit down a few times if needed. Have you got piles? If so keep up with cream 4 x a day, the sooner they go down the better you’ll feel. Do nothing at all if possible, I found moving about made everything hurt even more. Witch hazel on pads then freeze them. I’m 5 weeks on now and it’s loads better but still sore so just take it very easy and expect it to be a few weeks before it improves (sorry!) do get a cushion as well - you may be able to hire a valley one from NCT I couldn’t get on with a ring one it pulled too much.

Congratulations on your lovely new baby

I had a very similar labour and birth and was prescribed Tramadol for 4 weeks after birth. I still had to alternate that with paracetamol. The alternating offers a "pain block" so you have to remember to take meds on time.

Agree re donut cushion, I had horrendous impacted piles after 4 hours pushing, and this really helped.

"Spritz for bits" that you can buy in Boots really helped. Lavender and witchhazel essential oils in baths helped with the healing.

When you go for a wee, have a squeeze bottle of water with warm water in it and squeeze that directly onto your vag when weeing. Instant relief.

Boots maternity pads are great - please don't ever use always or other branded sanitary towels - I realised how shit and plastic and scented they are after one ripped open one of my tears after a walk!

Drink as much water as you can, not sure if you're BF but mine cluster fed from day one and I'm convinced some of the hormones helped the healing process.

Best of luck OP, I remember that time as nothing short of horrendous. Take the drugs!!!!!

First of all, congratulations mama!!! You should be so so proud of yourself for delivering your baby into the world! You’re looking after her and you need help from everyone in the hospital and any family/friends to look after you.

OP, I really really sympathise! I had a similar experience to you just a few weeks ago - long 2 day labour and by the time I was fully dilated I had been awake for 3 days and was completely delirious with fatigue after hours of pushing. Went to theatre, had a forceps (and episiotomy), grade 3a tear and a major postpartum haemorrhage while I was in theatre. I had a LOT of stitches and on top of that I had a Bakri balloon in my womb to stop the bleeding which had to be removed just 12 hours after delivery, so I was back on the gas and air for that. Then just a few hours later my catheter was removed and I was expected to be up and about…!!

I have never been in such severe pain in all my life, and the pain itself was so frightening. I couldn’t believe that this had happened to me and I was expected to “get on with it.” Luckily it was actually just gentle mobilising to the loo/shower but otherwise I had so much help in hospital. I had a large haemorrhoid which contributed a lot to the pain, and it’s amazing how much regular anusol helped me sit again! I was prescribed regular paracetamol, ibuprofen and while I was still in hospital was allowed oramorph. Regular paracetamol and ibuprofen when I got home kept me sane. The midwives in hospital were amazing and helped to pass me my baby - like you, I could barely move in bed nevermind pick up my hefty newborn to feed her!! When I got home, my husband did all the cooking, cleaning, washing, drying for at least a week and would be on hand to pass me our baby when I was struggling, get me food/drink and make sure I was staying on top of pain relief, laxatives and dalteparin injections. I sobbed to the midwife when she came to visit as I was so traumatised from the birth and all the pain I was in.

I’m only saying all that to say I know how scary and worrying it all feels, but also reassure you that you will get better!! The first 48 hours are the hardest after forceps, but after that each passing day will bring really big improvements. I promise you! On day 5 we even managed a very short (and slow!) walk to get coffee in town but I couldn’t actually sit on my bum until day 14. It’s 4 weeks on now and still a bit uncomfortable but nothing major. The first 48 hours were the worst but by day 7 post delivery I felt like me again and I felt really hopeful about my ongoing recovery. It will take weeks to recover, so be gentle with yourself in your 4th trimester. In a few days, consider starting very gentle pelvic floor exercises. It will get blood flowing in the area and help things heal. After healing, you can get started with more intense pelvic floor exercises but be so so gentle and kind to yourself in these first 6 weeks. You have done something incredible and now you must recover.

