This post was most recently updated on July 25th, 2023
Overview
The postpartum vagina will have significant degrees of relaxation, depending on various factors. Pelvic floor muscle training can help you restore firmness.
Estrogen and relaxin are two hormones that play an important role in pregnancy and childbirth. Estrogens increase blood flow to the vagina, making vaginal tissue more elastic.
Relaxin helps muscles for relaxation. In addition, it also helps ligaments and pelvis joints loosen, creating space for babies.
Will postpartum vaginal return to normal?
It may take some time for your vagina to return to normal, so please be patient.
If you perform regular exercise, it will help to gain your size to normal faster.
The answer to this problem depends on the following factors:
Vaginal stretch after birth
Your vagina will relax when you push while being a mother. Not only the vagina but also the perineum (the area between the anus and the genitals) will also dilate. How much the vagina dilates, and whether you need an episiotomy will depend on many other factors.
The size of the vagina after giving birth depends on whether a delivery is usually performed by cesarean section
If you have a cesarean section, your vagina will dilate slightly. The vagina dilation depends on the time your baby’s head pushes down and stimulates the cervical opening. If you have decided to give birth, this expansion will increase.
Baby’s size
Baby’s size is an essential factor in determining how much the vaginal canal is stretched. The larger the baby, the more pressure will be need on the uterus and vagina.
Genetics
Genetic factors also affect vaginal dilation after birth. You may or may not be affected.
Exercise pelvic floor muscles
Pelvic floor muscle exercises play an important role in relaxing the muscles and tendons of the pelvis. This makes it easier to push and stretch. If you practice regularly, the vagina will loosen slowly to accommodate your baby. Otherwise, if loosening occurs quickly, it can lead to damage to the perineum. Pelvic floor muscle exercises also help to improve the tone of the muscles before birth.
Number of births
If you’ve had a baby before, the vagina is definitely loosened. At this point, when you are pregnant again, the vagina will continue to loosen. Each time your vaginal birth will relax a little more.
Tearing the perineum
If the perineum is not torn even though you gave birth through the vagina, chances of vaginal tissue being loosened are maximum.
A loosened vagina is very reasonable during childbirth. After birth, the vaginal tissue will also return to its original position. Vaginal tissue is elastic; it can expand and shrink quickly. However, a loose vaginal condition can last for a while, even though you and your husband are unaware of this. It will take some time for your vagina to return to a previous size. You can promote this by regularly doing pelvic floor muscle exercises.
If you do pelvic floor exercises after giving birth, your vagina will return to normal faster. These exercises help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. In the beginning, practice less but practice often. Practice 2–3 times a day, 2–3 minutes each time, then increase to 5 minutes. You will soon get familiar with these exercises if you perform daily.
Other factors
During delivery, the doctor uses medical devices such as forceps, abortion. Such devices are factors that affect vaginal dilatation.
