Women Are Wounded Postpartum: The Statistics Nobody Talks About

Written by Jess Rosenberg, moode Founder. Reviewed June 2026.

Perineal bruising. Tearing. Stretching. Cutting. Stitching. Scar healing. Major blood loss. I did not understand any of this until it happened to me.

I remember standing in the shower after my first birth and not recognising my own body. I remember being told, weeks later, that the pain I was still in was probably just how things were now. I believed that for far longer than I should have. It took years, not weeks, to learn that what I was living with had a name, and that it was treatable. Nobody had given me permission to say it hurt.

Women are undoubtedly wounded postpartum. But somewhere along the way we felt we couldn't say ouch. Because postpartum pain is so common, we're told it's all normal. And so, we wear these major bodily traumas with a smile, and often in a cloud of silence.

I built moode out of that silence. And I still hear it, in almost every message I get from women who assumed their pain was just the deal.

How Common Is Postpartum Injury, Really?

According to Birth Trauma Australia, the scale of physical postpartum injury is staggering. 1 in 3 women identify their birth as traumatic. 1 in 4 first-time mothers suffer major physical damage during birth. Up to 90% of women experience tears to some extent during childbirth. Caesareans, which are major abdominal surgery, routinely result in pain lasting three to six months. More than 50% of women have some degree of pelvic organ prolapse.

These are not edge cases. These are the majority experience of birth in Australia. I think about this every time I see a mother who looks completely fine on the outside.

Why Do Women Wait Six Weeks for Any Postpartum Check?

Post birth, women wait six weeks before anyone formally checks in about their recovery. This gap in medical care, at the precise moment when women's bodies experience the most dramatic flux and change of any life stage, sets the stage for women to manage whatever is happening in their body entirely on their own. I remember counting down those six weeks myself, unsure whether what I was feeling was something to worry about or just Tuesday.

This is particularly problematic given that 94% of women report one or more health problems in the first six months postpartum, according to research published in BJOG. Many say they do not know who to turn to for help.

Why Does the Healthcare System Dismiss Women's Pain?

In a landmark 2011 report from the Institute of Medicine, a team of experts noted that women experiencing pain have faced not only severe physical suffering, but also misdiagnoses, delays in correct diagnosis, improper and unproven treatments, gender bias, stigma, neglect, dismissal and discrimination from the healthcare system. Among the reasons why: healthcare professionals not only lack education on how to deal with chronic pain, but also discount women's pain as emotional.

The same pattern plays out in postpartum care. Pain that is common is not the same as pain that is acceptable. The distinction matters enormously, and it matched exactly what I experienced. I was not diagnosed until years after my first birth, not because what I had was rare, but because nobody thought to look, and I did not know enough to ask.

Christina Clifford: Five Years to Get Help After Tearing at Birth

Artist and writer Christina Clifford notes that her vagina tore when she had her first child, but it took five years before she received the medical attention she needed. She is not the only one. Now, every time she sees a woman walking down the street with a newborn, all she can think is whether she has a traumatised vagina.

If you do, welcome to the club.

What Does Postpartum Physical Recovery Actually Involve?

Physical recovery after birth is rarely discussed before birth happens, and even more rarely discussed with adequate honesty after. The reality is that whether you birth vaginally or by caesarean, your body has been through something significant that requires real recovery time, real support, and real medical attention if something does not feel right.

For women experiencing postpartum sexual pain or difficulty, pelvic floor dysfunction or low libido, these are treatable conditions, not permanent states. See Postpartum Sex: What Nobody Tells You and What Actually Helps for more on what is common, what is not normal, and where to get specialist support.

For women navigating the care model question and who to see in the postpartum period, see Prenatal Care Options: Australia.

What I Wish I Had Known After My Own Birth

When I had my first baby, sex was not just uncomfortable. It was so painful I could not do it at all. For a long time I assumed that was simply how it was now, that this was the deal: you have a baby, sex hurts, you get on with it. Nobody told me otherwise, so I did not question it. It took far too long to discover that what I was experiencing had names, vaginismus and vulvodynia, and, crucially, that it was treatable. I was not broken, and I was not stuck with it. I just had not been given the information, or the permission, to ask for help. That experience is a big part of why moode exists.

What Does Your Body Need Nutritionally After Birth?

Physical healing from birth requires nutritional support that is rarely given attention. Iron, protein, zinc, vitamin C and B vitamins all support wound healing and tissue repair. For women who lost significant blood during birth, ferritin and iron levels are worth checking before they become a problem.

Where to Get Postpartum Support in Australia

We, the moode community, are built by the moody. The quiet sufferers, the warrior women who know we deserve better, and who are ready for the change.

If you are experiencing postpartum pain, pelvic floor issues, or struggling with your recovery, please advocate for yourself with your healthcare provider. A referral to a pelvic floor physiotherapist is one of the most consistently underutilised postpartum resources available. You do not have to wait for someone to offer it. You can ask.