I agree that frozen pads feel good but I wasn’t ready for that for a few days. Leaning over or squatting over the toilet when I weed for the first few days helped. Drink loads and loads of water and take regular stool softeners (lactulose and fybogel for me) because the first poo after birth, especially after forceps and episiotomy, can be a bit scary! When you need to poo just relax, don’t strain, “breathe it out”, and gently press a rolled up pad on your perineum to support it. After you shower, always use a clean towel to pat-dry everything down there and consider using the cold setting on your hair dryer to dry your undercarriage. It’s natural that you are struggling to breastfeed but don’t worry you’re doing brilliantly. I too found that laid back positions were the only way I could feed for the first couple of weeks. The midwives in hospital or in the community should be able to help you with this. I hope that you have a call alarm so that they can help you lift your baby out of their cot to feed. Doughnut cushion is good but I couldn’t even sit on that for the first week. If you have any continence issues (eg weeing or farting when you cough/sneeze) then you will need to be referred to women’s pelvic floor physio. Don’t wait to see them to continue your pelvic floor exercises though, and if you’ve not got issues then obviously carry on with pelvic floor exercises anyway!

Feel free to PM me. I think I know how you feel - I also felt utterly useless and destroyed for a few days after my forceps delivery and thought it might be the beginning of postpartum depression. But it’s a totally normal reaction to pain, the tsunami of hormones you’re in, and possibly also the disappointment of how your birth is affecting your first few days of motherhood. It gets better. My mood was at its worst for me on day 4/5 when my milk came in and then quickly improved. If your mood doesn’t improve and you’re still feeling dreadful, then your midwife or GP should refer you to the perinatal mental health team for a bit of extra support. Hopefully it won’t be necessary but there’s no shame in it if it is.

Congratulations again OP! You’re in the worst day pain-wise now, but tomorrow and every day after will get so much better. I am so happy for you and your new baby. Well done!!

Things that helped me are
Shallow bath with lavender and tea tree essential oils (twice or more a day. I can’t tell you how much this helps. My midwife suggested it and told me I’d feel like a new woman after. She wasn’t wrong)
Drying stitches with a hairdryer on a very cool setting and then sitting with legs akimbo to keep it dry as much as possible. It will heal quicker the more it can be kept dry. Not very easy with lochia but lying on an old towel a few times a day will really help.
Maternity pads with a few drops of tea tree oil ( it’s a natural antiseptic and will help the healing)
Alternating painkillers as PPs have said so it’s never long until your next dose.
Weeing in the shower or pouring a bottle of water over you as you wee.

It really is miserable so I feel for you

Another one who recommends sprits for bits along with a donut to sit on. You can also mix pure lavender oil and sprits for bits in the bath for relief.

Oh gosh this is so tough. Mine was very very painful, it was stitched quite tightly and was problematic until it got ‘fixed’ after my second birth. The really acute stage lasted a few weeks though. I think you might be ok with just paracetamol and ibuprofen if you alternate them properly - in hospital they were rubbish at the meds which didn’t help. I remember being in M&S when baby was a couple of weeks old and my pain relief ran out and oh boy did that hurt. I hobbled round the corner to sainsburys to buy some.

Side lying as much as possible. Baths with lavender, take it as easy as you can. I also had massive thrombosed haemorrhoids which were awfully painful. I think it took a good 6-7 weeks for my scar to stop being painful (but it did), and I saw my GP at about 6 months postpartum, and she commented on how well it had healed, and that she couldn’t see it at all easily. She said that she would be telling all her postpartum patients how nicely it had healed compared with how awful it had been.

I think it’s really important to remember it’s a sizeable wound so will take some time. I had a mole removed from my shin a couple of years ago and that scar took the best part of a year to settle completely. I think forceps recovery is comparable to CS actually, in its own way, especially when there is a big tear or a deep episiotomy. My CS friends were certainly more sprightly than I was!

Most of all, be kind to yourself. Your body has been through a lot, it’s not the start to motherhood that you were hoping for. But it will be ok.

Sorry to hear this. Hope posts help. Makes me sad to read that in this day and age, this birth experience is considered to be ok, because to me it's not.

I also recommend the lavender and tea tree baths. Massively helped me.

@NC2533 if you're still in hospital ... which I hope you are ... then absolutely ask for some strong pain relief.

