any thoughts on perineal massage and epi-nos?

[bumpology]

I've heard about this device called an epi-no, which is supposed to stretch your birth canal and give you practice at pushing large objects out. Has anyone used one, and would you recommend it to prevent tearing?

Also, does perineal massage really work?

I bought an epi-no with DS, but to be honest it just ended up terrifying me. With hindsight, birth is a unique experience and your body (generally) responds in the right way - trying to expand to 10 cm when your body is not in that place is perhaps not the right thing to do? But I don't know. Also tried some perineal massage too, but ended up with a emergency c-section so I couldn't tell you if it did any good!!

I did perineal massage and ended up having an episiotomy because daughter got stuck and needed a ventouse. Bit of a waste of time for me but some may believe it helps. Agree that birth is unique and you just never know how it is going to be for you. Think i thought that i was doing something proactive but I won't be bothering this second time.

Thanks - very helpful comments, and I guess you might be right about just terrifying me before the actual event ;-)