if you tore significantly what position were you in? - Page 2

[Dot-to-Dot]

I was squatting with a squat bar on the hospital bed.  Doctor tried to slow me down and asked me if I wanted to lay on my side...but at the time I just wanted her out and squatting was doing the job quickly.  Unfortunately, the doctor thinks that's what led to the 4th degree tear.  Like a PP said, he did a great job stitching and I've had no complications.  I've had friends who has much lesser tears that didn't heal well, they've had to have surgery, still can't have sex 5 month post partum, pain, blood, fear with bowel movements!  It sounds awful!  I am shocked that my 4th degree tear seemed like no big deal compared to theirs. 

**Also, I have read many places that midwives see much more tearing with squatting and my doctor was right to try and encourage me to reposition and slow down.  I wish I'd listened.

[Lobeebee]

I know I am a late comer to this thread but if you read this, can you explain what your midwife meant about the squat women in Brazila nd China use, being different? Did she expplain how?

[GoBecGo]

Originally Posted by Lobeebee 

I know I am a late comer to this thread but if you read this, can you explain what your midwife meant about the squat women in Brazila nd China use, being different? Did she expplain how?

From what i understand, in China anyway people tend to squat with their feet completely flat (not on their toes) and quite close together and their knees closer together than in the west.  In the West you see people with their feet and knees pointing more out to the side so they look like a frog, in the East the knees and feet point forwards, more like a sitting dog or cat.  Make sense?  Don't know how easy it'd be to do with a big pregnant belly against the thighs though...

[Lobeebee]

Ah I think I know what you mean. I just tried them both with myself. I kept my feet flat on the floor with both squats. Feels like the "frog" way I was much more "out there" and stretched thinner down there . The cat/dog squat was easier to balance in (though frog wasn't bad). And you aren't as out there down there. It feels more supported.

I have no idea how you could be 9 months pregnant and do the cat/dog squat though ...no room for the belly.Maybe it's a modified cat/dog squat where you keep you feet still pointing forward ...?  I just tried it --cat/dog squat but with knees wider apart, imagining I was making room for a belly-- but with feet pointing forward. Felt a little more out there but not as much as when doing the "frog squat".

None of this is scientific but that's how these felt to me anyway!

Anyway thanks :)  I feel like I get it more now.

[onerunner]

I pushed in every position imaginable (posterior baby that didn't want to budge), but was in a side-lying position when he came out. I had a second degree perineal tear and a sulcus tear (that was the ouchy one), but baby also had a nuchal hand and the OB manually turned him, so I'm not sure which part of that disaster caused the tearing.

Whatever the cause was, the healing was FAR worse than the labor! I would have liked to have had a postpartum epidural for the first six weeks or so! :P

[mt_gooseberry]

I was on my back in the hospital with an epidural (which I finally requested after 24 hours of hard labor).  I only pushed through 4 contractions so the baby came out quite fast. I had a 2nd degree tear that was so ragged the OB lost count of the stitches and couldn't tell which edges to join, though by all accounts he did a good job.  To make matters worse, I overexerted myself those first few days and ended up ripping through the stitches and getting infected.  I am now expecting again and am terrified...this time I will be doing a water birth at a birth center with a midwife, and am researching positions and massage to prevent a recurrence.

[Katielady]

I was on hands and knees when pushed my daughter out and had a second degree tear requiring 6 stitches, a labial skidmark, and a smaller tear near my clitoris that was really painful as well. I attribute the tearing to my pushing too hard (VBAC, I've heard it's common for VBAC moms to push too hard because we're so eager to get that baby out!), lack of perineal support (my midwife arrived just as the head was starting to emerge), and the kicker, a nuchal arm (arm wrapped around her neck, not just a hand by her head). The recovery was pretty tough, it was several weeks before I could sit comfortably on any hard surface.