The Instagram mum fighting to stop the stigma of pelvic floor collapse trends now
I’m the last person you could have imagined would be talking about this,’ says Helen Ledwick, from her home in leafy south Manchester.
‘I went to a Catholic school in Lancashire, so talking publicly about intimate health is not in my DNA. But the more I do it, the easier it gets — and it’s something we need to talk about.’
Helen, 44, a former BBC radio producer, is discussing the pelvic organ prolapse she experienced after the birth of her second child in 2015.
This is where organs within the pelvis slip down from their normal position and into the vagina, causing a heavy, bulging or dragging sensation. Although not life-threatening, prolapse can cause pain, sexual dysfunction and incontinence.
It is particularly common in mothers, because pregnancy and birth weaken the pelvic floor muscles. But menopause is also a trigger as hormonal changes can affect pelvic muscle elasticity and mass.
Helen Ledwick, 44, a former BBC radio producer, has revealed all on the pelvic organ prolapse she experienced after the birth of her second child in 2015
Helen believes a lack of knowledge, shame and stigma are the factors preventing women from recognising there is a problem and seeking help
New figures suggest that six in ten women are living with at least one symptom of poor pelvic floor health, such as urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse — yet 69 per cent have never mentioned these to an NHS professional, according to a recent survey by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG).
Helen believes a lack of knowledge among both the public and health professionals — as well as shame and stigma — is preventing women from recognising there is a problem and seeking help. She has now written a book, Why Mums Don’t Jump, to help break taboos around pelvic floor health and share advice from experts. This follows the success of her podcast of the same name, which tens of thousands have listened to.
Helen doesn’t recall ever being given advice on preventing a prolapse after giving birth in 2015, even though her risk was higher as she’d had a difficult birth, needing surgery for a severe perineal tear (damage to the tissue between the vaginal opening and anus).
‘I came away from hospital after the birth — and surgery — with no idea that straining, lifting and everyday exertion could damage my pelvic floor,’ says Helen.
Two weeks later, after lifting her older son, then a toddler, and straining on the loo, she suddenly felt an unpleasant sensation, like ‘sitting on a doorknob’.
She now knows this was the prolapse — ‘to think your insides are falling out is terrifying’, she says. ‘Despite it being my second birth, I had no idea prolapse was something that could happen.’
The RCOG has also called for better education on pelvic health.
‘Too few women are receiving information about pelvic floor health, or the risk factors,’ says Dr Ranee Thakar, president of the RCOG and a consultant urogynaecologist. ‘Many women either don’t know or are too embarrassed to ask for help for symptoms that may be having a real impact on their lives.’
Meanwhile, a lack of a standard national treatment pathway — which would direct GPs to refer all patients to specialists — means a postcode lottery for the women affected: while some may be referred to a gynaecologist or for physiotherapy, others may be told to wait to see if the prolapse gets better of its own accord.
While some minor prolapses may spontaneously resolve, most cases require medical treatment. Options include vaginal pessaries, which hold the organs up — or surgery to secure the organs in place.
However, as
