Complete bladder loss after childbirth

[Unicorn92]

Has anyone totally lost bladder control after a baby? Constantly soaking through pads and clothes have no urge to wee and can't hold it in. I had forceps and episiotomy please if anyone has the same let me know very worried and feel alone no doctor's seem to know what to do

I had this once after DD was born but regained control of them by a couple of days after birth. I did mention it to the midwives- they said if it carried on they'd need to catheterise me to allow my bladder chance to rest up and heal. Thankfully it for better on its own, but they did say it's fairly common so I'm surprised none of the HCPs you've spoken to have any clue what to do.

@FourPlatinumRings that's Abit reassuring hardly any doctor has known about this other than said it's normally stress incontinence which I wouldn't mind it's just cause I have no bladder control one bit and soaked all day through clothes even leaking past this catheter. So you think that having the catheter in will help it rest up?

@pinguwings it's the foley one I think I have the tap on the end to empty it myself. I don't want the catheter in but without it I am soaking through clothes and they have said I need it to rest my bladder but who knows if that's even going to help?? 🤔

@Blueberries0112 did you have constant leaking or was it more like stress incontinence?

Constant leak

I never used a catheter though. I

my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/16094-pregnancy-and-bladder-control

@Blueberries0112 ah so the same as me then so how long did this go on for after your baby? Appreciate the help. It's reassuring I'm not the only one. I just feel really worried this won't get better I have heard 1 other person had a very bruised urethra and had a catheter in for 8 weeks to completely rest it and she got better but that's only person iv heard had this like me

For a long time , but improved a little bit after 6 months. You should still seek help though

I had this too OP, I really feel for you.

I had no sensation whatsoever and had to self catheterise. It slowly started coming back at 6 months, but by then I wasn't leaking at all - that only happened the first couple of weeks while I learnt how often I needed to empty - I kept a log of drinks in and urine out.

If it does go on, please look out for signs of infection - I had repeated water infections, but as I wasn't weeing had no symptoms so became very poorly as it wasn't noticed until I became ill. I was on antibiotics for a long time!

Positives - night feeding was much easier as I could just pick baby up, feed and put down, without needing to get up and have a wee! I got lots more sleep with my second and have lovely memories of the night feeds

If you need any support, I'll be happy to chat with you.

Ask if there is a continence team in your area. They will be able to give specialist advice and work alongside a pelvic physio.

In my area you can self refer to them but otherwise your GP will be able to refer you.

@shellshock77 can I send you a message? How much did you leak in the beginning?

Hi OP, had a horrific b2b 10lb forceps delivery. They didn't know he was facing the wrong way.

I was incontinent for 6 months. For the first 4 weeks I had absolutely no idea where the wee was coming out, no feelings down there at the front end. As I was bleeding heavily I just wore adult nappies.

They shouldn't really leave the catheter in really, and you shouldn't do kegels with it in, it can irritate and lead to infection.

After a month, I started to get feeling back and it became more like stress incontinence. It took 6m to stop that.

Now 11 years later, due to that birth horror and my age I have bowel and bladder prolapse. Finally not a cavern, but for totally the wrong reasons 😁

[quote Unicorn92]@shellshock77 can I send you a message? How much did you leak in the beginning?[/quote]
Hi OP, I've replied

This has just happened to me having given birth 3 weeks ago and still in a catheter after failed TWOCs. Did it resolve itself eventually? I’m worried I will be like this for life now.

@Emmasims2 bless you I had the catheter out after about 2 weeks to start on my kegel exercises because physio said to start and the gynecologist but iv had hardly any improvement because there is hardly any sensation there so I bought the kegel 8 I high recommend it so far it's helping and I'm praying it just keeps getting better. Do you leak constantly? Can I PM you?? x

Hi @Unicorn92, I’m in the same position. 6 weeks PP, forceps delivery. I’ve just developed an kidney infection too, but didn’t even realise until my temperature sky rocketed. I’ve been doing my pelvic floor exercises and I feel like it’s in decent shape. I’m wondering should I go a urologist or a women’s physio. Any advice would be so helpful. It’s so upsetting

