Yahoo News 'Childbirth left me incontinent and needing 19 life-changing operations - it's taken me 20 years to get to where I am'
A scarred mum has opened up about her traumatic childbirth experience, which has taken her two gruelling decades to recover from.
Jo Price has been suffering from stress urinary incontinence, faecal incontinence, prolapse and severe pelvic pain for twenty years, and had to undergo 19 life-changing operations. The 48-year-old, who now lives with a stoma and had a mesh sling inserted to support her bladder, was originally told she had a minor perineal tear - but things turned out to be much worse.
From Surrey, Jo ended up quitting her NHS job and spending her parenting years being 'dictated by access to toilets'. Even a short walk to the school run became difficult, having to stop several times to use the loo. She says her harrowing journey has been 'physically challenging and mentally exhausting' - but she's refused to give up and is determined to help others in her situation.
"My son has pretty much grown up alongside these issues being dealt with, and me needing access to bathrooms," she said. "On the school run I'd have to stop various times [to use the bathroom]. At work, I might choose not to eat or drink some days because I was worried about having a problem with my bowel.
"It impacted every area of my life and occupied my every move. Toilets became everything and I was carrying around changing kit for myself, as well as my child."
Jo was also left struggling to walk from the mesh sling, which affected a nerve in her leg and left her body 'a mess'. "The problems escalated. I tried numerous medications and treatments for the incontinence, and had to irrigate my bowels daily," she explained. "I also had prolapses as a result of the childbirth injury and had a series of operations to try and fix this."
16 years later, she had it removed privately which helped relieve some of the pain. In 2019, following a slew of operations, she also opted to have a colostomy bag, which she describes a 'turning point' to reclaim her freedom.
"I'm a very fit and active person and each time I've had an operation I've had to start over again," she recalls. "I feel I have been rebuilt in a way."
To aid in her efforts, Jo has been using femfit, a pelvic floor training device which consists of a thin, flexible silicone sensor capable of visualising the activation of the pelvic floor muscles.
The sensor, created by Junofem, is temporarily inserted into the vagina for the duration of the pelvic floor exercising session – typically around 10-15 minutes.
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In fact, Jo's health has been repaired to the point where she is now prepping to climb Mount Kilimanjaro next year, alongside a group of women who also have stomas. They're raising funds for Chameleon Buddies, a charity that works with Kenyan women and girls with stomas following childbirth injuries.
To mark 25-years since her original injury, Jo has also started her own challenge of trying 25 new things over the next year. "I spent years keeping myself fit but not being able to put myself in the positions which I now can, because I’d need to go to the toilet," she added.
"A swimming club would have been impossible because it would have been dictated by access to toilets. My health is the best it's been in a long time. Six weeks after having my stoma fitted, I was back in the pool, and I've since completed my yoga teacher training too. I'm now picking up where my life was on pause for so long."
Jo encourages other women not to hide away but to 'seek help' if they're struggling with similar issues. "People just don't talk about these things," she says.
Did childbirth drastically change your life? Email liam.gilliver@reachplc.com to share your story
