"Give me a cut over a tear any day!"

[minkajane]

I've seen this sentiment several times (not here, of course). Usually, the woman insists that she would definitely rather be cut than tear. I've even seen birth plans that ask for an episiotomy if there is a chance of tearing. One woman even demanded that her doctor give her one!

I don't get this at all. Is it a fear of the idea of your skin ripping? Is it a belief that episiotomies prevent worse tearing? Is it the idea of the "nice, clean cut"?

[Calidris]

I would say it's the power of advertising.
We read al lthe time how episiotomies protect us from tearing.
If they protect us, obviously the thing they are protecting us from must be worse, right?


(please note the sarcasm )

[DreamsInDigital]

I have no idea, but it doesn't make any sense. Sometimes an episiotomy will tear further creating a much bigger trauma than would have happened in the first place. That happened to me with the birth of my first son and it ended up being a 3rd almost 4th degree trauma. Of course, the alternative they were offering me at the time was a c-section so I chose the episiotomy instead.

[Collinsky]

It's just a misconception that has been heavily promoted and widely accepted. I'm the total opposite - I'd wayyy rather tear than be cut. There are some bad-tear horror stories, sure, but it's just more consistent IMO that the longest-lasting problems come from epis.

[library lady]

I think this is a huge misconception based on advertising. I had the routine episiotomy in the hospital and ended up with an excrutiating 4th degree tear. I had tears with my homebirth but they were miniscule and healed just fine without intervention.

[BeccaSue1029]

I have had both, and would much rather tear on my own. I healed much better with my tear than with my episiotomies.

[frontierpsych]

I never got it either. I think the most common reason is thinking that a cut would heal easier than a tear (not true, generally), I think women are told that and it makes sense to them so they never question it.
I never understood the women who insist on an episiotomy, or the docs who do them on all FTMs. I didn't tear at all with my first, and she was 10 lbs! (and I am pretty petite) not all women tear giving birth, even ones with big, malpositioned babies!

[blessedwinter]

I've had both and would MUCH rather tear. Women just don't know how excruciating an episiotomy is to recover from, unless they've had one. My tears had virtually no recovery time.

[Rylins mama]

I dont know but I was scared to death of being cut and my dr. (a fill in) did it without even telling me. My husband watched and said he went from one hole all the way to the other (tmi I know). And mann could I feel it. It took him about 30 minutes to stitch me up and I could see just how far he cut me. There was NO way I needed that. I had been pushing for 10 minutes ON MY BACK when he decided to do this... no decline in heart rate or anything. The next push, her whole body came out cause I was so cut up. UGH makes me mad!

[SublimeBirthGirl]

Definitely ignorance.

[artemis80]

I've heard this about c-sections vs. vaginal birth. I had a third-degree tear (which, yeah, ouch) and my friend said, "I'm glad I had a c-section so I didn't end up with what my doctor calls the 'c-section down below' like that." The same doctor told her at. eight. weeks. that she was too small and the baby was too big for a normal birth.

[leerypolyp]

My favorite cut-vs.-tear example, from Ina May Gaskin herself:

Take a piece of white paper. Tear it in half slowly -- you should get a somewhat irregular edge. Take another piece, and cut it in half, getting a perfect straight line.

Which one is easier to match up correctly, therefore restoring it most closesly to its previous state?

[llamalluv]

I don't know about what other women experience, but when I went to the "child birth preparedness class" with my mother during her last pregnancy, the woman told everyone that it was better to get an episiotomy because it was easier to stich up, and that if you just tore, you could tear all the way through to your rectum, and it would be jagged and difficult to sew up, and it would REALLY HURT. So, if you insist on no episiotomy, make sure to get the epidural! But even if you don't, get the epidural!

My mother was the ONLY woman in the group that was NOT a first time mom. What do you think those young ladies did? :

Fortunately (hear the sarcasm....), my mother was induced three weeks too early so my sister was so small, she slid out without an episiotomy. Which is a whole 'nother in and of itself.

[Otterella]

Take a bedsheet. Hold it along one hemmed edge and try to tear it. Very difficult, unless you're reeeeeally strong. Now snip into it (episiotomy) and try again. Super easy to tear as far as you like.

[sapphire_chan]

I'll tell you one thing for sure, the women who say that aren't sewers.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by Calidris

I would say it's the power of advertising.
We read al lthe time how episiotomies protect us from tearing.

I don't remember where I read this, but some place described an episiotomy as "a guaranteed second degree tear done to avoid a possible first degree tear maybe extending into a third degree tear."

Mind you, considering coached pushing, I'd bet that doctors do see a lot more tearing.

[Jojo F.]

With DS I had a small epi and oh my goodness, it was the worst thing ever. My OB just did it, she didn't ask me or tell me It took forever to heal, F.O.R.E.V.E.R. This time I am going to demand no epi if I end up at the hospital (hopefully I get a HB

[tireesix]

Never had an epi but I do tear, last time from hole to hole, second degree, nearly third. It didn't hurt but I do remember the moment it happened, it kinda pinged and I felt the release and I thought 'dammit, I tore'.

I just have this weird feeling that a cut would hurt.

I would still rather tear than be cut any day, the repairs etc are a total PITA (I seem to always get 2nd degree tears fingers crossed for this upcoming birth that I don't get anything).

[Sailor]

From the perspective of someone who is TTC and has not given birth yet, I must admit - both possibilities are not very appealing to me. It's actually the only thing I'm truly scared of ... that I'll be the rare statistic who has some 4th degree tear, and is never the same again. (Yes, I read too many birth horror stories in my research.)

However, I'd trust my body to tear "correctly" than a doctor with scissors (or whatever they use) any day.

Plus, I'm hoping for a UC ... so no one will be around with scissors near my genital region anyway.

I can't ever imagine asking for it, though. I don't know how it could sound even remotely better than natural tearing.

[elanorh]

Their doctor told them that it was best. And they hear about it enough that they think it's normal.

My sister asked about episiotomies (FTM) a couple months before she gave birth (on email). My mom reassured her that they don't always happen, but sometimes the doctor needs too (! ) -- my RN mother who had seven babies, nursed us all, was the first to room-in ever at that hospital, and did NCB with all of us .... had several epis. Including, with her first, a lateral episiotomy.



So I responded and told sister to read the birth books she had, that episiotomies are no longer recommended and I didn't need one with either of mine, etc. etc. And my other sisters agreed (all having birthed more recently than mom ) ....

My sister ended up with an episiotomy. The doctor cranked the pit because she'd had ROM that morning and wasn't progressing fast enough - she went from 3 cm to 10 cm in 45 minutes and the doctor cut her during the delivery. She told her she needed to, or else she would tear, and that would be worse so she'd just give her a little snip.

My sister thought therefore that she needed it, and that it was perfectly normal. I think there is a lot of that out there. The doctor says it's necessary, therefore it must be.