Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Re-post: Tips for avoiding tearing and episiotomies

Things have been quiet in my corner of the blogosphere despite my having one or two posts in the works in my head.  I just haven't had a block of time to get them on "paper."  In the meantime, I thought I'd re-post and oldie but goodie from the early days of my blog since some of my newer readers might not have seen it and might find it helpful.  (Stay tuned for a post about waterbirth next.)

Giving birth for the first time was one of the most empowering experiences of my life. My water broke, my contractions started, everything progressed smoothly, and, less than six hours later, my baby girl was born. It was an ideal birth experience, except for one thing. That one thing made my next few weeks of recovery extremely painful. I tore. I really tore....

Read the rest of this post over at my new website!

6 comments:

Hilary said...

What worries me is that I've had two episiotomies with my last two births, and my midwife commented that it's not really likely I'll be able to give birth this time without that old scar tissue either tearing or an episiotomy . . . have you heard that before?

Lani said...

I did have a small tear with my second, and my midwife said it was right in the spot where I had scar tissue. It does seem that the scar tissue tears more easily. But despite having torn twice, I didn't tear the third time, so I don't think it's inevitable. I think spending time in a warm tub (like I did during my last two births) during labor helps the tissues stretch too. You'll do great, Hilary!

Lindsay said...

thank you for this! i had 3rd degree tearing plus an, (i think they called it level two, up and down), episiotomy. it SUCKED, and 9 months later i am still not really healed, I never want to go through that again, (doc said it was necessary to use the vacuum, i wish i had known then that getting upright or on my hands and knees would be a more effective way of pushing baby out!) thanks for sharing! Its good to know it isn't inevitable!

Anonymous said...

Hilary - I had episiotomies with my first two and had the same concern when I was pregnant with #3. I had a waterbirth on hands and knees and ended up with only two skid marks, which were in a different area than the scar tissue. I think the position coupled with following my body's cues instead of the traditional hospital pushing made all the difference.

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kami said...

this is so interesting and i can see that there are definitely things that will help to not tear. with my first, i had an epidural and was pushing (controlled pushing, of course!) on my back. i tore pretty badly with him - he was 7 lbs. 12 oz. with my daughter, it was a natural birth and i pushed on my hands and knees, and i pushed whenever i felt like it. she came so quickly, i could hardly control the urge to push, yet i hardly tore at all. just a tiny little "nick" that didn't even need stitching. i felt better within 2 days "down there." she weighed 8 lbs. 13 oz. i can see a direct correlation between pushing styles and tearing in my experience. all the more reason to go naturally and push in an upright position!