What damage does childbirth do to you?

Question

I've been reading about all the pain and things... I think I can cope with positive pain. What worries me is the damage that it sounds like it causes; loss of blood, cuts and tears sometimes severe enough to reach the rectum, fistulas? Absolutely terrifying. Never mind having your stomach and lady bits all stretched.

How often does this sort of injury occur? Is there anything life-style wise that one can do to prevent it?

And please don't say 'you won't mind when you have the baby' I will!

Answer 1

There are some things you can do to help.

Clench your pelvic floor muscles regularly, the best time to do this is when you are on the toilet, try stopping the flow of urine and starting it again etc.

Massage the flesh between your two holes (yeah rectum and vagina) which should minimise any tearing too.

If you have any blood loss then you should have health care professionals on hand to take care of you while you enjoy baby; your stomach may take a little work, depending on its size now, but its not impossible to get back in a small amount of time.

good luck with it, and i won't say what you said people would say altho its true ;)

Answer 2

I'll probably get raked over the coals for this one but.....some obs will perform a scheduled c-section at 38-39 wks. It is riskier to have surgery rather than a vaginal birth but there is a movement towards 'c-section on demand'. A couple of the obs at my hospital will do this. Interestingly enough, they are female!!! The male obs won't!

Most first time moms often do suffer a small amount of tearing in the vagina and/or perineum. These aren't bad and heal quickly. It is the BAD tears that do happen from time to time that you have to worry about. If the baby has a large head, if the position of the baby during delivery is not favorable, if forceps are used, if an episiotmy is performed (usually followed by forceps), if the person delivering the baby is inexperienced and does not support the perineum or babe's head properly. These are things that can lead to a bad tear. At my hospital, some moms refuse to allow a 'resident' to deliver their baby. It is their body and their birth and they have rights over who touches them and their child.
We nurses deliver many babies! Sometimes the obs is busy with another delivery or in the OR at the time of delivery.

Lifestyle......eat well, moderate activity, keep your appointments with your doctor or midwife. They can catch many potential problems early on {ie diabetes which will lead to a very LARGE baby}

You seem scared to death of injury to yourself. I am guessing that you are already pregnant and probably not in the last trimester yet. As you get further along in your pregnancy, your focus should shift from 'me' to 'my baby'. When you get closer to your due date your first concern will be for the health of the baby. Understand that when the time comes, the labour will take over your body and the birth will proceed as it's meant to. Take birthing classes to help prepare you a little bit, but there's nothing that can truly prepare your for the big event. My best advice- research and write up a birth plan so everyone who cares for you will know and respect your wishes. BUT, understand that you cannot control every aspect of the birth. Things may happen that you did not 'plan' on. At this point, listen to the advice of those looking after you and your baby. We all want you to have a good birth experience, but the well-being of the baby and the mom is MOST important and ultimately that is why and how decisions are made.

Answer 3

You will have loss of blood, lots. But its normal and they give your iron supplements. No worries, just really gross. Cuts and tears...some women tear, some don't. some tear really bad, some tear only a bit. I've heard that you don't even really feel the split at that time anyway because of all the other pain from the labor and the baby's head coming out. my mother had 3rd degree episiotomy when means it was just at her rectum. long healing time and it could cause incontinence, not sure if its permanent, though. stomach...well my stomach is flat (well not 100% but its getting there) and not flabby and out of shape and I didn't have stretch marks because i lubed my belly daily to give it elasticity..my mom has extremely bad stretch marks and its supposed to be hereditary so i guess that shows you that your own pregnancy will be unique.

as far as the stretched cooch goes, kegal exercises help with elasticity and there's also something you do when you manually strech your opening until it burns to prepare yourself for childbirth..i forgot what the correct name is but you can find it on most pregnancy sites.

good luck and try not to freak out about it...it hurts like nothing you'll ever experience..but i got the epidural and didn't get paralyzed and all that..the pain went away and i ended up having to have a c section..but eight months later..i'm back to normal and i have this charming little girl who gives me a reason to laugh ever day!

Answer 4

In order to help you not tear during birth you should massage the perineum area between the vagina and anus as this helps the stretching that will happen also a question for you what the hell have you been reading ? these are just scare tatics yes im not denying they can happen but most women dont think of them and in all births you loose some blood and as for the cut this is were the midwife or dr cut the perineum to make the opening just a little bigger for the baby to be delivered and is much better for you than a tear because its a clean cut and can be easier to stiched back than a tear. Dont fret about all this you say you will mind but really you wont yes you will experience discomfort for a few weeks but its nothing a few painkillers wont solve i dont mean to be rude or nasty but dont be so soft its all part of the birthing process its somthing you will get over and move on from. good luck

Answer 5

Your best bet is to read up from a reliable source - say the BBC health websites, NHS sirect (in the Uk), or and go through your concerns with your doctor / midwife.

