By Madeleine Engen, gynecologist and founder of CMedical women's health
I specialized in gynecology with special interest and expertise in vaginal prolapse because I was shocked at how many women are affected and suffer in silence. In everyday life, I meet women as young as 20 who live with depression, difficulty going to the bathroom or urge to urinate, a body that no longer functions after giving birth. They don't get help. Many go for years without getting a diagnosis, guidance or help.
"You just have to do some squeezing exercises", "Everything is normal here, you have given birth, this is what it looks like after giving birth"
These are words my patients have heard when they have asked for help, both from public and private healthcare services. Attitudes that reveal a serious knowledge gap in the healthcare system.
Vaginal prolapse is one of the most common and most overlooked birth defects.
According to the WHO, 36 percent of women who give birth vaginally have permanent sequelae. Nevertheless, there are many who are not taken seriously.
Vaginal prolapse, also called abdominal prolapse, occurs when the walls of the vagina, cervix or uterus sink and bulge in or out of the vaginal opening. The symptoms can vary depending on the injury, from pressure, a feeling of bulk, frequent urination, difficulty urinating or defecating, embarrassing sounds from the vagina or reduced sensation during intercourse. Pelvic floor training under expert guidance should be a minimum offer. But in many cases, surgery is the only way to recovery.
Warning about falling birth rates
In the media and from politicians, warnings are shouted about falling birth rates. Norway currently has one of the lowest fertility rates in Europe, and politicians sound the alarm that we are having far too few children to maintain the welfare society.
The reason for this decline is complex, but we cannot talk about birth rates without talking about women's health. Would a woman who is still walking around with untreated birth defects after her first birth even consider having her second or third child?
If we want to increase birth rates, we must take women's health before and after childbirth seriously. This involves equipping maternity and postnatal care, ensuring early diagnosis and treatment of birth defects, and raising competence in this area in the healthcare system.
For a number of years I myself was tormented without getting the right help for a woman's condition. I know what it's like to get wrong diagnoses and treatments that make things worse, how trust fails and a lot feels hopeless. Only after eight years did I meet health personnel with the right expertise in what was wrong with me, and then I recovered. I am not alone in this experience. It's simply not good enough.
If we really want more children in this country, shouldn't we start by taking care of those who actually give birth to the children? Before, during and after.