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I had the same issues and somewhat unhappily went with the second vaginal delivery. What a difference from the first birth! First baby was the trailblazer and my first tear didn't even re-tear at all! My second labor was better, the pushing was easier, I didn't tear and the second baby was bigger...I am very happy, of course. I was up and around a whole lot easier than the lady who delivered by c-section the same day as me. And my private area feels great and back to normal 2 weeks later. Something to think about. :)

Thanks for the recent posts.
Lauren- Try reading The Essential C-Section Guide and Pelvic Health and Childbirth. I found them helpful in my decision.

To the last post- thanks. Noone else has shared that.
Jessica R

Thank you all for the posts they were positive for once lol! I meet with my doc on the 26th and will hopegfully come to a decision!

even if you have a normal vaginal birth, the baby can put a lot of pressure on the nerve that suppies blood to the anal area and you can still do damage. Just wanted to give you all the info... I think it's called the pudential nerve...

Yes, I too have heard that just because you feel fine, it doesn't mean that there is no more damage. You may feel fine for a while then develop incontinence. The statistics are not good for unseen damage.

Hi Jessica, you probably recognize me from other more heated debates, but I am not a radical anti-cesarean person. I think if you had such a poor outcome a c-section is something to consider. Have you spoken with OB's regarding how a second birth may or may not be a bit smoother for you? I haven't had a vaginal delivery, but women I know have often stated the second was less difficult thanks to the first baby's passage. I understand that each delivery is different and that the one can't guarentee the next, but...just curious. I had extremely well-developed abdominal muscles due to Elite-level gymnastics and combined with a very immature pelvis, and a 7 pound baby they had to cut through my muscles, not push them aside. Due to their strength the doctor said it was like cutting through concrete and so the recoveries ended up being VERY painful for me. I dislocated my hip once and they were worse than that. I don't know if anyone can say which is a better recovery, I just know I wish I hadn't had them and the ensuing problems. On the other hand, I don't think a woman wants to wear diapers from a vaginal delivery either. You have a bit of a dilemma and I hope all ends up the best for you.

Hello, I have read the above replies and find some somfort in them. I had my first baby nearly a year ago and had an episiotomy then a 3rd deg tear. Since then I have, thankfully, had no real trouble. I do have a small anal fissure which I believe was caused through going to the loo so many times from taking the fibogel prescribed which was intended to combat the constipating pain killers they gave me. I didn't take the pain killers as I could cope with the pain without it and ended up constantly on the loo. I had an endo anal scan yesterday and now have to wait a few months for the results although they led me to believe a natural childbirth for me would not be advisable. I am completely traumatised by this as I have a total phobia of doctors, hospitals, needles etc. I tried to have a homebirth with my son and ended up being rushed into hospital in an ambulance as he was so big. I am tiny and he was 8lb 6. I have left every experience I have ever had to endure in relation to hospitals in tears and completely traumatised. I don't have a moral problem with c-sections but for me it is the absolute opposite of ideal. The prospect of having one fills me with absolute dread however I know I want more children. I feel that I am caught between the devil and the deep. At the end of the day, from my understanding of the above and other research I have read, the risks of me suffering incontinence in the future are already there from my first birth experience and there are risks either way with natural childbirth and c- sections so I would still be inclined to go with a natural childbirth however I know my husband would be against this.

Just to share my experiences & what I've been told by medical professionals, I had my first baby two years ago and had a third degree tear during a fairly quick water birth. I was told in the six-week check by the specialist doctor that I now had a 8% chance of incontinence (I understood she meant total incontinence) if I delivered another baby vaginally. This was because of the pressure the baby would put on the pelvic floor muscles, regardless of whether I had another tear. In this respect, perineal massage etc. would seem to have no impact on the risk. I think I'm going to opt for the c-section as a lifetime of nappies is just not something I think I can face, and although I know there are such risks with c-sections, I don't think they are anywhere near 8%. As far as I am aware, risk of infection is about 10% and risk of dying about 1 in 10,000. SL (UK)

Ok so the tearing is called anal fissure. I suffer from them from my crohns disease. I need a c section and this is my first child. I didnt have a choice, the tearing could be really bad if i push out a baby.

perineal tearing and anal fissures are different. Fissures are little cut-like things on the actual anus and tearing happens from the perineum sometimes to the rectum. They are completely different though.

Yes, tearing is different to fissures. But fissures are hell and can occur after a 'normal' birth, and are usually a consequence of a tear. After a vaginal delivery with a bad 3rd degree tear, I have been plagued by fissures for years. They have limited my life and the pain is out of this world. Chronic fissures require surgery (I've had that too) and do increase the chance of a vaginal tear during birth.

To be honest the prospect of a c section or a tear are equally unpleasant to me its the prospect of a longer period in hospital that is worse. I know that may sound rediculous but its the phobia of medical interference full stop that troubles me. The hospitals are never clean and the thought of being in them makes my flesh crawl. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could give birth by magic wand. I don't think any forum is going to help me work that crap out!

Sorry about my last post. I had written more but it disapeared. Silly laptop. I mean to say that i have tearing but ok its called anal fissures. And yup its very different from tearing due to child birth. I was just saying that i need to have a csection because of it and i would think that if you have any type of '3rd degree' tearing you might want to think about a csection. ouch

Thanks all I have pretty much decided on the csection It is my body and I don't want to take the chance of causeing more damage with another tear being as I will be only 24 so now I will meet with Doc on the 26th and tell her and not let her talk me out of it!!! She said it was my choice so..

To Amie Mack, I know how you feel, I wanted and had a so-called 'natural' birth with my first in that there was no interference from anybody, no drugs, no injection afterwards to bring the placenta along, etc. But when it became apparent about the tear I had no choice but to have the roomful of people and drugs (for the subsequent surgery) that I had been trying to avoid. It took me a long time to deal with this. I think a lot of people feel this way about hospitals and medical intervention generally. It is a very difficult decision for me now I'm pregnant whether I have a C-section or not... if I'm honest it has even put me off having another baby a little bit, even though I really want to increase our family, because I was and am so frightened of the possibilities. Having a section goes against all my instincts, but then again I am genuinely frightened of tearing again, and of becoming incontinent even if I don't tear because of the pressure on the muscles. As you say, it's the devil and the deep blue sea. Hope you work out something you're happy with.

Thanks for my message sll. I obviously had a very similar experience to you. My little one was born 12:00 and I still thought I was going home for a chicken dinner in the evening until they told me I had to be operated on and have a spinal for my stiches! Even now I find my tear a strange thing as I haven't suffered any more than I imagine I would have with a straight forward birth. Compared to earlier posts I have been SO lucky and not suffered much. This doesn't make it easier for me to opt for a c section even though it appears to be on the whole the most sensible thing to do. I think I have only read one good exerience of a 2nd vaginal birth after tear (Thank you to whoever posted that on Jan 10th). There don't seem to be too many experiences shown where people have opted for a 2nd vaginal, as most seem to have opt for the c section. I don't think there is anything wrong with C Sections, they would just be the very very last resort for me. I am not planning on more babies for a while as the whole experience has scared the hell out of me. But I know I'll have to face the decision sometime as I really want more babies. The mad thing is I still find the prospect of a c section to be the most frightening thing. I hope that whatever decision everyone makes works out well for them. It's not for anyone else to judge. I think that I will probably play it by ear if/when my time comes. I quite like the idea of monitoring the baby weight and induction. But again thats more interference than I'd like.