I am terrified of incontinence after vaginal birth

Natural birth is terrifying! Im due my fourth and still dreading the labour.
Its important to note that severe tears are becoming more rare now I feel, and permanent damage even moreso.
I tore with my first second degree and didn't suffer with incontinence. I also don't suffer with incontinence after three rather big babies.❤️
Anxiety about birth is so natural and normal, but our bodies are made for this and its so empowering to bring life into the world. You've got this! ❤️

Tears are very common, my tear was quite bad and did take a little time to heal but I now have zero leakage or incontinence. On the off chance it does happen to you there are many options to resolve the situation including stitching, surgeries and physiotherapy. I have never heard of anyone dealing with such issues for life. You can also start prepping now to avoid bad tears, breathing excersises, perineal massage etc.Ask your midwife or gp for advice to help ease your anxiety. Your not alone we all have worries that take over our minds. I am having an ECV soon, glad to hear yours was successful.

Scientist here too, my first birth was unmedicated and vacuum aka episiotomy. When my midwives saw the episiotomy she said it was the best decision and the distances in my anatomy would have caused major tears if not. So, im going to ask for second episiotomy.

U still have time to change it.i had a high risk pregnancy, my baby was small and i had a stitch too so went for C-section. I didn't want the tension of normal delivery. Now its upto you, if you are not comfortable with it, listen to your guts

I had a severe 3c tear after my boy decided to come out like superman. I have no issues now! I did my pelvic floor every day which definitely helped. I didn’t struggle with recovery either!

However they did say that a second child would now be considered a higher risk of incontinence. I’ve decided I’m not going to have any more children.

I experienced a 2nd degree tear that was bordering on 3rd degree (about 4 medical professionals came to check it out and decide which way it went!) but my body bounced back within a couple of weeks. It really shocked me that I didn't bleed and bleed, the area was tender for maybe 5 weeks but in the end I would still aim for a vaginal delivery for a possible next pregnancy because it wasn't so bad in the long run. I hope this helps to calm your anxieties a little, I studied a few years of science so I definitely understand how anecdotal evidence can ease some worries at times 🙏🏻

Pelvic floor exercises are your best friend!

I think it's important to remember that usually even in severe tears people have the potential to make a full recovery with support, physio, pelvic floor exercises etc. I suffered for about 2 months (episiotomy, forceps and second degree tear) then everything went back to normal x

I had veginal birth with both my kids. No tearing, I was very lucky but I still get leakage. I have tried the pelvic excersies but they don't seem to help much.

Look at aniball, really helped me get confidence to give birth. I’ve had two babies now and no tears. I’m only 5’2” so I was expecting bad tears (not that height actually correlates).

With my first I had a minor first degree tear and with my second 6 weeks ago I had none. I had babies 20 months apart and did have bladder leakage both times. I saw a pelvic floor therapist and learned to strengthen my pelvic floor and core correctly and problem solved. Regardless of what happens there are things you can do to remedy them. Also, no point in worrying until you have something to worry about! Chances are it won’t be nearly as bad as you anticipate.

I had two babies two years apart and didn’t tear with either, it’s hard but if you can stop pushing when your babies head is crowning it allows time for the skin to stretch to reduce tearing!

I had a c section and ended up with urinary incontinence if that makes you feel any better? I don't think the birth method makes much difference (although I'm not sure).

I went to a pelvic floor therapist and she said that a c-section can be worse for your pelvic floor and all the issues that come with it. I don’t think it’s abnormal to fear birth but if you are a scientist I’d recommend looking into natural birth in a scientific way because our bodies are amazingly designed to do this. Speaking of statistics, in nature (birth with animals), there is absolutely no need for assistance in birth and very few instances of anything going wrong, this is because all animals, including humans, are meant to reproduce and perpetuate our own species. Your body wants to safely birth your baby and keep you well and alive afterwards to take care of the baby. I think you’ll find it pretty incredible how well the baby/body intuitively know how to do this. If you let go of your fear and don’t let your thinking brain get in the way your instincts will take over and you will know what to do, your body will tell you when to push and what position to be in etc.

I have seen a pelvic floor therapist for pubic symphysis but asked her a bunch of questions about the pelvic floor in general, they are super helpful, if you have any issues after birth, no matter how you get to do it, I recommend seeing one of these professionals. Also, I had a tiny bit of incontinence with my first baby but did some of the deep core strengthening kegle exercises and it went away after about 4 weeks and then I haven’t had any with my second baby. It’ll be ok 👍👍👍

2 natural births after 1st one no issues 2nd degree break with 2nd also 2nd degree tear very fast labour i do ocassionaly leak but i never did the exercises (both my babies were large in 91st percentile hight/over 4kg weight )

I had vaginal birth with my last one, minimal tearing but I haven't had any leakage. I did have a hard time doing bowel movement for 2 months due to hemorrhoids. My doctor told me that the best way to combat leakage is doing pelvic floor exercises. However if you are having leakage speak with your pregnancy healthcare provider immediately because sometimes they need to go fix what's happening. A lot of people think oh it's normal and so they don't say anything but sometimes it turns out what people are experiencing is not actually normal especially a prolapse.