Episiotomy Recovery

An episiotomy or perineotomy is not a pleasant experience, especially during the first month after your baby’s birth when your incision is healing. We’re sorry mum, we hate to be the bearers of bad news.

While recovering from an episiotomy most mothers report having constant pain in the location of the incision, pain when they go to the bathroom and for several months afterward pain during sex. On the plus side, only one in every 100 women report having unbearable pain, which means there is a very good chance it will not interrupt your daily activities, which, if we’re being honest, will be very baby-centred. Suffering with this pain means you want that incision to heal quickly, so here are a few pointers you can follow to speed up the healing process.

Aiding the healing process:

1. Like any surgical incision fresh air is important for the recovery process. This can be quite difficult considering where your incision is! We suggest that after taking a shower you lie on your bed for between 10 and 15 minutes with only your towel wrapped around you and this should help expose the incision to fresh air.
2. Wash your incision with warm water in the morning and the evening, every time you go to the bathroom and if you feel sweaty. This will help to make sure no bacteria infects your incision.
3. There are also pelvic exercises you can do to speed up the healing process. Talk to your physician or midwife for some suggestions.

Some mothers may suffer with severe scar tissue, if you’re one of them don’t worry, because this excess scar tissue can be removed 6 months after birth in a simple surgical procedure if you so wish.

The most important piece of advice we can offer you while you are recovering from an episiotomy is that if your scar oozes blood or pus, you contact your physician immediately, because it is infected and needs to be treated immediately. An infection down there is not pleasant ladies.

After all of that scary business we do have a plus for you. The sutures used in your episiotomy dissolve which means there is no need for your doctor to remove them, so a check-up is all you need to do once your incision heals with no complications.

P.S. Tips for managing the pain!