Prolapse after birth

[bluerascal]

Hi! About 4 weeks after I gave birth i noticed things down there looking not quite the same inside. I thought it was a prolapse of some sort, my urethra was much lower, pretty much in the opening! At my 6 week check I told the doctor I thought I had a prolapse, her first response was to dismiss it and say it was too early. Then she had a look and said it was a prolapse of the bladder/cystocele/anterior wall prolapse. She was very blasé about it, said muscles down there are lax after birth and to be expected etc. Offered no further advice except to do pelvic floor exercises and by 3 months it should be better. Well 3 months have almost passed and it's the same. I don't seem to have any symptoms severely, a slight feeling of weight down there. Has anyone had experience of this? Can it go back to how it was or will it forever be prolapsed? Should I make another appointment?

Just to add to my original post, I'm mid thirties, it was my first child, natural labour which was a quick pushing stage with mild second degree stitches and a small baby 4.5lb...

Sending huge hugs xx I have 3 prolapses. There is a very supportive group on fb search for FPOPS UK. Im admin on there and its a fab place for support.
You need to ask to see a urogynaecologist hun or pelvic floor physio for a better diagnosis xx much love

@bluerascal I can sympathise. I have a rectocele following the birth of DD2, and 3 months later have seen no improvement. I've been referred to the local hospital, but my first appointment is on the phone. It's so disappointing. As women we are just expected to put up with this. It's incredibly frustrating. I'm doing pelvic floor exercises and some days I think they're helping, then other days it feels even worse. It's really getting me down and I honestly feel like healthcare professionals don't care.

@Covidwoes I hope you don’t mind me asking but how was the diagnostic process for you? I also suspect (as does GP) that I have a rectocele and I was referred to a colorectal surgeon a couple of months ago but haven’t had an appointment sent through yet. One of the main reasons I wanted it checked out was because we were trying for baby no. 2. I’m now 7 weeks pregnant and a bit worried about how invasive the process is going to be? I don’t even really want to have an examination... however, I am really worried about the potential impact of giving birth again without some guidance related to the rectocele; for example, should I be having a vaginal delivery?

@jengrosve my GP diagnosed mine. I also had two private appointments with a women's health physio, but am unable to continue with her due to financial reasons. The GP referred me to physio at our local hospital, but the first appointment is a phone call. Not helpful really. If I were you I'd avoid a vaginal birth, as it'll likely make the prolapse worse (it is what caused mine). I'm not having more kids, but if I did I'd ask for an elective CS. That's just me though. You may feel differently! I permanently feel like I have misplaced a tampon due to this prolapse, and am constantly worrying about it getting worse. It's so annoying.

@Covidwoes I’m sorry to hear that: sounds miserable. Yeah, that’s my gut feeling too. At the moment it’s manageable: I won’t share details as TMI but it’s not hugely impacting my day to day life. I’m worried that birthing another 9 pounder could do some serious, life changing damage.

I hope you hear from the hospital soon.

Hi both, I think I am suffering from the same thing after the birth of my second child. I feel so down about this and can't seem to focus on anything else. I'm only 2 weeks post birth so I know it's early days but not sure how to proceed at the moment.

Definitely see a woman’s health physio and look into hypopressives- form of Pilates with excellent results for prolapse.

Hey I have prolapses too. There's videos on YouTube and at home work out programmes specifically for prolapse that are low impact, they massively helped me reduce my symptoms to practically non existent although I do still have prolapse but I just can't feel them anymore. Rest as much as you can and do low impact core strengthening exercises along with pelvic floor exercises and it should massively help. It's much easier doing these exercises while baby is young and still sleeps often. Just know that it honestly can get better if you put the work in. A lot of material I've read has said that breast feeding can impact prolapse and it takes about a year for a woman's body to heal after birth so you've got a long way to go yet. For some reason prolapse takes a very long time to heal so it can be frustrating but have hope x

@raven96 do you have any particular YouTube videos/ home workouts that you'd recommend? Thanks !

@Aroundthelight I'm so sorry for such a slow reply! I bought the hab it dvd and despite it being pretty old it massively helped and so did pelvic floor exercises but it took a good year and for some women 2 years to feel no symptoms. There's also femfusion on YouTube who is fab. One last thing be careful about which support groups you join on Facebook for prolapse if you do because some of them are extremely depressed I had to unfollow a few of them and just stuck to pop fitness as it was full of younger women who despite their diagnosis are doing Fantastic and most run, lift weights etc :) apops is mostly surgery based, uk one is pretty depressing at times but still full of good info but personally if still avoid and only put yourself in with more positive things on your timeline otherwise it can send you down a rabbit hole x

Just stumbled across this thread and read it all!
I had my twins 4 weeks ago. I was supposed to have an elective caesarean but they came too quickly and both back to back. I only noticed a bulge in my vagina the other day and have been beside myself since. When I'm on my back you can't see/feel it but as soon as I stand up/sit it's there. I went to the GP who said it was still very acute post birth and recommended physio although she also seemed to think it could go itself (wishful thinking!)

