Erica’s Story: Bowel Incontinence, Birth Injury and Truth as Armour

Why Mums Don't Jump

Bowel incontinence, also known as faecal incontinence, is estimated to affect up to one in ten women after childbirth. More if you include those who can’t hold wind, which may sound trivial but can obviously be pretty mortifying. Severe tears in childbirth are a common cause; third and fourth degree tears - which affect the muscle around the anus.

In this episode, Helen is joined by Erica Macdonald - a listener who lives in Devon with her husband and three-year-old daughter. Erica was diagnosed with an anal injury - a severe tear - after her daughter was born and has been living with bowel incontinence ever since. She talks about the impact it's had on her life, her struggle to access support and her decision to take control of her own story:

'You know when you're pregnant and you wear a badge on the Tube? It's like me wearing a badge saying 'my bum doesn't work'. And I own that. For me it just works so much better.'

You can find out more about Sacral Nerve Stimulation here

You can find the MASIC foundation here

Listen to the Why Mums Don't Jump episode: Sara's Story here

NICE guidelines recommend that all women who have had a vaginal birth should be offered a post birth rectal examination. Find out more >