Episiotomy fear - water birth or epidural?

[flippingstupidnickname]

I'm 39 weeks and having a sudden massive wobble. The reality of birth has hit and I can't sleep for anxiety over it.

I'm terrified I'll need an episiotomy as I had one last time (even though my DS was only 4lb ) and I'm certainly high risk as I was a serious horse rider and gymnast as a child/teenager.

My original plan was to have a water birth but I really don't feel it will make that much difference to the outcome. To be quite frank I'm scared of the pain of tearing and worried that it might be more of a likelihood if I'm in the water and the m/w can't keep an eye on my perenium.

I'm thinking I might just go for an epidural from the outset. At least then I could 'enjoy' the labour without the fear of the pain of tearing. I also feel that the m/w will be able to keep a better eye on my perenium and administer any necessary episiotomy with minimal fuss (ie not being dragged out of the pool etc)

Having said that, I 'enjoyed' my last labour and don't want to miss out on that again... any thoughts/ suggestions?

Try the water birth, my mum had to be cut with my sister and only had a slight tear with me. Try not to stress, it can induce labour and the mroe stressed you get the tenser your muscles will be and the more painful and more likely to tear you will be. When i was a teenager i used to ride ( as did mum) almost everyday in the holidays and twice a week. I was lucky that even though 23 i didnt tear and i was told that the younger you were the more likely it was. Try keeping moving, it helps with the pain, and wiggle your hips. I wnet through labour like that and my waters broke on the wednesday morning at about 9 am and i didnt give birth until friday morning at 7.32, and spent thursday shopping for carpet, a new bed and a playstation with my MIL. Relax, take it easy and talk about your fears. You cant change what might or might not happen, just enjoy the experience

i have had 5 babies, with no 1 i had an epidural and needed an episiotomy, with all the others i laboured naturally with just gas and air and didnt.

no 4 was 10lb 13oz! had him in a birth pool, no stitches required! i think the water really helped things soften and relax tbh, give it a go, if you dont like it you can get out.

Well, an epidural increases your chances of an instrumental, and instrumental deliveries generally need an episiotomy...

FWIW, I had an episiotomy with my first and a water birth with my second daughter. I did tear along the old scar tissue, but she shot out like a bullet out of a gun (and, it's a long story, but I was at home and the midwife hadn't arrived to keep an eye on me yet. I got it in the water to have a bit of a relax as I was finding early labour hard and, erm, well they speeded up quite a lot...).

Anyway, what i was going to say is that I found the healing from a second degree tear after the water birth a lot, lot easier to get over than the epi. TMI alert, but it actually appears to have, arm, improved that area.

I had a 2nd degree tear with my first, and needed 5 stitches. With my 2nd I had a water birth, I still tore (but he was quite big and came out rather quickly) but I only needed 3 stitches, so it wasn't as bad.
I actually asked if I needed an episiotomy with my first, but the midwife said "if you tear, you tear" I think the theory was they didn't know if I'd tear or not, but I'd definitely need stitching if I had an episiotomy, and apparently tears heal better.

I didn't realise I'd torn with either of them, and both have healed well.

I've never wanted an epidural, the idea of not being in control freaks me out, so I can't advise on that. However I highly recommend a water birth. It was very relaxing, helped with the pain loads and was actually quite an enjoyable experience.

I had an epidural with DD. Ended up with forceps and an episiotomy which extended into a 3rd degree tear. This time I am considering hiring a pool.

Thanks so much everyone, these stories are really giving me the confidence to go for a water birth (although I have to admit I'm completely freaked out by the thought of floating poo - possibly to the same extent as my fear of epesiotomy )

I also didn't realise that tears are generally better to heal than cuts...

secondtimelucky - PMSL at it improving the area - believe it or not that's how I felt after my epesiotomy finally healed properly

Ugh, why can't I spell this morning?? Clearly I mean episiotomy !

Because it's so blooming early?. In that vein, my post should clearly have said 'erm', not 'arm'. Hate autocorrect on this computer...

I had an episiotomy with dd1 despite not needing one and was absolutely terrified of having another. I put it in my birthplan the 2nd time and underlined it. The MW was very kind and took note despite ds being a whopping 9lb 2 i didn't have one, i did tear which i didn't feel at all, the MW said after that it is possible they would have considered one with ds as he came out with his hand on his ear but she said that because of my note they hadn't so worth writing.

In answer to your question, it was the epidural that required me to have a episiotomy the first time as i needed an assisted delivery because i didn't no when to push, i'm going for a water birth this time.

consider a hypnobirthing cd too, it has really helped me with alot of my anxieties amazone will deliver the maggie howell one the next day and you can use them in the hospital.