Hi I had similar issues. I had zero control of bladder post birth, I did get sensation back after a few days but was incapable of holding anything in. Its 17 months later now and I'm alright but not 100%. I did have an infection that I was unaware of which did make things worse so maybe get that checked out. I saw a specialist and they said it's best getting any other babies out the way first as the only options to help were surgical. Your midwives at birth should be trained to minimise things like this so maybe ask for someone to review your notes and see what happened? Permanent and total incontinence isnt common and sometime due to mistakes made

@Tryingtobehelpfulmama did they say what the problem was with your bladder/urethra?
I am seven weeks PP and still struggling to hold urine in. I leak when I stand up, walk, lift my baby...just about anything. I am doing pelvic floor exercises but no improvements yet. Did anything make it better for you?

@bubblesforlife bless you it's horrible! PM me. Il send you one now x

[quote Emmasims2]@Tryingtobehelpfulmama did they say what the problem was with your bladder/urethra?
I am seven weeks PP and still struggling to hold urine in. I leak when I stand up, walk, lift my baby...just about anything. I am doing pelvic floor exercises but no improvements yet. Did anything make it better for you?[/quote]
Time really. They didn't say anything specific, just that it's common post birth to lose some control but I don't think that means we should accept it! I had to wear thick pads for about a year as I couldn't trust myself to not pee but over time it has improved. It's been slow progress. Hopefully it won't get worse once baby number 2 comes along.

I think pelvic mesh was supposed to be a solution to incontinence but if you Google it you can see it caused lots of problems and a class action suit was brought

@Tryingtobehelpfulmama bless you it's awful! I can't believe you can lose total loss of bladder control after a baby. My baby was abit stuck but once they turned him I could have got him out myself but they didn't ask consent and used forceps and did a episiotomy but his heart rate was fine so they didn't need to use them the nurse after said. I had a huge infection in my stitches temperature was sky high but they didn't believe me kept saying I was in pain because I'd just had a baby. Can I ask did you have surgery for your bladder? Or was it pelvic floor exercises that helped? x

@Tryingtobehelpfulmama well, your right, my midwife failed me spectacularly the day I gave birth. Birth for me wasn’t traumatic, it was what the (rather young and seemingly inexperienced) midwife that traumatised me over peeing 250ml into the bucket thing. She forced to me drink 4 litres of water in 2.5 hours and only accepted it if I passed 250ml in one go, I has to keep doing it. She didn’t care that I had to neglect my new baby to meet her unclear demands. She also did a catheter and identified no issues with me retaining urine, but still forced me to drink the water and clung my hopes on going home to that 250ml in one go. Wouldn’t let me speak to a doctor, couldn’t clarify for multiple hours what exactly she needed me to do. I was so distraught (my DH was there for everything) he discharged me because the care I was getting was not only really poor, it was rather cruel. The pressure the 4 litres in a short period of time put on me that night was excruciating. I can’t help but feel she did more damage to me. My HV was appalled, and told me what should have happened, which was very different.
So.... there you have if. A bad midwife!! I’ve had nightmares over the experience. My 30 hour labour seems like a dawdle in comparison.
Thank you so much @Unicorn92 I’ve responded. This thread is really helpful.

@Tryingtobehelpfulmama that’s what they keep saying with me it’s just time. But it’s so bad I don’t know how to manage. Did you do a urodynamics test?

Hi, how is everyone doing now?

The exact same thing has happened to me. Forceps delivery with episiotomy and since coming round from the epidural, I have no sensation to pee so I am constantly leaking when I stand up.

I was catheterised for a week and made to do a TWOC, which unfortunately failed. No sensation again and leaking pretty much constantly.

I’ve now been recatheterised whilst I wait for a urology appointment. I’ve also been referred to the women’s uro/gyna and physio, but physio said not to start pelvic floors until catheter is out.. which I have no idea when that will be!

I am only 11 days post birth so I know it’s early days but it’s so hard not to completely tear yourself apart with worry. I’m 30 years old, this is my first baby, and I’m petrified that I’m never going to get back to “normal”.