Second Pregnancy After First Birth Third Degree Tear

[allyac]

Second pregnancy advice after first pregnancy third degree tear.

Hi there. I am pregnant with my second baby. I suffered a third degree tear at the birth of my first baby. Statistically the chances of tearing again are low but have been told if it does happen in the same place, it may be more difficult to heal from the second time. Has anyone been in the same position and chose between an elective cesarean or another vaginal birth and would be happy to share experiences/opinions? Thanks in advance.

I have experience of this and honestly go for the elective section. Yes I know all about the risks of surgery as I have had 2 elective sections after 3 natural birthd but honestly you do not want to subject that area to any more trauma than it has had already, I speak unfortunately from very hard earned experience.

I have been in exactly your shoes and chose an elective section (which was SO much easier to recover from than a third degree tear).

I rationalised it by saying I would take the known risks of a c section, rather than the unknown risks of a vaginal birth. The consultant tried to dissuade me, saying “it won’t happen again” (oh really?) and “we could do an episiotomy (er, no).

I looked up the RCOG guidelines which clearly stated no episiotomy, and the potential for incontinence after more than one tear. I wasn’t going to risk it.

I had a third degree with my first birth and hope to have another baby soon. I really don't know what I'm going to do when it comes to a second birth. At the moment I'm leaning towards natural birth but with a low threshold for switching to c-section if necessary (no induction for example).

I had a 3rd degree tear with my first baby who was over 10lb. Had my second baby 18months later (who also weighed over 10lb) and was strongly advised by my consultant to have an elective c section. I was a bit apprehensive at first because I wanted to try for a natural birth, and the inevitable chasing a small child around during recovery. Turns out that it was the best decision to have a section. Nice and calm, no chance of any further damage, and a much easier recovery than a tear.

Speak to your midwife and go through the pros and cons of both with her, and see what is the best fit for you. Good luck with everything 😃

I had a 3b tear with my first which healed very well. I did a lot of research and had an excellent discussion with a consultant. We looked at a lot of stats and over months I weighed up my options and decided to go for a vaginal birth. Very glad I did as I just had a tiny second degree tear with a super fast recovery. I was concerned that it could have gone the other way but the stats suggest that the likelihood of that is low. Im a midwife (definitely not anti-C/S).so fully understand all of the risks benefits etc and in 12 years of practice I've only seen one woman with a repeat third degree tear.

I had a 3rd degree with my first.
Was offered a section second time but declined,consultsnt pushed more towards vaginal birth and I was happy with the plans in place to avoid retear.
I didn't retear but I needed an episiotomy for ventouse birth so it's hard to say if that handnt have happened if I would have retorn or not.
My tear healed so much better than my episiotomy and for several reasons but this included I do wish id gone for a c section in hindsight.

Had a 3a with DD1 (forceps). Was induced for DD2 and DD3 - no further tears and recovered well from both. Friend in a similar situation had C-section for DS2 and said it was a very positive experience

I’m not sure but am in much the same situation. Pregnant (still early) with no 2. With DS (18 months) I had third degree tear, episiotomy, pph (though relatively small - only 1000ml), forceps in theatre, shoulder dystocia, manual placenta removal (I think because of the bleeding). The tear has healed pretty well; the episiotomy is ok but aches sometimes.

I had hoped for a calm water birth with DS and part of me wants to try for that again. But recovery was really really hard last time. I know that looking after DS plus a baby won’t be easy after a c section but I find it difficult to believe it could be any worse than last time. So part of me doesn’t want to risk the unknown.

Sorry I’m not sure if that entirely makes sense and isn’t very helpful for you! I am leaning towards the c section myself but I won’t see the consultant for another few months.

Haven't had a vaginal birth, only an elective section, but it was very relaxed and the recovery was less painful and much shorter than friends who have had 3rd degree tears.

