# open vagina 6 weeks after childbirth



## freakedoutmama

Hi, I had my first baby 6 weeks ago. I was wanting to know at what point should I expect that my vagina to return to 'as close as normal' as it is going to get after childbirth? I am concerned that my vagina is very open (and much larger) and I can see right inside it even when I am standing (not just squatting) over a mirror. I also seem to get air into it quite easily, just by changing position when I am lying down, or when walking, and it also makes a bit of noise (eek!) I am doing kegals every time I breastfeed my daughter, but I assume this only assists tightening up the inside, not the opening?


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## iowaorganic

not really sure- and this is totally not natural probably- but taking estrogen cream helps things to feel much better at least. My old OB had me do that with my first two babies. Since then either I have become accustomed to it or something- but it isn't a problem now.


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## kawa kamuri

I never thought to look at my vulva or vaginal opening only six weeks post birth. It's really soon and nothing is the same or at its new normal quite yet. Perhaps your care provider can help?


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## BroodyWoodsgal

Honey, that tissue has just preformed miraculous feats...give it time. 

It will never go back to "what it was before" because "what it was before" no longer exists. But you will come to a point...maybe a few months from now, maybe a couple of years from now, when you will realize that it feels and looks really normal again!

Don't worry. What you are seeing/feeling sounds extremely normal for healing vagina/vulva. After my DD it was MANY months until things weren't COMPLETELY "weird" down there. After my son, it was TWO YEARS before I really felt like things were back to "normal"(and now, five months later, I'm expecting my next baby any day! Hahah).

So every pregnancy/woman is different. It WILL happen for you, though. Please be kind to your vagina, she has done something super wonderful for you and your child...give her a little time, she is amazing and will surprise you with how well she heals herself...but six weeks is not enough time to heal from what just happened down there!










Oh, and...hormones being applied to the skin kind of freak me out..so I would want to research that (safety, breastfeeding, etc) before trying it...that's just already such a crazy time for hormones, I would want to be very sure it was safe/good for me before trying it.


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## holly6737

Did you, by chance, have a second degree laceration during childbirth that was not stitched? A truly gaping vagina that persists is not normal. No, your vagina will never go back to the way it was before, but it should get pretty close. Kegels can help with this. However, if you have an actual gaping vagina, especially if this persists, I would get it looked at, personally, by a health care professional. If you have some sort of structural damage it might can be repaired and it might also be prudent to rule out any sort of rectocele, cystocele, etc. Are you having any incontinence issues?


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## linnea27

I agree with Holly, this sounds to me like an unrepaired second degree tear. I'd get checked out by a medical professional. Good luck!


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## BroodyWoodsgal

Having sustained a second degree tear before to the opening of my vagina, I cannot imagine that the OP could be confusing "openness" with a gaping wound that was "just never stitched up".

Everything about the way she describes this down to the air that sneaks in there when changing positions sounds extremely normal for some women. I do not have super lax muscles at all, but after one of my births it DID take that long for me not to be so "open" down there. I had the same problem...long after the tissue was healed where I tore, etc...it was just more open.

OP, if you think something is wrong or that this is not normal, it is ALWAYS better to ask about it then to "wait and see"..but seriously, what you are describing sounds super normal (for me and other people I've known both personally IRL and online). Don't worry, I think you will find that this gets better with time.


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## linnea27

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BroodyWoodsgal*
> 
> Having sustained a second degree tear before to the opening of my vagina, I cannot imagine that the OP could be confusing "openness" with a gaping wound that was "just never stitched up".


But the wound would no longer be gaping. With a second degree tear that was not sutured (or not sutured properly) it is possible for the skin to heal and the muscle to still be torn, which does result in a "gaping" of the vagina. It is also possible to have a tear repaired on the surface but the medical professional missed the tearing of the muscle (I have been told that at times it can be easy to miss because the muscle retracts) which would need to be corrected later surgically.


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## holly6737

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *linnea27*
> 
> But the wound would no longer be gaping. With a second degree tear that was not sutured (or not sutured properly) it is possible for the skin to heal and the muscle to still be torn, which does result in a "gaping" of the vagina. It is also possible to have a tear repaired on the surface but the medical professional missed the tearing of the muscle (I have been told that at times it can be easy to miss because the muscle retracts) which would need to be corrected later surgically.


Exactly.


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## BroodyWoodsgal

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *linnea27*
> 
> But the wound would no longer be gaping. With a second degree tear that was not sutured (or not sutured properly) it is possible for the skin to heal and the muscle to still be torn, which does result in a "gaping" of the vagina. It is also possible to have a tear repaired on the surface but the medical professional missed the tearing of the muscle (I have been told that at times it can be easy to miss because the muscle retracts) which would need to be corrected later surgically.


I know that all of this is possible...I'm saying, that is REALLY not what it sounds (to me) like this woman is experiencing.

I just don't think it's helpful to say that six weeks is way longer than normal for things to still be really open down there. For some women it REALLY IS normal.

OP: You didn't mention any tears at all...did you experience a tear of any kind during your birthing?


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