A mother who suffered life-changing injuries during a traumatic birth has told how it took her 20 years to regain her health.
Jo Prance, from Surrey, was diagnosed with a minor perineal tear (damage to the tissue between the vaginal opening and the anus) during the birth of her son in 1998.
But doctors did not realize the severity of the tear or the extent of the injury, he said.
Ms Prance, now 48, has had to undergo 19 separate operations to help address the resulting urinary incontinence, severe pelvic pain and even pelvic organ prolapse.
Having lived a life “dictated by access to toilets” for two decades, Ms Prance (who was also forced to have an ostomy and mesh sling) is now fighting to remove the stigma of incontinence.
Jo Prance, from Surrey, was diagnosed with a minor perineal tear (damage to the tissue between the vaginal opening and the anus) after welcoming her son in 1998. But the severity of her tear and injury was not realised, she said.
Ms Prance, now 48, has had to undergo 19 separate operations to help address the resulting urinary incontinence, severe pelvic pain and even pelvic organ prolapse.
Having lived a life “dictated by access to toilets” for two decades, Ms Prance, who was also forced to have a stoma and mesh sling, is now fighting to remove the stigma of incontinence.
Recalling her 20-year ordeal, she said: “It has been a gruelling journey, physically challenging and mentally exhausting.
‘The personal cost of this injury has been immense.
‘I tried numerous medications and treatments for incontinence and had to irrigate my bowels daily.’
She added: ‘My son has practically grown up at the same time as these issues were being faced and I needed to have access to toilets.
‘On the way to school I had to stop several times (to go to the bathroom).
‘At work, some days I decided not to eat or drink because I was worried I might have a bowel problem.
‘It affected every area of my life and occupied my every move.
‘The bathrooms became everything and I carried a changing table for myself and my son.’
Incontinence was not the only problem caused by the tear; Ms Prance also had to deal with pelvic organ prolapse.
Prolapse occurs when organs located inside the pelvis slip from their normal position and, as a result, push on the tissue surrounding the vagina, causing a feeling of heaviness, bulging or dragging.
Although it is not life-threatening, it can cause pain, discomfort during sexual intercourse and can be another trigger for incontinence.
It is especially common in mothers, because pregnancy and childbirth weaken the pelvic floor muscles.
But menopause is also a trigger, as hormonal changes can affect the elasticity and mass of the pelvic muscles.
Figures suggest that around six in ten women live with at least one symptom of poor pelvic floor health, such as urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse.
However, 69 per cent have never mentioned these problems to an NHS professional, according to a survey by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG).
Treatment for prolapses varies depending on the severity and ranges from simple lifestyle choices, such as losing weight or quitting smoking, to surgery.
In 2000, Ms. Prance had a mesh sling inserted to support her bladder, which helped temporarily but later led to chronic pelvic pain, she said.
The pain became so intense that she was eventually forced to leave her fitness job with the NHS.
In 2000, Prance was fitted with a mesh sling to support her bladder, which helped temporarily but left her with pelvic pain that became chronic, she said. The pain was so severe she was also forced to give up her fitness job in the NHS. Pictured: Prance and her son at her graduation six months after her stoma surgery.
To mark 25 years since her original injury, Ms Prance also challenged herself to try 25 new things over the year to “start fresh”.
He added: “My body was a mess. There was a nerve in my leg that was affected by the net.
‘I had a couple of episodes where my leg wouldn’t work properly before I sought private help.
‘Sixteen years after I had the mesh inserted, I had it removed privately, which finally resolved the chronic pain.’
After opting for a colostomy (when one end of the colon is diverted through an opening in the abdomen and covered with a bag that collects stool), he said he began to get his life back.
“It was a turning point for me because it gave me back my freedom,” he added.
‘I am a very active and fit person, and every time I have had surgery I have had to start again from scratch.
“I feel like I’ve been rebuilt in some ways.”
‘I’ve had a lot of surgeries and with the pelvic floor maintenance I’m doing now, I’m trying to mitigate the need for more in the future.’
To mark 25 years since her original injury, Ms Prance also challenged herself to try 25 new things over the year to “start fresh”.
She said: ‘I spent years keeping fit but I wasn’t able to get into the positions I can now because I needed to go to the toilet.
‘A swimming club would have been impossible because it would have been conditioned by access to the baths.
‘My health is the best it has been in a long time. Six weeks after having the stoma fitted, I was back in the pool and have since also completed my training as a yoga teacher.
“I’m now getting back to my life that was on hold for so long.”
‘It’s important for me to share my story and help raise awareness because people just don’t talk about these things.
“I want people who are facing these problems to not hide and seek help.”
This comes just months after a damning report into the NHS maternity care “postcode lottery” also ruled that good care is “the exception rather than the rule”.
A long-awaited parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma, which She heard testimony from more than 1,300 women and discovered that pregnant women are being treated like a “piece of meat.”
At the time, then-Health Secretary Victoria Atkins called the testimony heard in the report “heartbreaking” and vowed to improve maternity care for “women during pregnancy, childbirth and the critical months that follow.”
In May, former Made in Chelsea star Louise Thompson also revealed she feared she would die after being denied a Caesarean and tearing her uterus while giving birth to her son Leo.
NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard also said the experiences described in the report were “simply not good enough”.
In May, Former Made in Chelsea star Louise Thompson has revealed she feared she would die after being denied a Caesarean section and tearing her uterus while giving birth to her son Leo.
In an exclusive extract from her book published by Mail+, the 34-year-old confessed she could barely look at her baby after his traumatic birth and her fiancé Ryan Libbey considered leaving her.
NHS Doctors Chelsea and Westminster Hospital They eventually ordered a C-section after discovering Leo’s head was trapped in her pelvis, she said.
Unbeknownst to her at the time, this had actually torn her uterus, causing her to bleed hard and lose three and a half litres of blood – more than three-quarters of the blood in her body.
Frontline midwives have previously warned that working in the NHS is like playing a “skewed game of Russian roulette” as there is a risk of harm or death to women in labour at any time, partly due to “dangerously” low staffing levels.
The CQC’s annual maternity survey, published in February, found that women’s experiences of care have deteriorated over the past five years, with staff shortages a key reason.
