Panproctocolectomy and childbirth

[Rebecca88]

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

July 2015 I had my Colon, Rectum and Anus removed due to Crohn's Disease and gastroparesis. I had some major complications after surgery where my perineal wound burst open (sorry tmi but you could fit your whole hand in the wound it was that big) from the top of my butt crack to 5mm from the vagina. It took 1year of twice daily packing for it to finally heal however it has healed as a bit of a crator and VERY thin webbed scar tissue all the way up from my vagina to the top of my crack!

I was told by my surgical team and the medical team I'm under, that if I ever fell pregnant a C-Section would be my only option as the risk of pressure and tearing during a natural delivery would be very high risk to me the mother as the old wound could re-open and potentially take another year to heal and possible plastic surgery would be needed.

I'm currently just over 4 months pregnant very happy!
I'm under the specialist obstetrician due to the high risk pregnancy, problem is I met the Obstetrician who hadn't really read my notes and made me feel really silly! I voiced my concearns about a natural birth due to what my consultants had told me but she told me and I quote "If paraplegics can give birth naturally then so can you, I'm not agreeing to a c-section"! I left feeling really anxious and to be honest a little upset! Don't get me wrong I'd happily give birth naturally if I was assured I'd be safe and not have a huge wound to contend with and a new baby but I've been told otherwise so not sure who to listen to now!

If anyone has any advice or you've had a natural delivery after a total proctocolectomy I'd love to hear from you
Sorry for the long message.

X

 

[Lisa]

Hi and welcome as well as congratulations!

After reading your post, my first suggestion is to find another OB, if you can't, back up your concerns with discussion with your surgical team, if necessary, and of possible, have them talk to each other. If the OB refuses to talk to your surgical team, it is definitely time to find someone new.

I myself had a C-section due to active fistulas, and that was as the recommendation of my OB.

 

[Rebecca88]

Hi and welcome as well as congratulations!

After reading your post, my first suggestion is to find another OB, if you can't, back up your concerns with discussion with your surgical team, if necessary, and of possible, have them talk to each other. If the OB refuses to talk to your surgical team, it is definitely time to find someone new.

I myself had a C-section due to active fistulas, and that was as the recommendation of my OB.

Thank you so much for your response
My partner was in with me and suggested to her that she speaks to my surgical consultans as I've been under them for years and had numerous operations; she agreed to speak to them so I'll maybe give it a few weeks and then chase that up then.
I did speak to my gastroenterologist about what she said and he said he'd also voice his concerns to her!

I just felt really anxious and silly when I left her on the day so wanted peoples advice so thank you very much for your reply I appreciate it.
X

 

[Lady Organic]

Hi, I would change OB right away. This dr seems highly controlling in her speach. I once had a rhumy of this kind who was loud, overly confident and worked alone, that was the worst experience in my life. It is so important to have a doctor who can listen and discuss with you and work in team. A pregnancy is a very intimate experience, you want a dr you will be very comfortable with and not left feeling anxious/insecure. I'd really run away from this one.
ps: if you go for the C-section, if you find this interesting, you could ask the nurse to insert tissues/sponge in the vagina to gather the vaginal flora and paste in on the newborn right away. This is a new strategy some hospitals (prolly still very few) do for c-section babies to get in touch with the beneficial vaginal flora. I saw this in a documentary about the microbiome.
Wishing you and your baby well