A mother has revealed how she underwent a ‘vaginal facelift’ after she struggled with incontinence following the birth of her daughter.
Hairdresser Kirsty Spray, 45, who spent years longing for a child, was left distraught when she found she could not speak, laugh or lift up her daughter, Isabelle Missy, now two, for fear of wetting herself.
She said: ‘It was horrible thinking, “if I go on the floor and play with Isabelle I will wet myself”. I was so embarrassed and worried all the time.’
To tackle the problem, Kirsty, of Camberley, Surrey, elected to have a non-surgical treatment known as a ‘FemiLift’, which uses lasers to repair damaged tissue and tighten the vagina.
The mother-of-one said the three 15-minute appointments, costing a total of £3,800, were ‘life-changing’ and mean she can now be the ‘mum she always wanted to be’.
Distressing: Hairdresser Kirsty Spray, 45, who spent years longing for a child, found herself struggling with incontinence following the birth of daughter Isabelle Missy, pictured, in 2015
Heartache: Kirsty and partner Paul Nash, 45, tried for years before welcoming their daughter
Kirsty and partner Paul Nash, 45, have suffered multiple heartaches in their struggle for a family, starting with when their son, Michael, was stillborn in April 2012. The couple later suffered two miscarriages and had to terminate a pregnancy, baby Poppy, in April 2014, after she was found to have a chromosome defect.
Kirsty said: ‘It was a long road to motherhood, a really awful time for us. Even when I was pregnant with Isabelle, at every scan I was worried the doctors were going to tell me I had lost her.
‘I never thought we would have a baby and feared that Isabelle would not survive.’
Difficult: Following the birth, Kirsty could not pick up Isabelle for fear of wetting herself
Life-changing: Kirsty, pictured with Isabelle, said the ‘vaginal facelift’ has helped the problem
In November 2016, Kirsty was induced and was given an episiotomy – where a cut is made between the anus and the vagina, to make it wider – before forceps were used to deliver Isabelle because doctors were concerned with her low oxygen levels.
However Kirsty soon noticed the impact the birth had had on her body.
She continued: ‘The day after she was born, I tried to go to the bathroom, but walking there I didn’t even make it to the toilet.
‘I was sent home that afternoon, so had a catheter fitted, as incontinence is common after giving birth with forceps.’
Lasting effects: Medics used forceps to deliver Isabelle, pictured with mother Kirsty
After two weeks, Kirsty returned to the hospital to have the catheter removed but, back home with her baby girl, she discovered she could not even pick her up without wetting herself.
‘I was going through incontinence pads like no one’s business. It’s the last thing you want when you have just brought a beautiful child home,’ she explained.
‘I couldn’t even pick Isabelle up, because my pants ended up soaking wet. Going out with her was a struggle, as even picking up her pram would set me off.’
Kirsty could only sleep for four hours a night, before having to dash to the bathroom and could not exercise – something she did six times a week before falling pregnant – without having an accident.
‘It got to the point where I couldn’t speak, cough or laugh for fear or wetting myself. That meant even going out with my friends was off the table,’ she recalled.
‘I became paranoid, too, that I smelt of wee, and just knew I needed to do something.’
At the start of 2017 Kirsty began researching her symptoms.
She said: ‘I was not keen on surgical intervention, like a mesh, because of all the risks it held. But I came across something called a FemiLift.
‘Billed as a ‘vaginal facelift,’ I saw it was a non-surgical C02 laser treatment, taking only 15 minutes – less time than a lunch-break.
‘As far as I was concerned, I had nothing to lose. It was definitely worth a try.’
The procedure works by the doctor inserting a probe into the vagina, through which a CO2 laser is directed at the vaginal tissue.
The laser transfers light into heat energy, which stimulates collagen regeneration and thickens the skin of the vaginal wall.
After discussing the treatment with Paul, Kirsty contacted Courthouse Clinics in Marylebone, central London, and booked in for one of three appointments in February last year, costing a total of £3,785.
Now feeling like a new woman, Kirsty said: ‘Finally, I can truly be the mum I have always wanted to be. I can pick Isabelle, now two, up, play with her, push her in the swings in the park – it’s changed my life.’
Dr Kasia Brennan, medical health and wellness director at Courthouse Clinics, said: ‘This technology is a huge breakthrough.
‘We’re talking about total non-surgical stimulation of vaginal tissue to re-establish firmer tissue. It’s estimated that one in three women suffer with stress urinary incontinence, so this is potentially life changing.
‘So many of our patients have expressed interest in this treatment. The general consensus seems to be that this is something women have been waiting a long time for.’ For more information visit: www.courthouseclinics.com