Pelvic organ prolapse after first baby - give me hope.

[Newhere9]

I am 9 weeks PP after the birth of my first baby. I have done a previous thread asking for hope re: vaginal birth post 3b tear. Now I've finally had the chance to heal from this I took a look down there when doing scar tissue massage (as advised by physio) but realised I have a visible pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Thankfully I don't have any symptoms like incontinence but it feels and looks different inside. I've got a follow up booked with the physio so will ask her to confirm... but I guess I'm looking for real life examples of women who have had this and a) had success rehabing any POP and returning to physical activity... And b) gone on to have a second or third baby without deteriorating the POP...

I have seen online that after weaning from breastfeeding some women notice a reduction. I am currently exclusively breastfeeding and will be for some time.

I am happy to wait some months/year to rehab myself but wanted any hope/reassurance? Thanks in advance.

I had a terrible prolapse after the birth of my first (the wall between my vagina and rectum). I won’t go into details but toileting was difficult. I had a very long vaginal delivery with DD1 who was back to back. When DD1 was 7m old I was pregnant again and when I was around 6m pregnant and showering - I shit you not - something was actually bulging out of my vagina. It was just the prolapse (I went in to get checked). I was in despair about it.

DD2 was an emergency c-section so I’m unsure if that made a difference …. But about 18m after DD2 was born I realised that the prolapse had not bothered me in ages. I hadn’t noticed it at all…. It sorted itself out!

i had been sporadically doing kegell (sp?) exercises (with zero optimism) but with two tiny tots I wasn’t v good at remembering. I didn’t do anything else and it just naturally went back to normal.

Hi @Sportacus17 thank you for your swift reply, and reassurance. There's a part of me that's wondering if my prolapse began in pregnancy rather than the birth itself, due to relaxin hormone... Really glad it resolved itself for you later down the line, definitely keeps me optimistic!

Bump....

Yes, mine was caused by first delivery, and subsequent pregs did not worsen it. I don't lift heavy things repeatedly now. So I lift heavy shopping bags, but I couldn't lift them repeatedly for half a day anymore. I've swapped running for cycling and hiking. I've learned what I can do basically. I'm asymptomatic. I expect the damage is still lurking there but hopefully it'll stay asymptomatic until menopause anyway.

You are in the best healing period right now. The most important thing is to never ever ever push whilst on the toilet. As in, don't push at all. This might mean you need movicol for a good while but that's okay. Your tissues are in mega healing mode right now, so you don't want to keep pushing your prolapse out again every time you poo! You could also ask the physio about a temporary pessary to help hold it all in the right place while you heal. They are better for some prolapses than others.

When you lift (including baby once they grow heavier) do a kegel first and ideally hold it whilst you are holding the lift.

Also in the longer term I really recommend Mutu. There are other core/pelvic floor rehab programmes out there but I did Mutu because it was NHS endorsed. Costs about £100 but best money I've ever spent. Helps with weight loss too if that applies to you (excess weight makes prolapse worse).

A good pelvic floor physio will hopefully say all this to you AND give you personalised advice. Mine was great. Hope you don't have long to wait!

I am eight months post partum from my second baby. Both vaginal deliveries and two and a half years apart. First labour was four hours from contractions to birth and second labour was two hours from contractions to birth.
My vaginal prolapse (very low cervix to the point it was poking out) first showed at eleven weeks pregnant with my second but slowly got better as the pregnancy progressed. I actually thought that when my baby was crowning that the bulge of her head was my prolapse. As expected after the birth it dropped again and I was so worried that was how it was going to remain. On top of the usual post partum comedown my mental health about it was suffering. I spoke to my GP about a referral to a prolapse clinic but she suggested time and doing kegal exercises religiously and if that didn’t help within a couple of months a referral could be made. I was annoyed as I wanted physical help asap. With two young children to look after the exercises were a bit sporadic but what has really helped me was time. My prolapse has improved a lot and most of the time my cervix isn’t low enough to make me take notice unless I’m on my period. I think my prolapse was due to hormonal changes as in the days and weeks post partum I was literally weeing myself unable to control and stop it but now it only happens when I cough deeply. Relaxin really does relax everything and I was sure my cervix and vagina were going to gape forevermore. Thankfully not! There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Hi @Grimbeorn thank you for reassurance. Im using lactulose daily to help. I think I am similar to you - asymptomatic e.g. no stress incontinence etc but still gutted that it's there. Thank you for the recommendations I will definitely take a look at mutu.

