Evidence and experience
What the evidence and two decades of surgical experience say about pelvic pain after childbirth.
Stretch injury to the pudendal nerve during delivery is well described. Pain that persists beyond the normal recovery period, particularly with burning or numbness, should be assessed as nerve pain.
Mothers are frequently told to wait. Waiting is reasonable for months, not for years.
A structured review can end that uncertainty quickly, one way or the other.
Dr Bollens is a professor of urology, a proctor in pelvic surgery and a published author on pudendal neuralgia.