Honestly, I was in pain for weeks after 3rd degree tear, episiotomy and forceps. At week 2 I found out I had an infection which dragged out the healing process but all you can do is alternate paracetamol and ibuprofen and keep on top of the tablets for a few days.

I didnt have a forceps delivery but i had an episiotomy which hurt like a b*h for the first couple of weeks.
The best advice I can give is..
-pain relief. Paracetamol literally did sod all. Speak to your GP. They can provide stronger pain relief even if you are breast feeding. Make sure to take any pain relief every 4-6hours so it gets to theraputic levels.

• good maternity pads. I used the Boots or Wilko ones. Very comfy.
• get a peri-bottle and fill it with warm water during every toilet trip. I just used it to cleanse everything following using the loo then pat dry with a flannel. This was so helpful to reduce the risk of infection and soothe everything.
• give downstairs time to air each day..just lay on a dark coloured towel if youre still bleeding.
• check the area regularly. One of my stitches fell out on day 5 and I really wasnt happy with how it looked. I went back to triage and got them to do a swab to rule out infection (I was fine). Just make sure youre familar with the new normal/healing process so you can catch problems early.
• get a inflatable ring to sit on
• expert midwife spritz for bits spray. I didnt use it initially as i was advised not to by a doctor but now alot of the healing is done, it does help soothe things. Or you can use the bath soak version.
• feed laying down if comfy

I had alot of pain for the forst 2 weeks. Even just a simple wee really hurt but you sound so uncomfortable.
It might be worth getting your midwife or doctor to look.
If its that bad id go back to triage as they still have a duty of care for you until a certain point after birth.

How are you feeling OP? I hope that you’re beginning to feel like you’re really on the mend now

Thankyou all so much for the helpful advice! They sent me home the day after with just instructions on taking paracetamol, still really sore in terms of my back and bits. Still can’t lift her out her cot or anything so heavily relying on DH who is excellent. Feel less like death though and starting to enjoy her a bit more cause for the first few days I couldn’t even cuddle her 😩

I’ve been using witch hazel to help with healing, can’t use anything with lavender in (spritz for bits included) as I’m allergic which is just typical! Peeing in the shower honestly saved me.

The physio team at the hospital have been in touch and hopefully will get me back on the mend with some light therapy etc.

Breastfeeding hasn’t been that successful as positions I can’t get into as really large boobs too so can only do certain ways and can only lay on my side but she won’t latch in that position, so I’ve been pumping and giving it to her in bottles which has been super successful tbh so gonna take that one as a win. Will try again once I’m able to be in any other position than my side 😂

I’m glad she’s here safe and I’d do it all again in a heartbeat for her but it’s put me off having any more, as don’t want to experience it again. Just wasn’t anything like I expected and I had very very low expectations, my body just didn’t work the way it should.

Just thankful for the midwife/doctor teams really - in the end they pulled out all the stops to make sure she was here safe and I was in a least pain as possible just a shame it had to get to that point.

Brilliant news that you are doing so much better OP and well done on pumping your breast milk. Feeding will get easier sooner, for the reasons you describe.

Your feelings around your delivery are natural, but the way that you delivered is also very common for first time mums in particular. Around 1 in 9 women end up requiring a forceps delivery, so you’re in good company! If it makes you feel better, I had forceps and that was after doing everything I was meant “supposed to” in pregnancy - I was still running in my 3rd trimester, went for long walks every day, practiced hypnobirthing, and used all of the birthing positions/avoided intervention for as long as possible to help things along. Unfortunately my baby just turned during labour and was never going to get out on their own! I didn’t do anything wrong and neither did you, but I also feel disappointed. I am also keen for more children but am traumatised by the birth and recovery, so I will opting for an elective C section for my next child. Is that something that you might consider next time? Recovery from elective CS takes at least 2 weeks but is so much easier than emergency CS… not least of all bevause you start your recovery with a full nights sleep and can plan the help/support that you need in advance!

Well done again on the birth of your gorgeous girl. Enjoy this special time and be proud of what you’ve done. You still pushed your baby out! The forceps only manoeuvre/turn baby, they never ever ever use forceps to pull baby. You did this and you’re amazing!