Will a mummy MOT examination be okay with an unhealed episiotomy?

[Lauren8642]

Hi all I’m nearly 6 month postpartum and have booked a mummy mot but can’t get in until may so I’ll be roughly around 6.5 months postpartum then. I just wanted to have a check over because since I had my eldest 5 year ago via c section I’ve had painful sex and then this time round I had a VBAC but I feel like my pelvic floor isn’t great and my core/back muscles.

My question is my episiotomy still hasn’t healed completely will I be ok having the examination as I don’t want to go and them not to be able to do all the checks?

What is a mummy mot? A smear?
I found my first smear after giving birth a bit painful...it was nice to go back for the next one after...5?..years and it didn't hurt a bit.

Most are very happy to answer these kind of clarification questions via email / message beforehand so worth getting in touch.

What's a mummy MOT?

I had a mummy MOT 6 weeks after my first was born. I had an episotomy and 3rd degree tearing and nothing has healed properly yet. The physio who did my check was excellent and I went back for a number of follow up checks.

I also don't know what a mummy MOT is. It seems unusual that your episiotomy isn't healed after six months to me, I'd definitely get it checked out.

Ahh ok - just googled it and it's a physio check.

Does your GP know that your episiotomy still hasn't healed? If not, I would suggest going to see her/him - mine didn't heal well and I was referred back to gynae where they did a repair.

Is this some kind of American thing? It sounds weird and unnecessary: possibly some money making private thing?
My postnatal check was about screening for post natal depression and advising on contraception.
Any issues physically I would have gone to the GP for an appointment.

If your episiotomy hasn't healed you need to go to the gp. Mine was slow to heal and they gave me an antibiotic steroid cream which sorted it out. That was at 9 weeks post partum. It really should be healed by 6 months.

Also have no clue what mummy mot is....never had one but pretty sure I would fail!

This unfortunately is the problem in the UK…there is no physical postpartum check so you have to do it privately!

@BobbieTables @SirChenjins @WonderingWanda
I went to the gp back in January as I was still having pain by the end of the day and during sex she examined me and told me I had half a cm hole on my scar referred me to gynaecologist (I’m still waiting) I don’t have pain in it in day to day life but it hurt if I wipe the area or have sex

@mixedcereal you’re right I feel like they don’t really care what you’re body has just been through and just care you’re on contraception so you don’t pop out any more children any time soon

What on earth is a mummy MOT and can women who haven't given birth book one?

I had a mummy MOT in London six weeks after my first was born, with an epistotomy.

The physio wore gloves but touched around my bum and then ran her finger along my epistotomy cut (which wasn't fully healed). Unsurprisingly I ended up with an infection in the incision, which took months to clear. My GP was very disparaging of mummy MOTs and said not to use them.

That's my personal experience tho - I've also had NHS gynaephysio post birth and they'll all been excellent. No idea why my private mummy MOT was so crap by comparison.

If you push your NHS GP they will refer you to physio. I've had gynae physio pre children, during pregnancy and post birth on the NHS and they've all been fab.

I’d focus on the episiotomy before the physio. In my trust you automatically get referred to the perineal midwife if you’ve had an instrumental delivery, which was really useful as my episiotomy took a while to heal and she was able to do a silver nitrate treatment to help. Maybe see if your trust has a similar team you can get a direct referral to instead of waiting for general gynaecology?

I was also seen by the pelvic health physios whilst that was ongoing and the episiotomy wasn’t a problem.

@MrsFionaCharmingyeah you’re right a appointment was made for me after birth I saw a phyiso at 6 weeks this was a group appointment not a 1 to 1 that basically spoke about doing pelvic floor exercises and what to look out for what’s normal and not etc. I filled out a questionnaire and then had to replete the questionnaire back in December then I never heard back from them.
Im on the wait list for gynaecologist appointment as I have a 1/2 cm opening on scar in January unsure if its still there as I do feel better bit sex and wiping is still painful.
Ive had gynaecologist appointments before because sex is painful internally since having my daughter 5 years ago and they’ve just told me to use lube basically

Please pursue the gynae referral. I was still in lots of pain after 6 months and I had some treatment that really helped. They shone a big light (no idea what it's name was) at my buts which really helped with the healing. They also diagnosed a prolapse and gave me something like a tens machine that helps you do pelvic floor exercises.

@Pigriver if you don’t mind me asking what did your prolapse feel like?

It sounds like a decent pelvic physio appointment would be a useful thing for you. Thats geberally what the (naff) mummy mot branding is.

It might be worth double checking that the person Youre booking with is a specialist and not a more general physio who does a bit if everything.

In theory it’s a private specialist female health / pelvic physio assessment.

So yes, anyone can book one. Although it’s mainly pregnancy and birth that screws up those muscles.

That's good you're in the system and waiting to be seen at gynae. Any possibility you could go private to speed things up a bit?

Not at all. It was like a heaviness. Worse at certain times when it felt like it was hanging down towards my vagina but never protruded out iyswim. I could barely even do a brief clench at that point. I'd had a forceps delivery and episiotomy.
The light sorted out the external healing and the tens thingy really improved my pelvic floor which helped the prolapse. I needed it again after my second pregnancy but to a much lesser degree