Csection after third degree tearing?

[Louise2013]

Hi all, I am after some advice please if anyone can help...

Call me crazy, but for some reason i have been thinking about when the time comes to have baby number two of late (we have a ten week old and have had to start planning nursery etc. for next year so it has me thinking about the future!).

Anyway, I had extensive third degree tearing and an episiotomy for my rather aggressive forceps delivery with this little one, and, although everything has healed brilliantly and I feel physically back to normal, it has affected me a little psychologically as the worry/anxiety over retraining my bladder, retraining my bowels, panicking about if I would ever have sensation/feeling down there again has made me quite paranoid about it happening again, and I feel a bit like attempting another natural delivery might be pushing my luck in terms of making a full recovery if I was to tear so badly again, if that makes sense!

Anyway, as a result, I am swaying towards requesting an elective csection when/if we are lucky enough to have another baby in the future. I appreciate c sections are not something to be taken lightly, but I feel the psychological/emotional strain of recovering from the tearing first time round, and the anxiety that came with it, would be less with an elective (and therefore time to plan and prepare and fully understand what the risks and recovery problems may be) csection recovery, but of course I am only guessing having not experienced csection. I guess I have been so shocked as to how the fear/threat of having bowel/bladder incontinence forever really frightened me. I don't mean to sound like I am making light of csections in any way, I fully appreciate it is major surgery, but the extent of the possibility of tears etc. again is frightening me a lot.

I have been told (anecdotally) I am at no greater risk of tearing again next time, but this is not based on my own medical circumstances, merely based on statistics etc.

Does anyone have any similar experiences and how did your second delivery go whatever your decision was?

Thanks all, much appreciated xxxx

 

[Melanie3103]

I feel exactly the same as you...

My LO is almost 13wks old and i suffered a 3rd degree tear after a waterbirth (he was bigger than expected at 9lbs and my choice of being in the water unaided/intervention free meant i was unmonitored of course) so final stage happened quite quick and i tore..

I got the natural birth i wanted - at home til 8cm dilated, then water birth with G&A for the last hour or so. But as a result of those decisions I tore which is a shame. I am really pleased to have had the natural birth i really wanted but disappointed I needed 40mins of surgery in theatre to fix the damage!

Afterwards i struggled with faecal incontinence for a few weeks, but as i healed it got better (thankfully) and my pelvic floor exercises really helped. Now 13wks later i feel almost completely recovered. Still ache sometimes and tampons-use was interesting (!) as they came out sometimes when i 'bear' down to pee.. :-/

But like you i've thought about baby#2 at some stage... Ideally when hes 12-18mnths old we might start trying for another... But like you i'm nervous about damage next time..

I have a follow up appointment with surgeon/specialist at the end of july (when LO is 4mnths old) who will check that its repaired properly - apparently it involved an endoscopy (inserting a camera!!!).. Gulp! Which i am not looking forward to of course, i want to know all is healed properly but that procedure does NOT sound like fun!! Do you have a follow up appointment to go to ??

The MW (when she signed me off 10 days after birth) chatted to me about contraception and any future pregnancies/births, and warned me that depending on how i've healed and what is said at that follow-up check at the end of july, i might not be able to deliver vaginally next time. As they wont risk letting me tear in the same place again, as this would almost certainly lead to long-term/permanent anal incontinence!! But while the idea of an elective c-section was terrifying, not quite as terrifying as that kind of longterm damage!! So i've made my peace with a csection next time, and actually like you, having experienced the physical and mental recovery from an 'unplanned' tear, i'm not sure i would want to take my chances with it happening again. I cannot imagine being able to relax and trust my body to birth naturally/vaginally (like i did first time with my natural birth) having torn in the end! The idea of a planned c-section sounds far more appealing i have to say.

Like you i'm not making light of recovering from a csection, but my recovery has been no picnic, and so i'm definitely thinking of an elective section next time.

Good luck - will happily share my appointment outcome at the end of july, if you are interested to know what happens/what they say - as our experiences DO sound similar.

X

 

[Louise2013]

Thanks Melanie, I am totally with you on all of the above and would really like to hear how your apt goes and what they say to you. I have been told I will be contacted at twelve weeks to ask how I am doing and if I have any queries or issues I can raise them then, so I am thinking of asking to see someone to discuss the future, and also the fact that some of my stitches still haven't dissolved and hope they examine me etc.

Like you I have made peace with the thought of a csection, and will definitely be discussing it further with the midwives/consultants if/when we have baby number two! xxx

 

[Melanie3103]

At the risk of sharing too much, using tampons (I think) dislodged some scar tissue - it was horrid! Like a giant clot or something. I am back on the pill, so thankfully the period itself was practically non-existent - just 2-3 days of really light bleeding, but I definitely noticed a difference in the comfort of tampon-wear.

I have heard from other women that they can't use them after giving birth, I'm hoping that in time things will heal completely down there... I've stepped up the pelvic floor exercises to hopefully make a difference too.

The surgeon did tell me at the time, that he hadn't seem a tear 'like mine in ages' so it must've been pretty bad... and the idea of tearing again does not appeal, similarly long term/permanent incontinence !!!!

So regardless of what they say to me in that appointment I am 99% sure I am going to ask for an elective C-section next time...

Good luck - will let you know how my appointment goes at the end of July. Will add you to my list of contacts, so I can find you again...

Mel x