Perineal massage - anyone tried it?

[bloss]

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Hi Bloss,
How are you ???
If you have already had a first vaginal delivery than a perineal massage won't make any difference. I read a study done in Canadian hospitals on the subject as I was envisaging this myself. There is no more tears in women who do and women who don't do p. massages afther they have already had 1 vaginal delivery (there is a significant difference for those who have never had a vaginal delivery). It is also common not to tear as much the second time around. (This was my case and the midwife did explain to me that we usually tear because we deliver the body to quickly). Also if you plan to labour in water it will reduce significantly the risk of tears.
If you do go ahead with the massage, they are quite painful at the beginning and are recommended to be done for the last 6 weeks of pregnancy every day.... and it is suggested that it be done by someone else as it is VERY hard to reach as you seem to have notice.

By the way I met Lizzer in London... and we had a good laugh about GF !!!! To tease her, I had brought a copy of the book.

Bloss, I ripped and was cut with both of my big headed boys. The episiotomies were fine and I didn't wouldn't have even known they were doing them except for the fact that the doctors told me. The stitching up went well too, although I was quite grumpy by that point. Both times it healed nicely. I made sure to keep it extremely clean and this last time put some of the perineal gel from Green Baby on it after each cleaning.

I have to admit, I was terrified of having a c-section!

Hope all goes well!

Oh bah. That's what I get for not proofreading. The second sentence should read, ".. and I wouldn't even have known.."

Bloss - I was in such a hurry that I didn't read your message properly... so you have never had a vaginal delivery... it is worth a try to get your husband to do the massages....
Or what do you think of labouring in water ? Is that common in Australia ?
I had an episiotomy with DS and I used calendula tincture (spelling?) on the wound and took both calendula and arnica (pills) for a dew days and besides the soreness which is more to do with bruising the whole area, within 5 days I was fine. I am sure you will hear plenty of horror stories but there are loads of women (like me) who had no real problem. Let's face it the labour will be the hard bit. The episio or the tear will be painful after 4-5 days (and this is uncomfortable not really painful) from the stitches...
All my cousins (that's 6 women) have had episiotomies (they don't live in the UK but in 3 other countries) and none of them have had serious "issues" with it. Most of them have even had a second episiotomy (this is more common in other European countries).
What you want is to avoid is a big tear... a small tear will usually not be stiched up (mine was not with DD). To avoid big tears you will need to follow the instructions of the midwife - which is basically to pant as soon as the head is out to allow the baby to rotate and the shoulder to come out easily (with the next contraction). If you push to quickly the body is in the wrong position and you tear. Discuss it with your midwife, she may have something else to add...
I was also panicking a few weeks before my 2nd labour... it's completely normal. I took some rescue remedy and it did help me with the stress of the incoming labour.
Keep us posted !

When dd was born I had no choice but to have an episiotomy (forceps delivery), but ds was different - no intervention, I tore this time, apparently in exactly the same place as the episiotomy, the midwife gave me the choice of having stitches or not. My midwife told me that if you don't have stitches, the tear takes longer to heal, but heals better. So that's what I opted for, and she was right.

I was more scared of having stitches than actually giving birth. I made that exact point in my birth plan and the midwife was excellent in helping my fears.

I did have to have an episiotomy and quite frankly I felt nothing. Having read prior to giving birth that continuous running stitch is more comfortable and heals quicker, I insisted that I had that, instead of the traditional stitching. Again, my midwife was excellent - she couldn't do that type of stitching, but called in someone who could. I was stitched up beautifully and had no problems with my stitches at all. They caused me no discomfort, no pulling nothing.

I took a shallow bath each day with tea tree oil and lavender and when I had to wee I made sure that I slowly poured a jug water over my nether regions at the same time, so there was no stinging. I also used calendula cream to help with the healing and took arnica tablets to reduce the bruising.

Don't worry. Get yourself prepared and make sure your midwife knows your fears.

I had my ds on a Wednesday and we were out shopping on the Saturday!!

I too read this was a good idea and I was told to use something like Wheatgerm Oil. My partner massaged for me as I too found it difficult to reach with being as big as a house. I think it's best that if you do start this you keep it up daily so as to make any difference.
In then end mine was an emergency c-section so will never know if it was worth the effort until the next time ....!
I had also bought Arnica in a cream form to put on any tears, so this is sitting on the shelf for next time too! The Active Birth Centre also do a great package of herbs, specifically for if you tear, to put in the bath and they have a website and may deliver outside of UK, may be worth a try. I gave mine away!
Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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I tried perineal massage with my first (only!) pregnancy. I did it religiously every day for as long as I could bear to keep up the position (and yes, you do need to be a contortionist). I really had high hopes that it would help for me, but the very first thing the midwife told me when I got onto the delivery suite was that my perineum was very tight and I would be having an episiotomy whether I liked it or not. As it happened my baby got stuck and I had an emergency section, but as far as I am concerned, perineal massage just wasn't worth the time and effort. Maybe it's just the way I'm built, but I found it a complete waste of time.

I did masage with my ds and tore nonetheless but midwife did say she thought that massage was a good idea so perhaps it helps maybe not 100% but some - give it a go, its worth a try.

Bloss, I checked out a midwife website and opinion is very divided as to the benefits of perineal massage. There are those who believe it is great but there are also those who think that it can actually be detrimental as it leads to slight inflamation of the perineal tissues prior to labour and thus reduces the elasticity.
It was interesting to see someone comment that if you need stitching to ask for a continuous running stitch. This is what I had post my episio, and they pulled very tight, and my midwife commented afterwards that it was a shame I hadn't had the three layers stitched separately as they were much less likely to pull!
So now, I have been of absolutely no help whatsoever and probably just added to your confusion. It won't be any consolation to you but being 11 weeks away from delivery date myself, I am just as nervous.

I massaged my perineum with olive oil every day and the midwife even complimented me on it on how elastic it was. unfortunatly it didn't do me a blind bit of good as ds was in a hurry to get out (all that poking telling him to move out he finally took notice a week later) and so i had to be cut and stitched. The midwife felt it would have helped though.