My pelvic floor isn't right, is it?

[brucebogtrotter]

I gave birth five and a half months ago, and ended up with an episiotomy and forceps delivery. I've tried really hard to remember to do my pelvic muscle exercises every time the baby feeds, but almost six months down the line I can't stop my wee mid-wee, and if I need the loo, I have to go immediately otherwise I just can't hold it in. In addition, my vagina doesn't have a clear 'opening' any more, if you know what I mean - it just seems to be filled with flesh.

That's not right, is it?

Ask the midwife or GP to take a look at it.

If all is well down there and it is just a pelvic floor problem, you can get the little weights that you put in the vagina to help strengthen things up.

You may have a prolapse. Definitely go and see the GP

Thank you. Doctor's appointment it is.

Hi op, well done for being brave enough to tackle this problem, I was in the same situation and ignored it for a long time!

Do a search on here for "gussiegrips" and read some of her old posts. She is a women's health professional who gives fantastic (and funny) advice on pelvic floor issues, and it was her posts that gave me the courage to go to the dr and also to discuss it with my friends (turns out I wasn't all alone with this problem after all)

My gp referred me to physio at the hospital which was brilliant. They were able to check that I was doing the excersises right, and also whether I was physically able to - if there is damage you can squeeze as much as you like but it might not help.
The physio identified exactly what the problem was (in my case it was a little pelvic floor weakness combined with a wonky hip that I never knew I had, but that had been made worse by pregnancy and spd, and was tipping my bladder over)
Over a few sessions she moved my hip back into place and gave me a whole range of Pilates style excersises to do (e.g. Stand with back against the wall, squat and hold) which would work pelvic floor but also all the surrounding abs etc that need to work together to support.

Pleased to say that the sessions really helped and now I don't constantly feel like I need to wee and I can cough etc with no surprises.

Sorry for the essay, but hopefully knowing my experience will take some of the scary uknown out of for you. Do let us know how you get on!

Curls, thank you so much for posting that. It's really helped me feel that I can actually do something about it and that there could be light at the end of the tunnel. I hope my GP is as helpful as yours was, and I'll have a read of those other posts now.

Thank you x

Definitely go and see the GP. May be a prolapse or may just need some serious pelvic floor work. Hopefully they will refer to the obstetric Physio as they are fab at getting you doing pelvic floor exercises effectively. They also have some equipment that can help, some weights, and some electrical stimulation stuff (like slendertone thingy for the abs) which sounds a bit much but can be very effective. The sooner you start sorting it the speedier and better the outcomes too. Good luck xx

Read everything you can by Katie Bowman, the books are great. Especially the Diastasis Recti one.

Look up Mutu too!

After getting medical check, always, of course!

I had a similar problem with not being able to hold my pee. Someone recommended a post pregnancy massage and it has pretty much cleared up problem. I think in pregnancy everything moves around x

I gave birth 9 weeks ago and have a similar problem with how the entrance to my vagina looks, I can stop my wee mid-flow but my urethra is now inside my vagina rather than up where my clitoris is. my GP wasn't much help today, she literally said 'I wonder if it's just a bit soon, I'm not too sure' luckily I managed to get her to refer me to a gynaecologist and have got an appointment for 23rd of this month. I'm in so much pain that I hope the gynae can help!
Good luck with your issue, definitely see your GP and ask for a referral if you aren't happy with their suggestions xx

I have been for a woman's physio session today following similar worries to you at 5 months post birth. I found it really helpful to see exactly how I should be doing my.pelvic floors and what muscles to be concentrating on as I was doing some right but not all. I've got a follow up late December.

I also have a fleshy bit at the opening now which wasn't there before but I've been told that is my vaginal wall now! It all just looks and feels a bit different.

Meant to say, definitely get checked out, if got myself in such a state about it thinking I had an awful prolapse and actually it's nowhere near as bad as I feared.

Hello all, just a quick update.

Doctor this morning had a look and thinks there may be a minor prolapse but nothing to warrant surgery or anything like that. As you say Samks, I was worried about how bad it was, but it's put my mind at rest. I suppose things will look different after I've pushed a person out of it.

She gave me some tablets to help with the seeing urgency, and is doing blood and wee tests to rule out diabetes/infection etc. I go back in a few weeks and if it's not resolved, she'll refer me to a physiotherapist person. I'm happy with that.

Fingers crossed that things improve, and thank you for encouraging me to go and see the GP.

*weeing, not seeing. Sorry.