vaginal tearing after birth should i have been stitched?

[mum2b09]

Hi girls

I gave birth to a beautiful 8lb 5oz baby girl on monday 23rd (4 days ago) and got through it with only a first degree tear..

The tear was stitched and i thought nothing of it.

Iv been keeping it clean but couldnt bare to look as i was scared id look awful down below when i finally looked it seems that the skin at the bottom of my vagina has split and i just have a piece of skin hanging like a flap (tis is what i thought had been stitched aparently not it was my aginal wall)

I asked my MW and she refered me t my gp to check that i had no infection and to see i i could bereferred back to the hospital to be stitched an my gp says that it is a 'cosmetic' tear and that nothing will be done about it...

Its really uncomfortable and it looks awfull will i even be able to keep a tampon in in future if it isnt stitched what should i do im really quite upset about it all? any advice? will it heal on its own?

bump x

I'd go back to the GP/another GP and ask again for a referral if I were you. I was referred back for a tear (that had been stitched, but the stitches pulled out a day or 2 later) with my 1st - didn't actually need anything further but it was a consultant gynacologist who decided, not a GP. If the MW didn't actually look at it herself I would ask her to - she's likely to know more about what is possible to stitch than a GP.

congratulations on the birth of your DD

i think you need to wait until at least 6 weeks post natal before you panic

everything is still a bit swollen and looks different post birth

and if it is something cosmetic, then it won;t affect your ability to keep a tampon in ! that is what pelvic floor excercises are for

if it is still troubling you at your 6 week check, ask for a referral to a gynae

sounds exactly like the tear i got this time.

6 weeks on and the flap is gone and it's all healed although not joined together. i think this is because i re-ripped it multiple times during the week ds2 was in scbu and i was running back and forth and driving up to 60 miles a day though, the mw did think it would seal itself as it was pulling together but we didn't count on me being run ragged (literally!)

it was my decision not to be stitched, had stitches with dd and the stitching was horrendous and they used non dissolving thread and didn't tell me so 3 weeks later i was still in agony and took a nail scissors to the stitches and was fine immedietly after.

that flap isn't what keeps your tampon in by the way, that would be your pelvic floor and would have required a 3rd degree tear to rip apart.

You said that the flap of skin didnt hal up.. what does it look like now is it still hanging or has it just reatached looking a little different? x

heal*

the little flap hanging down just disappeared, it seemed to reattach itselp but that side of the cut didn't rejoin the other side if that makes sense, so i've got a little slit going beckward towads my bum still.

charming but harmless