[liliesandliars]

Hi,

I had to share something that was brought up on another site. There's something called an Epi-No Delphine Plus that is used for training the perineum and pelvic floor muscles for childbirth. Basically it's a sillicone balloon that you pump up while it's inside your vagina, and it gradually stretches your perineum so that when it comes time for baby, there's a lesser chance of tearing. You use it in the three weeks prior to your due date.

Have any of you heard of this/used this? What do you think of it?

 

[crsta33]

That's very interesting. I'm not sure it's something I would use, but it's a much better idea than the gourd!

We used massage the first time around and although dd came barrelling out in about 5 minutes and weighed 8 lbs 3 oz, I only tore minimally. 1st degree and just a few stitches (I think 5).

I've just been wondering if we need to do massage again this time or if a tear is less likely b/c of the 1st birth.

Christa

 

[Queen of Cups]

I ended up with an episiotomy with DS (my mw very rarely does them, I'd been pushing for 2.5 hours and the tissue was not stretching, even with her trying to help, lots of lube, and about 10 different positions). anyway, I didn't do perineal massage prior to birth, and she highly reccomend that I do it this time. So, I think I'm going to start a few weeks before my due date, as DS came almost two weeks early. I soooo wish I'd done it last time.

 

[homemademomma]

GOOD NUTRITION is the number one factor in preventing tears.

also, slow grunty pushes as the head is crowning can help.

prenatal perineal stretching sutff has never been shown to decrease tearing, and some people actually think it increases tearing.

 

[Kavita]

I'd vote for good nutrition and a controlled delivery of the head. (Barring unusual circumstances.) Having the mom able to have her hands on the perineum as the baby is crowning can also help. The worst tears I've seen have actually been not with the huge heads, but with smaller babies, when the mom has pushed really hard and the baby has just come rocketing out!

I think if prenatal perineal "massage" floats yer boat, that's just fine, but having my husband stretch my perineum to the point where he can get a hand in isn't how I really want to spend my time!! (Basically it's fisting, to be totally frank.) The perineum will strech just fine with the baby at the time of birth in most cases, and I'd frankly rather have a small tear than traumatize and torture myself for weeks in advance of the birth!

 

[flapjack]

I thought I responded to this? Anyhow, look at positioning- more tears seem to happen in the lithotomy position than any other. Personally, I'd feel like an extra in a specialist adult film using one of those (they look like something Ann Summers would sell) but each to their own...

 

[Queen of Cups]

Quote:

Originally Posted by homemademomma GOOD NUTRITION is the number one factor in preventing tears. also, slow grunty pushes as the head is crowning can help. prenatal perineal stretching sutff has never been shown to decrease tearing, and some people actually think it increases tearing.

So if you have good-to-excellent nutrition throughout your pregnancy and don't stretch, you're just doomed?

 

[MamaFern]

my midwife gave me the handout on perenial massage and i did it a few times ( when i was pregnant with elwynn) but didnt really feel the need.. i drank a lot of RRL tea, which i know is amazing for toning the uturus, but not so sure about the perenium. anyways, when i started to push i was like " i didnt really do the massage" and my midwife laughed and said " its okay fern!" she did hot ginger compresses through the pushing process which felt sooo good.. and i didnt tear or even get skid marks.. so i guess we did something right. this time around im not worried, i figure if i stretched out once i will again, but i may do more massage and stretching down there as i know 2nd babies tend to come faster than first.

 

[cjbeach]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MamaFern my midwife gave me the handout on perenial massage and i did it a few times ( when i was pregnant with elwynn) but didnt really feel the need.. i drank a lot of RRL tea, which i know is amazing for toning the uturus, but not so sure about the perenium. anyways, when i started to push i was like " i didnt really do the massage" and my midwife laughed and said " its okay fern!" she did hot ginger compresses through the pushing process which felt sooo good.. and i didnt tear or even get skid marks.. so i guess we did something right. this time around im not worried, i figure if i stretched out once i will again, but i may do more massage and stretching down there as i know 2nd babies tend to come faster than first.

Sounds familiar. Actually my DH helped me with perineal massage using olive oil when I was 8 mos pg the first time. He's a good man huh? But I did have a slight tear anyway. With my 2nd baby I had skid marks, no tears. I think I'm stretched. But ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh how wonderful those hot compresses feel when you're pushing. Wow. Luckily I'm going on my 3rd MW birth so I've had this wonderful experience of warm compreses before. Oddly enough, maybe because I am the only person IRL I know who has used a MW, I'm the only person IRL who has ever mentioned warm compresses during pushing.

 

[MamaFern]

ive talked to lots of midwife assisted births who didnt do the compresses.. i wonder if its just a thing certain ones do.. it does feel nice though!

 

[HoneyTree]

So what is it about "good nutrition" that helps prevent tears? For example, if you have good nutrition, does that mean your body gets enough, say, vitamin E so that your skin is its most elastic? I know that most of us strive to eat well, but if I knew exactly which aspects of eating well were going to help the most, I could tailor my diet a bit better.

And, forgive me for asking, but what are skid marks? (I'm assuming we're not talking the middle-school-favorite poo-in-the-pants variety?)

 

[cjbeach]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeTheEarth So what is it about "good nutrition" that helps prevent tears? For example, if you have good nutrition, does that mean your body gets enough, say, vitamin E so that your skin is its most elastic? I know that most of us strive to eat well, but if I knew exactly which aspects of eating well were going to help the most, I could tailor my diet a bit better. And, forgive me for asking, but what are skid marks? (I'm assuming we're not talking the middle-school-favorite poo-in-the-pants variety?)

For me skid marks were the abrasions on my perineum that did not require stitching... I had 2 small raw areas where the surface skin had been sloughed off. They healed quickly.

 

[homemademomma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Queen of Cups So if you have good-to-excellent nutrition throughout your pregnancy and don't stretch, you're just doomed?

?? um, i dont think you understood my post. if you have good nutrition, you are almost guaranteed to stretch enough to not tear. and by good nutrition, i mean lots of fruits and veggies and essential fatty acids, which are found in fish, avocado, organic meat and dairy, flax, grapeseed oil, whole grains, olive oil, nuts. . . pretty much all healthy food.

i just looked at that website, and it seems kind of wierd. i dont know. . . .

 

[Queen of Cups]

I meant that last pregnancy I did have excellent nutrition - we eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies, lean meats, salmon, cook with olive oil... I gained 36 lbs total, gradually over the entire pregnancy and had hardly any stretch marks, so you would think that my skin is plenty elastic. And during delivery I didn't stretch, even with all the help the midwife could give before finally resorting to a episiotomy.

 

[Kavita]

I don't think nutrition is the only factor. Vitamin E, C, biflavanoids, etc., are good for tissue integrity, but sometimes there are just other considerations. There are no guarantees in birth, and that applies to the perineum too. Sometimes a birth where everything goes or is done "wrong" in terms of the perineum results in an intact perineum, and sometimes the woman and the midwife can do everything "right" and still have tearing or the need for an episiotomy. I don't think that either the birthing woman or the midwife should take too much credit for birthing over an intact perineum, or too much blame for a tear. There's just too many variables, and it's almost impossible to tease out what's responsible for either tearing or not tearing in any individual case.

The midwife who trained me had only done about 13 episiotomies in about 2500 births, but I remember her telling the story of one woman who she attended who had a really tough perineum that just wouldn't stretch at all, and she ended up doing an episiotomy. Later, after the birth, the midwife was discussing this with the woman (sort of trying to find out what was up with the perineum situation) and the woman told her that she had been a professional bull-rider!! Uh, yeah, THAT would toughen up your perineum right quick! :LOL