Please help! Tear in perineum/vaginal opening BEFORE birth... very painful... worried!

[Haleana]

Hi,

I'm 27 weeks pregnant and I noticed from the beginning of my pregnancy (this is my first), that my perineum gets rather sore every now and then. This has recently become rather bad and tonight I went to the toilet and my perineum split slightly, near to the vaginal opening. It bled a little and stung like mad!!

I'm currently suffering with constipation which is not unusual for me anyway as I suffer with IBS and was straining to go when the split happened.

Has anyone else suffered with this? I am really worried that when I actually come to giving birth, I'm not going to have a chance at a tear-free birth! Not if I'm struggling now!

Any ideas?

Haleana

is the split on the edge of the anus? or the vagina?

have you thought about perineal massage? or water birth?

It's from the vaginal opening almost all the way to the anus. Not very deep, but deep enough to be painful and bloody!

Have thought about perineal massage and would like a water birth but as I'm only 27 weeks I haven't really got to the stage of performing the massage.

I'd get this checked out either by your GP or midwife as it sounds horrid for you.
I know that constipation can lead to little splits around the anus, but am not sure why you would tear from the vagina outwards...

Sorry I can't offer more practical advice.

Hey anything's good!

I'm going to hospital for a swab tomorrow. Called the antenatal clinic who advised me to come in for a swab because the only thing they could think of which might cause my perineum to become so brittle and weak is an infection. Obviously we don't want that getting up to the baby.

I'll keep you posted but yeah you're right, it is pretty horrid for me!

Good luck with your swab - I hope it's easily treatable.

gosh that sounds really nasty, i hope that they can sort it out for you!
i think you can start perineal massage whenever you want to tbh, the more the better in fact.