Reading threads and researching has actually really riled me up. I cannot believe how common this is and that it is not discussed. Telling healthcare professionals through tears to have them just be like "it's incredibly common and you had good sized twins" as if I should expect at 27 to have a prolapse

I've referred myself for physio but they say won't examine people until they're 6 weeks post partum due to swelling etc. Does this sound about right or should I see someone sooner privately? In the meantime I'm doing my exercises.

Sorry for crashing the thread and rambling!

I have a prolapse but it developed years after having my last child. If you're on Facebook there are several groups with some very knowledgeable women in. Search POP or Pelvic Organ Prolapse and you should find them

Mine is a complete mess down there! 3 types of prolapse but symptoms are minimal (I think, although I may just be used to them now!) The weirdest thing is that I can no longer pee and poop on the same loo visit. Anybody else have that? I literally have to get up and walk around for a bit to do a wee after a number 2. Very annoying!

@RLI1105 hey I'm so sorry your having prolapse issues it is super depressing when first diagnosed. I cried for months every single day and some days were so bad I could barley function and it takes away from the bonding which is so difficult. Seeing a women's health physio is a great idea. You can get a referal from your gp but when it comes to this condition you really have to push for help speaking from experience it's a massively down played condition and they won't usually give you a referral unless you ask and be pushy for one. You can also go private which most women find much better as the nhs physios can be pretty useless if I'm being honest they just tell you to do kegals and grade your strength and that is it but some private physios depending on where you are take a whole body approach which is really important with prolapse. 6-8 weeks is normal to see a women's health physio as they can't do internals before then as women are still healing from birth so don't worry it's normal for them to make you wait. It is a very common condition but sadly because women don't open up about it very often it's thought to be an old persons condition. I prolapsed at 23 with my first. I'm now 25. Try and rest as much as possible, drink and eat as well as possible to promote healing, keep good posture, don't hold your breath and take deep breaths that expand your ribs and belly, get a stool to put your feet on for when you need a poo, take something to soften stool so you don't get constipated, download nhs Squeezy app and use it 3 x a day doing sets of 10 slow and 10 quick and make sure you relax just as well as you contract. Watch some YouTube videos on how to kegal effectively as breathing out while contracting is a massive help! Give yourself a year to two years for healing

@raven96 Thanks so much for writing back 😊 I've been working really hard on feeling more positive and remembering that things could be worse. I'm not sore at all, I've not been having any leaking/continence issues. I can't really feel it to be honest. It's a long term thing and so I need to learn how to live with it! I've referred myself to the NHS physio who I'm speaking to next week and see what they say. There was a 3 week wait for a private one so I thought I would see first but I imagine I'll go private too.
My GP is also going to re-examine me in a couple of weeks. In the meantime I have been watching YouTube videos and really prioritising the exercises. I'm getting on okay I think.

How are you doing? I'm so sorry you had such a bad time. Have you had anymore children since? How are your symptoms now? Really grateful you wrote back.😊

@RLI1105 Awh I'm glad your doing better!! Apparently most women have prolapse after birth but most women don't realise they have it because they don't have any symptoms, in fact there was a study done not too long ago suggesting 80 odd % of women had a grade 1 prolapse after birth and 50 % have a grade 2 but good news is with physio you can usually reduce the prolapse at least one grade so there's loads of hope really ☺️ and I'm doing a lot better now!! I don't really get symptoms anymore, my bits don't feel like they used to lol but it's not a problem anymore and sex is fine thank god haha. I've not had another baby yet but me and my partner are planning on it but thinking I'll just beg for a section but mind you loadsssss of women do it again after prolapse and naturally and say they had no worsening or grade or symptoms but I bet that's because they were much much much more knowledgeable going in to have their next baby and knew what to do and what not to do, like birthing on yo it back is a big no no with prolapse as it blocks a good percentage of the vaginal exit for the baby ca using more damage, no purple pushing, keeping up with physio and a good diet before, during and after pregnancy and being patient

Thanks for this thread as need to go to gp and now know what to ask for.