Scared to start being active again after second baby with a prolapse from my first

[Caffeinepleasenow]

I'm 3 weeks postpartum today after my second baby. I had a mild prolapse with my first but I was asymptomatic when I got pregnant and throughout my pregnancy.

I was way too active in my first postpartum recovery and I blame myself for causing my prolapse. It really affected me mentally for a long time and I still spiral over it occasionally.

My recovery this time has been much much easier. I've made a real effort to rest properly and not lift anything heavier than my baby which has been hard with a toddler. The bleeding has almost stopped (I bled for ages after my first) and I'm not having any pain or tenderness down there, even with the stitches I had.

I'm not noticing any prolapse symptoms yet, but I'm aware its still very early. They didn't show up until around 6 weeks last time. So far I've only done a couple of 10 minute walks and started lifting my toddler occasionally, paying attention to breathing and lifting with my legs as much as possible.

I'm just so anxious about doing more. I'm terrified to make it worse.

I don't really know what I'm looking for. Just getting my feelings out and maybe looking for some advice from others on how they built their fitness back up postpartum?

Firstly well done for taking it as easy as you can this time, recovery is different for everyone and allowing time for repair is vital as you found out!

In a few weeks, you can start building up muscle in your abdomen and pelvis GENTLY

Were you a sporty/active person previously?

Gentle home yoga is a great start, there are lovely videos to follow on YouTube.number 1 rule is listen to your body. Avoid anything that bulges your stomach outward, like crunching your abs (sit ups etc) for a few months though.

Can you afford to visit a private women’s health physio? You can get referred on the NHS, but my experience of NHS physios has been poor sadly, they can’t give you the time required and seem to accept ‘good enough’ too readily.

I was a super fit person before babies but honestly I could still feel myself recovering and improving two YEARS after my second baby, it takes a long long time for everything to move back into place!!

Lots of patience and being kind to yourself x

Recommend following this lady on instagram she’s fantastic

https://www.instagram.com/carolinepackarddpt?igsh=cW0xaWxkMmZubWlx

I believe she may have a program on her website that you can follow

She gives advice on using internal splints to aid healing and stuff like that x

Thank you for replying!

I wasn't a sporty person, but I did a lot of walking and hiking. I have aspirations of weightlifting and getting super fit but I have no idea how to manage that or if its even possible with a prolapse. I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons of trying to build muscle to avoid osteoporosis in later life, but also potentially making my prolapse much worse.

I am looking into physio too. I have private health insurance that I think will cover it. It's just so hard to find the time each week.

Thank you for the link too. I'm looking at her website now and it looks promising!

Have you ever done any exercises to improve your prolapse? Post partum recovery can be very fast if you are adding the right kind of activity. I recommend trying hypopressives (there are plenty of good videos on YouTube) and dedicated post-partum workouts. Pelvic floor is muscles and as any other muscle type it gets stronger from use.

I would say that if you are prone to prolapse, in the long term you can’t afford not to lift weight and be very active. Weak or non existent muscles ultimately cause/worsen prolapse

In the immediate term of course you have to be super super careful, but long-term the fitter & stronger you are, the better the quality of life you will have

Just make sure to find voices you trust that can guide you.

I went to one physio and the exercises she gave me were far too advanced for someone only 3/4 months postpartum, luckily I have a Pilates teacher friend who stepped in and advised me to find someone else, as she said I was going to cause myself more problems doing too much too soon (I had diastasis recti, SPD and rectocele.. it’s all part of the same complex of problems ultimately)

Sadly healing is not a straight line process, and it’s life long work, but you know your body best x

I do kegals and I've done some YouTube yoga that supposedly helps with prolapse, but that's it.

I did have a one off pelvic floor therapy appt, about 12 months after my first birth. She said she could feel that my pelvic floor was quite weak and that she thought my prolapse was a grade 1 to 2. I had every intention of going back but life got in the way, house move, lack of childcare etc. At that point, I wasn't having any prolapse symptoms anymore so it was easy to just put it off. Stupid, I know.

I hadn't heard of hypopressives. I will look up some videos.

Thanks for your reply!

That all makes sense about needing to lift and be active. I really want to focus on getting as fit and strong as possible, especially as I'd like another baby at some point.

Thanks again for your replies! Really helpful!

Kegels don’t work for a lot of women (over 40% from what I remember) so if you didn’t have any effect it’s quite normal.

I’ve always got back to training quite fast after each birth (3 DC), within two weeks with my last one, because I exercised throughout the whole pregnancy so I was already quite fit to start with. There are many dedicated free workouts on YouTube that are very gentle and take under 10 minutes. Hypopressives are also really easy to learn and not strenuous, they help with prolapse and diastatis recti as well.