Photo: Jeff Carlson
After the birth of her first child, Nadia Garofalo* was up all night, every night feeding her newborn daughter?and peeing. But even in the half-consciousness of baby fog, Garofalo sensed a disturbance in her nether regions. ?I honestly didn?t even want to look down there,? says the 39-year-old Torontonian. ?But when I took a mirror and stood over it, I saw what looked like a little pinkish bubble protruding out of me.? After her GP mistook the protrusion for her clitoris (really), Garofalo visited her gynecologist, who then referred her to a pelvic physiotherapist. ?It was minor, and only visible when I was standing,? says Garofalo. ?But I was still paranoid about it.?
Physiotherapist Kathleen Shortt conducted a brief internal examination on Garofalo, and later concluded she had suffered a mild, stage 1 uterine prolapse, where muscles and ligaments in her pelvis had overstretched during pregnancy and delivery, allowing the organs inside her pelvis to be pushed downward. ?I was devastated,? she says. ?I felt like my body was falling apart. I went online and saw all these Cronenberg-esque photos of women with prolapse and read forums about these poor women who are incontinent because of it, or who can?t have sex. I thought the absolute worst.? The ?absolute worst? is what most of us can?t help but fear when the very concept of pelvic organ prolapse is such a mystery. This invisible?yet crucial?network of muscles and ligaments supports our bladder, bowel...