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A pelvic health doctor has exposed her own harrowing experiences with childbirth in warning other women about the cruel realities of labor — while urging people to better educate themselves on the ins and outs of their bodies.
Dr Teresa Irwin is a self-proclaimed “vaginacologist”—an expert in female pelvic dysfunction—but has also worked as a surgeon. Over the years, the US-based medical expert has noticed that patients’ health problems are often linked to a lack of education about how to treat their bodies.
So the good doctor takes now TikTok to share her knowledge with her 91,000 followers in a series of educational videos on everything from vaginal health to childbirth, with her followers regularly stunned by her shocking revelations.
In a recent clip, Dr. Irwin addressed the topic of birth and shared her own traumatic stories — including breaking her own water and breaking her tailbone, during separate births.
The medical expert started with the birth of her second child and explained that she had arrived at the hospital to deliver her baby – having been induced the day before.
A pelvic health doctor has exposed her own harrowing experiences with childbirth in a warning to other women about the cruel realities of labor
But when she arrived, she said her doctor refused to break her water, insisting that the labor should be “natural,” even though Dr. Irwin had already been induced and planned to get an epidural.
‘I had an old-fashioned obstetrician for my second and third deliveries,’ she explains.
‘I’m coming to the birth, I was induced the day before. And when [my obstetrician] checked me, he said I had a bulging bag of water.
“And I’m like, ‘Great, why don’t you break my bag of water.’ And he says, “Errr no, I want this labor to go smoothly.”
“I said, ‘Sure? First, I’m being induced, it’s not natural. Second, I’m having an epidural, it’s not natural. Why don’t you break my water bag?”
“He didn’t argue, he just left to see another patient.”
Frustrated by the Doctor’s lack of action, Doctor Irwin decided to take it upon herself to break her water.
“My husband was asleep and the nurse saw another patient, so I decided to take matters into my own hands or my fingers,” she recalls.
“So I opened my legs, reached into my vagina with my fingers and broke my bag of water. Guess what? Within an hour I was fully dilated [and] ready to push.’
Although her experiment worked, Dr. Irwin added, “Now I don’t recommend anyone else to do that.”
The mother said her first delivery was “by far” the most painful.
In a viral TikTok video, Dr. Teresa Irwin that she was forced to break her own water while giving birth to her second child – and broke her tailbone while giving birth to her third child
The US-based doctor shares for her advice and tips on health care, explaining that the majority of patients she sees have little knowledge about their own bodies
“I didn’t take any painkillers for the first eight hours of induction, which is much more painful than going into labor naturally,” Dr. Irwin told NeedToKnow.online.
In another video, the doctor talked about the birth of her third child – breaking her tailbone because her baby’s head was so big.
She said: ‘I was 5 cm and that’s kind of a magic number for me to break my waters.
“And I convinced my old-fashioned obstetrician to break my back water and guess what, within the hour I was fully dilated.
“Then I started pushing… We’re taught when we push to pretend we’re really, really constipated and you’re going to be a little more effective.
“And that’s why I kept that in mind, I’m really bothered by the constipation and push it out in one go.
‘Guess what? Because he has a big head, he broke my tailbone on the way out.’
After breaking her tailbone, she had to rest for six weeks.
The medical expert previously surprised her followers when she shared a video explaining why you should never pee in the shower
She said: ‘I was not the most docile patient and started training on the recumbent bike after two weeks.’
As for breaking her own waters? Interestingly, Dr. Irwin said it was a “relief.”
The doctor has gone viral before sharing socking facts about vaginal health.
Her top tips for improving vaginal health include drinking plenty of water, avoiding fragrance products, making sure the bladder is completely emptied, and doing regular pelvic floor exercises.
The medical expert previously surprised her followers when she shared a video explaining why you should never pee in the shower — noting that making this a regular habit will make your body associate the sound of running water with the need to pee. to pee. go to the bathroom.
“You don’t want to do it all the time because every time you hear the sound of water your bladder wants to pee — because it’s used to hearing the sound of the water in the shower,” she explained. .
“So if you wash your hands, do the dishes, your bladder will drool, so to speak, because it wants to pee.”