I had a 3c tear with my firstborn- had a very quick labour 4 hours from 4cm to ds coming out and under 30 mins of pushing.
I recovered well but do remember it wasn’t fun.
currently 38+5 with number 2 and have had many conversations about this. I’ve chosen to have a vaginal birth- my reasons are that it’s a 7-10% chance of another tear happening. The other complications (incontinence etc) are at a similar risk level vie c section. I’ve worked with my consultant, the midwives and the physio to come up with a birth plan and have been taking more time this time around to get into the right mindset and educate myself on what I should be doing I.e breathing baby out slowly, giving birth on land and not in water and keeping active and calm. Time will tell if this was the right idea, but I am (currently) confident in my decision to try and avoid surgery with a two year old! It’s down to each individual and the advice from health care providers really.

Thank you for all of your replies. Really helpful. I am coming up to 27 weeks and the consultant I had a chat with yesterday said I didn't have to decide until 34 weeks so I still have time. I am leaning towards the c-section. At our fetal anomaly scan, they couldn't get a good image of baby's nose/profile and this can be a sign of an underlying condition. So I have already been through amniocentesis which was stressful and even though we got all normal results from that, we still haven't seen baby's nose properly so still left with the slight chance of an underlying condition. We will be having growth scans though and are also going for a private 3D scan so hoping to get a better picture soon. I think the stress of this though and then the anxiety about possibly having a reoccurring tear is quite a lot to deal with. To get the elective c-section and have that one thing to have some control over is quite comforting.

Not exactly the same as I only had a 2nd degree tear the first time but I had DD 12 weeks ago and tore in exactly the same spot. Another 2nd degree. That area is already weak, which is something to bear in mind. In your situation I'd probably go for the section, just to be on the safe side

I had a 3c tear with dc2 during a calm “easy” water birth after doing lots of perineal massage. They do happen with second births. I’m hindsight obviously I wish I’d gone for a c-section and if the consultant had been a bit more
enthusiastic about that option I would have. He favoured natural. The aftercare for the 3c tear has been shit. That is another factor to consider as the NHS really isn’t good at dealing with that right now.

Regarding the NHS - yes. I should have also mentioned that I never received any follow up checks, physio or anything after I left the hospital. I tried chasing it up but it never happened, maybe because it was at the height of a Covid lockdown. Not sure.

I had a 3rd degree tear with my first, was told it was u likely to happen again so opted for a vaginal birth for my 2nd. Low and behold I had another 3rd degree tear 😩. Both babies were back to back which I think increases the risk? I'm 10 weeks post partum with my 3rd and had an elective section. So glad I didn't risk a 3rd tear xx

I had a second degree tear with my first but they were unsure at first if it was a third degree. With my second nothing was even suggested about a section but tbh I wouldn’t have considered it anyway. The idea of it just sounds horrific and the healing time is way too long. I had a lovely water birth. She came out completely in one big push, head, body everything all at once, so I was sure I’d had another tear. But when the midwife checked me over she said there was just one small graze, no stitches needed. Now pregnant again and definitely going for a vaginal birth again.

When I had my first baby, I had a very bad tear (3rd degree 3B). It's healed, but not quite 100%.
Now I'm pregnant again, right after my first baby.
My midwife is worried about further damage that could affect my life later on, so she recommends a C-section Because* *there is risk of tear again.
I'm really torn about what to do. Has anyone else been through this? Please share your experience with having a second baby after a bad tear. Did you choose a C-section or a vaginal birth, and why?

Hi! I had a 3B tear with my first baby back during Covid times. I was in hospital for two days after the surgery and recovery was straightforward but unpleasant (as I’m sure you’re familiar!)

I decided to have a second vaginal birth last year rather than a c-section. My daughter was stubbornly breech but thankfully they managed to turn her around. I’m really glad I didn’t go with a c-section as this time round I only had a second degree tear and a graze 💪🏻 I was home around 12 hours after her birth and recovery was a breeze.