Giving birth with a Bartholin cyst

[Ooey]

Anyone have experience dealing with bartholin cysts during pregnancy/labor?

I' about 5 weeks along and I have a moderately large bartholin cyst on my lower labia that formed during postpartum healing after my DD was born 16 months ago. It has fluctuated in size but never gotten infected, currently it's about 1in. wide by 1.5in long (which is great considering it was the size of a golf ball for a while ) Anyway I'm not really into having it surgically drained by an OB, but I'm afraid that if I still have it when I give birth, it will pop during crowning and that would be really yucky, as well as an increased risk for tearing. I've been soaking it in warm baths but it doesn't seem to help much, after being there over a year I'm starting to doubt it will ever go away on it's own. Should I make a point to get rid of it before the end of my pregnancy? Or just leave it and let it do whatever it's going to do naturally? I really don't mind it that much but like I said I don't want it to become a problem during birth.

Any experience/advice would be greatly appreciated!

[BendMidwife]

You've had it for that long and it doesn't hurt at all? No warmth, no infection, but it hasn't gone away. Hmmmm. I'm always a bit hestitant to suggest messing with anything that isn't causing an obvious problem for fear that the "fixing" will make things worse. Did you have it definitely diagnosed as a Bartholin cyst?

Heck, if you're only 5 weeks along, there is a chance it could come back before you give birth, even if you do have it drained. You've tried warm baths, have you considered maybe a poultice with something drawing, like bentonite clay?

If it were me, I think I'd probably wait it out and see what it did during birth. If it pops on its own, it might be "yucky" but the healing process probably isn't going to be much different than if you had it drained.

Good luck!

[Paige, CPM]

I can tell you about my expereince...

I had twin cysts and I didn't even know it...until, one day (I think it was sex that caused it) the one on my left labia got angry and abscessed...it was big and painful. I did some research on line and figured out what it was. I went to see my folks at the local clinic, they wanted to drain it. I discussed drainage and word catheter placement but they didn't know about it... So, I went up to Boston that evening and got care at one of the big hospitals that knew the latest research. That research shows that if you just drain an abscessed bartholin cyst it will likely reoccur, so the catheter placement helps it to continue to drain and heal at the same time (along with a regimen of sitz baths). The catheter fell out a few days later (it should stay in at least a couple of weeks,if not 6, I can't remember). Then it re-abscessed and they scheduled surgery for me...a marsipulization of the gland. That has done the trick for the past 3 years. BTW, no need for antibiotics (unless you have an STD that has caused it and you need to get rid of that) as any infection that may be causing a flair up is only local to the cyst and systemic abx will not touch it...so it is a waist to expose your body to abx...you can read this on line.

I did ask at the time, since they were going to be down there, if they would get rid of the other cyst but they do not, unless there is something wrong, because it may never absecess...I dig that philosophy. But, like you, I was worried it would be an issue at birth. I had my son 9 months ago and it was a non issue...tissue stretched just fine and the cyst never got angry.

So, I wouldn't worry about it unless something comes up. And remember, all the hormones at the end of pregnancy soften up tissue...I am sure this is helpful to all that have bartholin cysts...it helps the vaginal tissue strech well at birth.

There is a lot of good info online, just type in bartholin cyst to a search engine....unfortunatly not anything I found (although I haven't looked recently) on the condition in pregnancy.

Best of luck to you!