Stitches after birth

[ploddingalong101]

This may seem like the daftest question ever. But I had sex after having my second child before 6 weeks. Less than a week after. I'd had stitches. Is it possible I moved the stitches and they healed in a different place rather than where they should have?

Thanks

Midwife here.

Why do you think they have moved? Are you experiencing any symptoms which are causing you worry?

No I had none. My daughter is 17 months now I probably should have said that. The scar of the stitch is in a different area and sits different to the other side of my vagina. I know this because I took photos of the stitch to ensure it healed properly. It's only know I've really looked. It just looks and seems different

Different from how it was prior to her birth or different from how it was prior to having sex?

Vaginas rarely ever look like they did prior to giving birth vaginally, stitches or no. That's not to say they look worse or anything but, just like a postpartum body, they rarely look the same.

If it looked different after having sex, there could be a few reasons for this too. If you had sex within a week, it's entirely possible that things were still oedematous and still needed to settle prior to healing. How things look a few days after birth rarely indicate how they will look a few months after the event.

Is everything ok? Is it just how things look? No pain or tightness?

Also, did you tear or was it an episiotomy? Most perineal trauma is not central and episiotomies are almost never done on the central like, but off to an angle, usually on the maternal right.

Yeah it looks different prior to birth. It's the entrance that looks different

No pain or tightness

It was from epidural

So I could have moved things by not allowing the stitches time to heal?

What changes would that make to my vagina if it had not settled yet?

No I meant that things change. They hardly ever go back to exactly the way they were because you've pushed a baby out of it I don't think that you've done any damage.

Also I meant that things can look different immediately after birth from several months later. There will be some swelling etc that changes over time.

So it couldn't be possibly that I moved the stitches and they healed in a different place?

Am I the only one impressed you even wanted Dec a week after giving birth?

Sex not Dec

If it all feels and works ok I wouldn’t worry. I had an episiotomy 19 years ago and can still see the scar but no pain or anything. I don’t really look tbh.

Midwives are rarely impressed

It's highly unlikely you'll have moved them. They aren't topical - they go through layers of tissue and sometimes muscle. They won't have travelled anywhere they shouldn't.