@Grimbeorn just want to send a quick follow up to say thanks for the mutu recommendation - I've actually never heard of it and like you say it is appealing as nhs endorsed. I plan to invest definitely!

@FarmersWife2019 thank you for sharing your experience! That's reassuring that time does really help. I have submitted an econsult to my GP but anticipate a similar response to you - a watch wait and see approach. I am optimistic that with determination of pelvic floor exercises the mutu app as suggested by @Grimbeorn ongoing NHS physio and good old time and allowing my hormones to settle that things with "retract" to their natural place.

I feel frustrated with myself that I didn't look down below sooner than now as I really do wonder did this start in pregnancy, did this start after childbirth or post partum when straining on the loo :( .... I will never know!

I had a 3b tear and a prolapse (not visible on the outside, but the physio spotted it) after a difficult back to back vaginal birth. I also had a whole host of other issues (incontinence, some likely nerve damage, back spasms etc). I did physio religiously for a few months, until the physio said it had been corrected. I went on to have two more children (the last one a month ago) by ELCS and haven’t had any further issues. I did have stress incontinence in late pregnancy both times, but not after. I’d recommend seeing the physio again if budget permits it and getting a set of exercises to do at home tailored to you.

Very best of luck, I know how unpleasant it can be, but it can and does get better with treatment.

@EarlGreywithLemon thanks so much for your response, congratulations on the birth of your new baby and lovely to hear you also went on to have two more after a tricky first birth. I am hopeful for future vaginal deliveries but wonder how you found recovery from ELCS compared to the vaginal/tear? I don't know why but I'm more fearful of a caesarean than spontaneous labour/birth again.

I do have another follow up with the NHS physio next week and will hopefully remain under them. If not I'll definitely seek private treatment as I am keen to recover well. I've also booked a GP appointment to request gynea referral ... I know it is all early days in the grand scheme of things (10 weeks post partum) but I'm really keen to not just settle or let things get worse.

Honestly? The c sections were 1,000 times easier. Yes, it’s painful for the first couple of days, but then so was the tear. I was on oramorph for the tear in hospital and dihydrocodeine at home - same as the C sections. But the sections improved day by day, and a couple weeks after the first one I was back to normal minus heavy lifting. A few months later, I would never have known I’d had it.

The vaginal birth recovery was the gift that kept on giving. My bladder was bruised and didn’t work for the first couple of weeks; afterwards I was totally incontinent for a couple more weeks and partially for many months; I could only sit down on a gutter cushion for months; my stitches got infected and some came apart. My pelvic floor was so wrecked that my back just gave in a few months later. I had to have many months of intensive physio to fix all the many and various issues it left me with. I said then and there there was no way I was having another vaginal birth, and I’ve never regretted my choice.

I am not saying that to try and persuade you, because everyone’s bodies and recoveries are different - but that is honestly how I felt. I did hesitate slightly before the first section and asked myself if I really wanted to volunteer for major abdominal surgery. But once I knew what it was like for me, I didn’t have the slightest doubt before the second one.

@EarlGreywithLemon Thank you for sharing that, no I don't feel like you're trying to persuade either way - I really appreciate the honest response. It sounds like it was really bloody tough the recovery the first time and can totally see why you opted for ELCS, you're amazing to recover all those times and have 3 babies to show for the journey. Thank you again for the honesty account/reflection! X