Forceps delivery recovery

I’m almost five weeks postpartum with my only-just October 24 baby (he arrived two weeks early on Halloween!) and had a forcep delivery, episiotomy and second degree tear. When I’ve been checked at appointments since I’ve been told that I’m healing well and there’s no sign of infection but I keep having shooting pains, worse when baby cries or I’m breastfeeding, is this normal? Also finding that going to the toilet is still an ordeal, pelvic floor has disappeared despite doing exercises before delivery and when I have to go, I have to go instantly, making me not want to go out or eat to save any embarrassment. Hope I’m not alone in this as it’s really getting me down and feel like I’ll never fully recover 😭

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This popped up on my feed! I had a baby a year before you with a very similar birth and it does get better with time! I was really sore down there for a long time especially if I lifted anything or did any kind of exercise even walking! But it did eventually go and now I don’t get any pain from the scar or generally. Pelvic floor exercises are your best friend for the urgency stick with them even if it feels like they’re not doing anything! x

I second what Yasmine has said!!!

Thanks so much for this, gives me some hope 🤞😅 It’s frustrating because pretty much everything else has gone back to normal apart from that and all the NHS guidance doesn’t really cover tear/epi recovery. Plus the midwives who delivered him gave my boyfriend the lowdown on recovery timescales and what to look for while I was still drugged up to the eyeballs, so feel pretty clueless apart from chatting to people on here 😅

This popped up on my feed too. I had the same but third degree tear. It does get better but I have had pelvic floor physio which has been amazing. Ask your GP if you can get a referral!

I had a very similar first birth by the sounds of it, and just want to reassure you that for me things did return to normal with very little effort. It just took a bit of time. I'd say after 6 weeks I had no pain, and by 3 months I felt 100% healed and my pelvic floor was back to normal. Also just had second birth with no interventions and recovery was much easier x

Thanks so much for this, makes me feel hopeful. Will definitely seek a pelvic floor physio referral and so glad to know that subsequent births after forceps doesn’t necessarily mean more assisted deliveries and tearing 😅 Thanks so much! 😊

I had the same issue and the pelvic floor physiotherapist said I had a build up of scar tissue, and could feel knots the same as you would in your back/shoulder muscles. She did a few sessions of massaging the scar tissue and the shooting pains got much better!

I had the same, my baby is 8 weeks old today and im only just starting to feel any better. I’m still not back to normal, but it’s not preventing me from doing things anymore like it was. Forceps and episiotemies are not fun!!

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