Childbirth is probably the most extreme thing your body can do and at any extremes it can hurt. And yes, sometimes there are tears, and pain and loss of blood.
But most usually the damage is slight or manageable and repairable and with proper care during your pregnancy and birth all this will pale into insignificance to the wonder of having your baby.


Remember - mothers have done the birth thing on their own, in the wild, etc and survive intact.
If you have proper support there is no need to be overly anxious.

As for lifestyle - get as fit as you can first. Eat properly. Get knowledgeable.

Good luck if you go for it.

I had both of mine at home and there was no need for the doctor to fix anything; No major tears, or loss of blood or anything. But if there had been, there was medical help to hand.
Plan for the worst and hope for the best. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Answer 6

Don't worry, you'll be ok! I'm not going to lie - chilbirth isn't a barrel of laughs, but you will get back to normal (or very near) soon enough. When I had my baby, I had to have an episiotomy (cut) because the baby's heartbeat kept dropping and they needed to get her out fast. Although I didn't feel the doctor do it, or stitch it up afterwards (lovely drugs - ask for lots of those!), that was the bit that gave me the most problems afterwards. Provided you're having a straightforward labour, I'd recommend asking them to let you carry on without intervention, as if you do it slowly enough you can very often avoid tearing. Massaging the perineum with wheatgerm oil to practise stretching it seems to work for some people too (I couldn't be bothered, personally!)

If you do end up having stitches, it's not the end of the world, even if it feels like it is for a few days! You just have to be really gentle with your "lady bits" until the stitches have healed, and sitting on an ice pack for 5 mins or so at a time can help reduce swelling too. Don't do it for any longer than that - you'll get frostbite! My midwife gave me a handy tip - if solid ice cubes (wrapped in a towel of course) are too uncomfortable to sit on, you can make your own ice pack by part-filling a condom with ice cold water and tying up the end! Don't buy the really expensive "maternity ice pad" things, they're really not necessary.

Sorry if this all sounds a bit grim, and there's probably a bit too much information, but hey, fore-warned is fore-armed! Like I said, it does go back to very nearly normal within a few weeks, although it might be tender for a bit longer. After my daughter was born I swore I'd never have another baby - I'd changed my mind within weeks! Labour's not that much fun but it doesn't have to be that bad either. I say if there are painkillers to be had, have them! Plus, it's only one day out of your life, and it'll be worth it in the end!

Answer 7

Your "lady bits" go back to normal. You can help them along by doing some exercises.
Yes some people to tear all the way to their rectum, but those are usually the people who start pushing too early, push incorrectly, or their doctors cut them way too far.
Usually the blood loss is controllable, and not a problem. As with any medical procedure there are also risks.
The best way to insure a normal delivery is to take care of your self, ask your doctor lost of questions about what you should be doing for both your body and baby and not spend your time worrying about what might happen.
Since others are sharing thier stories I thought I would share mine. I had a 10lbs. 11oz baby natural with the help of a vacuum and I only had 1 stitch.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

Don't listen to all the horror stories you hear - it's different for everyone. I'm middle-aged and have had four kids and I'm in great shape,slim and fit. Childbirth is not easy, but it's never as bad as some drama queens make out. Contractions are painful, but they start small, rise up to a peak and die away, so you have time to get ready for the next one. It's only in the last few minutes that they come very close together. If possible, don't allow them to induce the birth with a drip as this increases the pain considerably and you don't get a chance to recover between contractions , as they are too strong and too fast. If you have a good body to begin with, you can still have it after having a baby, especially if you breastfeed for a while as that uses up the excess fat that your body has stored to feed the infant. Eat loads of fruit and whatever veggies you like, walk a lot and enjoy preparing for your baby. If anyone wants to tell you their childbirth saga, politely change the subject, your experience WILL be different from theirs. Good luck - keep your cool and you'll be fine!

Answer 10

Breast feed after birth to help pull your tummy back to place.
Tears are natural and you won't feel them, the muscle pain from the contractions if far far worse.
To prevent stretch marks, massage baby oil in to your belly twice a day for the whole pregnancy.

You may not believe it, but the INSTANT the baby pops out, all the pain goes away immediately. No bull. They will stitch up any tears while you're still there wondering about how you did that and you won't even notice it.

My missus heart stopped 14 times during child birth as she cannot handle any type of pain at all. They jabbed her 4 times and stitched her up and she swears blind she doesn't remember any of it after our baby was born.


Good luck and chose a reasonable name not Storm or Skye or Chantelle etc or Niamh (what does that spell by the way).