Has anyone tried the pelvic floor muscle exerciser EPI-NO?

[Alexa808]

www.epino.de/birth.htm

If any of you have, please tell me your experiences, both pre- and post-birth.

Does it really work? Midwives, doulas, doctors: do you recommend this?

I don't know about pre-birth. But post-birth, regular pelvic floor exercises are really just fine. A friend of mine is a physio specialising in pelvic floor work, and says gadgets aren't necessary.

NQC,

does the vagina ever go back to its initial form after birth? Got another thread on Dadsnet with this but am shamelessly taking advantage of your knowledge since your friend is a physio...

Many thanks.

OP is not about getting back into shape after birth. It's about stretching the perineum BEFORE birth so it won't tear.

Look at the link.

It's been recommended by my gyn in Germany. Don't know if it's worth spending the money on it.

But if it does indeed reduce the risk of tearing by 50%, I think it'd be great.

(Perineal massage only reduces it by 6% I heard.)

Hmm, I think age and pregnancy work their effects, making it hard to get things back into their original form. I haven't seen her for a while, but will ask when I do ...

The link talks about both pre-birth stretching and about post-birth shrinking, iyswim.

Yes, you can use it for bother. You'll have to push it out yourself, training the muscle to push and stretch when baby comes through.

Post-partum you put it in, tighten the muscles and see on a little scale how much pressure you have in your pelvic floor, gives you an idea if you're actually increasing it or not.

I would happily shell out for this if I thought it would work and prevent (bad) tearing. Have visions of 'balloon' flying out of fanjo, whizzing around room and deflating whilst making a farty noise though.... Sorry, don't mean to be flippant - would love to hear if anyone has any experience of it!

whinegums...hehe...

Interesting picture

Hi Alexa, I can imagine some poor v pregnant woman watching the thing shoot out in some confusion! Anyway, are you going to give this a go? I am doing as many pelvic floor exercises as I can possibly remember to do every day, and I'm doing the perineal massage thing every couple of days. That might be a bit early as I'm 26 weeks, but I reckon I can still reach my bits at the moment, and a quick rub with a bit of vit E oil ain't going to hurt!

Just received it and tried it out.

It's not big but you can really work your pelvic loor with it. You can measure the strength of your 'pushing'.

I suppose, if nothing else comes off it, my dp will have a laugh watching me do this

Will look into perineal massage later. For the time being, this EPI No is good as it gives me more control over the training and I've been quite a slouch so far...

You seem to be doing it all and are well prepared.

Good luck!

Hi again Alexa - keep me up to date with how it goes - when are you due? (And your DP WATCHING! Eeeek!!!!!!!) Good luck to you too!

Alexa - How did your birth go? Was Epi-NO effective in preventing a tear/episiotomy?

I'm shamelessly resurrecting this thread, in the hope that someone might say if they've used Epi-No and whether they think it helped them not tear or have an episiotomy.

I'm in 6th month of pregnancy and thinking of getting one.

CoteDAzur,
I have one and only just plucked up the courage to start using it this week. (38wks)

Just posted this on another thread, same subject - I really recommend the epi-no!

I know this is an old thread, but used an epi-no prior to having my baby in April 08. It works. I had a tiny tear, no need for stitches, and he was HUGE.

It really helps you to visualise the crowning and last few moments of delivery - very hard to do otherwise, and definitely not something your partner can help with. My sister used it for her second, and she had no tears at all - and my nephew was even bigger than my little boy.

She reported a certain amount of marital disharmony over the whole perinneal massage prior to her first, so was thrilled to be able to avoid it second time around. It is expensive, but from the prolonged discomfort experienced by friends who either had an epesiotomy, or a bad tear - very much worth it.

a tear or epesiotomy was the one thing I was worried about before birth, and I'm sure using the epi-no helped me to avoid it. DO IT!