inguinal hernia and pregnancy

Which month of gestational period are you in? I don’t think I saw that information in your post. But if I missed it, then if you are too close to going into delivery, probably it is worth the wait.

One idea is to keep the IH surgery on the same date as delivery date. Immediately after surgery the IH surgeon can get into action and fix his work while Obgyn takes care of you. But sitting would be problem when you two surgeries and other things may cause delay in recovery. But if you are very healthy you can recover from both quickly. At least that’s my personal opinion. (I am not a medical practitioner or any kind BTW and all I say is with my IH surgery experience and please note, that I am a male. So everything I say can be plain wrong!)

IH surgery does not touch your internal organs or the blood stream in veins/arteries (to my knowledge) and just pushes the bulge up and supports it with a mesh (if you opt for mesh based surgery) or with nearby tissues if you opt for no mesh surgery. If you opt to go for surgery now, I know for a fact that it takes up to 6-8 weeks to start to feel normal after surgery. Related question – if you go for surgery before delivery, would you be able to withstand the pain that may be caused by the moving baby (called kicks, I guess) with IH sutures in place? A female can answer that question better. So obgyn is your choice to ask this question.

Having said that if you are just told that you are pregnant and are in 4/5th month, you may want to go now. Nobody can tell you exactly what you should do. You know your body better than anyone here and you should take the risks you can and are worth or see them fit. Even your doctor cannot tell you what you should do since it is your pain and not his/hers. If you ask a doctor he will only follow the historical facts. It is like asking if driving on highway is safe or not. People have problems and accidents on highways but 90% they are safe. So what should you do?

It is and should be your own decision. Sorry to be blunt but that’s how things stand. Think well and take time to decide. Do not jump quickly. As said and done in IH surgery, skill of the surgeon is the most important. Do not go for any one with a scalpel who claims to be a surgeon. If you go to a man with a hammer in hand, he is always looking for nails to drive. You know that adage. So choose a good IH surgeon and decide.

Good luck and come back to us to post your progress. All the best