A first-time mum was terrified that she was going to die after a traumatic birth that left her with life-changing injuries.
Primary school teacher Emma Reeves from Newcastle has been experiencing excruciating daily pain ever since the birth two years ago.
The 31-year-old suffered second-degree multi-directional tears while giving birth to her daughter Annabelle, a case that midwives said they hadn’t seen in 30 years.
When she went into labour, Emma was rushed straight to theatre for the first of 10 surgeries she would need to recover.
After marrying her childhood sweetheart Mark, 32, Emma had a smooth pregnancy and did not expect so many complications at birth.
But a year after welcoming their baby girl into the world, Emma was diagnosed with a rectovaginal fistula (RVF) – an abnormal connection between the lower portion of the rectum and the vagina.
The fistula meant Emma couldn’t go anywhere without a pillow to sit on and a five minute walk could wipe her out for days.
She also still has flashbacks from the birth and has been treated for PTSD.
‘During labour, when it came to pushing, my legs were put in stirrups,’ explained Emma.
‘Mark was down the business end so unfortunately for him, he saw it happen and the look of shock on the midwives’ faces.
‘After Annabelle was born and the doctors were repairing the damage in the first surgery, they described the tissue down there as being like “butter” and that they were struggling to stitch it together.’
Emma then asked midwives whether she was going to die as she genuinely believed she would.
‘I’m still traumatised about it. I was told over and over that they’d not seen anything like this in 30 years. I knew it was a bad situation.’
Emma was taken away for an emergency three-hour procedure to repair the complicated tears before she was returned to a recovery ward.
But it was a matter of hours before she was back in the operating room, after doctors noticed that Emma had developed a pelvic hematoma.
Emma spent a week in hospital before she was well enough to go home, but even after she was discharged, the new mum was in constant pain.
‘It’s every mother’s nightmare being separated from your baby. You want that bonding time.’
Despite warnings from fellow mums that she would be sore, the teacher could tell something wasn’t right, and spent hours on the internet searching for answers to why she was in such agony.
She was also unable to have sex with her husband, who had also been left traumatised by the birth.
Desperate to end her pain, the couple went private and pushed for more tests, which revealed that Emma had an RVF and needed a setom – a piece of surgical thread to repair the abnormal connection.
She said: ‘My day would start with excruciating pain when I went to the toilet. The pain was crippling, it would last a few hours, sometimes all day.
‘Mark had to put a suit on and leave for work while I was crying out with pain.’
The time she should’ve spent bonding with her newborn was spent being bed-bound and reserving as much energy as she could to taking care of the baby.
‘I felt completely in the dark, that my body had failed me, I was doomed and my active life was over.
‘I was worried about my marriage. I was worried if I couldn’t have sex if I couldn’t have further children.’
Slowly over time, things began to improve, and Emma continued to look for support on the internet, eventually stumbling across the Mummy MOT – a postnatal check-up programme.
Now, after discovering their specialist help, she is learning to manage her injuries.
She even went swimming for the first time and does private tutoring on weekends and evenings.
In September, the determined mum had her tenth surgery injecting steroids into her scar tissue to help with continual tightening and improving her pelvic floor.
She added: ‘I am getting my life back. Mark and I always try to reflect over the last couple of months and look at what we’ve achieved.
‘We had our fifth wedding anniversary at the hotel we got married and I went swimming for the first time. I cried with happiness.’
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source https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/24/mum-who-suffered-multi-directional-tears-while-giving-birth-has-ptsd-10975895/
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