# What should the exterior of the vagina look like after childbirth?



## mumstheway

Please thank you if you are reading this. I really want to get this out. I want to know if this is normal. I feel almost uncomfortable asking this, wondering, admitting...

After my first was born, it was really early in the morning (longer labor with my first we were up all night) and I had a first degree tear that was sutured. The midwife stitched me up quickly, and said there were a couple of small areas that didn't need stitching. I take it that meant I tore more than just in my perineum. The few stitches she used were in the perineum.

When the other midwife came postpartum to do a check she looked at my stitches. She said that I had like a small tongue coming out of my vagina and some skin tags. But, otherwise everything looked good.

However, I looked down there, and basically the whole area looks open. It's like you can't tell where the 'opening' is or what. It's just sort of open. Probably too much information, but the inside is tight from kegels, but it's like I can see directly into the vaginal mucosa. I can find tissue tags off to the top, right and left of the opening and of course the 'tongue' next to the perineum.

At first I thought that was normal. I've lived like this for a decade now. However, I happened to see a friend's equipment (cough) and hers looks like it has a defined opening. And, I can see some scar tissue where she had her episiotomy/stitches. Though the opening is a little bit larger than hers before childbirth but it still looks like it is an actual opening. I hope what I'm writing makes sense.

I can feel the area where the 'tongue--what they told me is vaginal mucosa' is hanging out and where it should have been sewn in place if I fold it inward.

I've had multiple other children since and not torn. The last midwife said she might 'try to fix it' if I tore at the last birth, but I did not tear. The midwives I talked to/asked about it basically didn't seem to think it was alltogether unheard of.

I'm wondering, is this a varaiation of normal? And, nope, none of my stitches had 'undone' that was how I was stitched. I feel like I may have opened up a can of worms by even asking. I wonder if the midwife should have stitched more than she should and made sure that all the edges came together correctly.

What should the exterior/entrance to the vagina look like after childbirth?


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## Mama_2_Boy

Plastic surgery has really become popular 'down there' for this very reason.
It has not happened to me (yet) but I can tell you from having conversations with some women that it changes ALOT. Others not so much. I don't think there is any one 'way' that it's supposed to look. One girl described it to me that her insides were now on the outside and that areas would hold water from the bath and fall out when she stood up because of a poor sewing job.
Sorry for the TMI.


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## CrunchyChristianMama

Mine looks vastly different from what it did pre-birth. The walls of my vagina that I can see when I'm squatted over a mirror looks like rough terrain now for lack of a better way to describe it. It used to be pretty smooth if I remember correctly, but not anymore. I don't worry about it though, I just add it to the list of things that changed about my body post-baby.


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## ShadowMoon

I think mine looks a bit more "open" but it didn't change dramatically either. (No tearing). However, I don't _really_ remember what it looked like pre-baby and I never expected it to be the same as before. I don't really think there is a wrong or right way for it to look as long as it's functioning properly. And remember, a baby came outta there


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## MaterPrimaePuellae

My fist thought when I read this thread title was "even more crazy and weird-looking than it did before."









Quote:


Originally Posted by *Evie's Mama* 
Mine looks vastly different from what it did pre-birth. *The walls of my vagina that I can see when I'm squatted over a mirror looks like rough terrain now for lack of a better way to describe it. It used to be pretty smooth if I remember correctly, but not anymore.* I don't worry about it though, I just add it to the list of things that changed about my body post-baby.

I think that's a pretty good description.
Is this a cosmetic issue for you or a functional issue? I think skin tags and roughening of tissue (whatever that is called) seem pretty standard, and as a PP has said, cosmetic surgery of the labia and vagina are not uncommon. I have a friend who had a very traumatic birth and had to have reconstructive surgery (removal of skin tags was a part of that), but I don't know many of the details.

I agree with Evie's Mama, though-- as long as everything down there is working properly, I'm not overly concerned with what it looks like. Genitals, IMO, aren't exactly "pretty" in even a pristine state


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## lillacfaerie

looking at my vagina 4 weeks after my baby was born is hands down the stupidest thing I have ever done! While it is plenty tight, the opening in much bigger than it used to be. I was so horrified that I called my doctor, she said "don't look at your vagina!". I thought for sure I had a prolapse. In fact, I was obsessed with my postpartum vagina. Wasted a lot of time thinking about it and worrying about it. But no,not a prolapse, just a mommy vagina. Basically while the inside can regain a lot of it's tone, the introitus usually doesn't fair so well. Whatever hymen you have when you give birth is obliterated, and you get a very open looking vagina. Also, scar tissue in the perineum will pull a little, making the opening seem bigger, if that makes any sense. You know how women who've had c sections say that they feel a pull in their abdomen? Well if you have a scar on your perineum it's the same deal. So, there nothing wrong with you mama, I promise!
BTW If you're squatting over a mirror it'll make your hooha look a lot bigger! That's why it's nice to give birth that way


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## josie423

Yours sounds like mine does. I've got tags, it looks kind of open and lumpy. It works fine - sex is fine and DH doesn't complain. It bothers me because it looks odd, but I think this is just how I'm going to look post-birth.


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## WindyCityMom

I think you're alright, unless it is painful or otherwise. I may be the odd one out as far as post birth vaginas go. I was pretty young when I birthed DD1. I tore pretty badly,up inside of the opening of my vagina and a tiny bit of my perenium. Mostly inside though. Sex was painful because of the scar tissue but with massage it got better. Everything looks and feels the same as prepreg, maybe the opening looks a TAD bigger but nothing dramatic. I was never a kegelaholic either.


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## nymdear

I am having this same problem

Only I am 6 months after birth and have two "tongue" like flaps hanging from the entry of my vagina. I cry just thinking about it because I think it looks so odd.

I hate being intimate because these "tongues' create friction that hurts and not to mention i just look weird down there.

My OB said NOTHING to me about these flaps.

So I feel like I have been left in the dark, wondering if I am disfigured or if I have a major abnormality after birth. I have had a million thoughts and questions but the biggest one of all is WHY DIDN'T ANY ONE SAY ANYTHING? or at least explain it.

Thank you for posting this because this is the closest I've come to getting an idea of what I'm dealing with.


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## LadyTai

nymdear - I was just searching online because, 5 months after having my baby, I just noticed the same thing; 2 flaps/"tongues" of skin down there that weren't before... / So...you're not alone.


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## Katie8681

When people start talking about pain with sex due to these kinds of issues, I start recommending they talk to a surgeon.


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