What can you do to prevent from tearing while giving birth?

Question

also, after you give birth, does it affect your sex life because your vagina isnt as tight?

Answer 1

But I haven't got a vagina !!!

Answer 2

Warm water massage on the perineum helps to improve the elasticisty. And after giving birth try kegel exercises to tighten the vaginal muscles. But some of us get tighter after giving birth. If that happens to an extreme just invest in some KY til the muscles readjust.

Answer 3

to the person who said c-sections are unnnessecary. you are an idiot. in many cases they are required. my son would not be here if i hadnt had a c-section. in fact i wouldnt be here. my mom had one because of an incomptent cervix. i had one because my son was tangled in his cord many c-sections are do because of mutliples. to risky for a vaginal delivery. others are because of a breech baby, or the mother or babys health is at risk. get informed dont be stupid like the other answerer. i


in regards to your question.i dont think theres much you can do to prevent tearing other than listening to your doctors and nurses. they will do alll they can to prevent this. with my son i dilated to ten and pushed but couldnt deliver him as he was tangled in his cord. the first few times you have sex after you deliver will be painful much like when you lost your virginity. no you wont be as tight right away but try doing the kegal exercises they work great for this and restrengthing your bladder muscles good luck and congrats on the new baby coming

Answer 4

You can ask your doctor to help you from not tearing and also after you have a baby your stuff gets tight, I have 3 kids and another on the way and I have heard from a lot of men who said after their wives had a baby their wives felt like virgins again.

Watch baby stories on TLC and Discovery Health and you will see that doctors can keep you from tearing.

Answer 5

Do the Normal works in your home it will make free delevery. Dont Fear of it. When you give birth be relax and push your baby. Take care of your health. Be healthy. Sex will not be affected

Answer 6

Give your self a perineum masages prior to birth and in my case birth didn't affect my sex life after birth even when I had episiotomy(I had episiotomy because of vacuum extraction)

Answer 7

I have had 3 c-sections, but read that if you can get your hubby or significant other to massage the opening of the vagina for you with the knuckle of a finger it can help. It is also great foreplay! :)

Answer 8

Doc will perform a small incision 2 allow baby to come out without tearing you ..it will not hurt..and it doesnt affect your sex life

Answer 9

To prevent tearing during childbirth, your doctor will perform an episiotomy and cut your vagina with a pair of scissors. Just make sure you ask her/him to sew it up tight.

Answer 10

the doc will help you through this, he dosent want you to tear either so just make sure you listen to him and the nurses in labor room. as for being tight after, there is exercises you do afterwards to strengthen and tighten your muscles in that area. i just cant remember what u call them! anyways all this will be explained to you after you have the baby, god bless.

Answer 11

DO NOT let your doc to an episiotomy (cut your perineum) on you unless you or the baby are in danger! Cuts are typically WORSE than tears and take longer to heal. A cut is certain to involve both skin and muscle (making it take longer to heal), while a tear may be superficial and involve only the skin.

There is absolutely NO REASON to EVER consent to an episiotomy as a "routine procedure" even though some docs still hold the archaic belief that ALL first time moms NEED to be cut.

Think of it this way.....
If you have a whole piece of fabric and you try to rip it apart, it's difficult to do. If you take scissors and make a cut in it and try to tear it farther with your hands, it will now rip very easily. Your pelvic floor is the same way. If it is in tact, it is less likely to tear badly. If it does tear, it will mostly likely only be a small tear. If you let the doctor cut you, you weaken your perineum and make it more likely that it will then continue to tear along the spot where you were cut, extending into a larger tear. Most 4th degree tears (front to back) started out as an episiotomy.

It's quicker for a doctor to sew up a cut because it's a straight line and there's nothing to match up. If you do tear, it takes longer to get sewn up.....BUT it's also easier for the caregiver to match up the flesh to the exact spot where it belongs! (Think of putting together a jigsaw puzzle...pieces with unique shapes are easier to match together.)

To help avoid being cut, but sure to talk to your caregiver ahead of time about your wishes. Put it into your birthplan. Find out what your caregiver's thoughts about episiotomy are and what s/he will do to try to prevent you getting a tear. Find out what your caregiver's episiotomy rate is. (You'll find that midwives have lower rates of episiotomies than doctors.)

Eat a good diet. Moms who eat a wide variety of foods, are well hydrated and have good nutrition are more likely to have nice stretchy skin so less likely to tear.

Consider doing perineal massage prior to the birth. Talk to your caregiver about doing it for you during pushing. Also, talk to your caregiver about using warm compresses on your perineum during pushing.

Consider having a waterbirth. The warm water is very relaxing and can also help the perineum to stretch.

DO NOT PUSH FLAT ON YOUR BACK WITH YOUR FEET IN STIRRUPS. This increases your chances of tearing or "needing" to be cut. Squatting is a great position to push in as it allows your pelvis to open up the widest. Talk to your caregiver about being allowed to move around and change positions and choose your own position to push in. Go slow and listen to your own body's cues about when to push and when to rest. Give the baby time to move down on his own and that will give you more time to stretch.

If you do tear, you may not even know it until later. My first was born in a hospital with me in a semi-sitting positon in a bed. I had a second degree tear and didn't even know until my doula told me about it before the doc was going to sew me up. Since you are pushing against it, it's not always noticable when it happens.

My second and third were born in the water with midwives and I had no tearing at all. So....there is no truth to the old tale "once a tear always a tear" because with the right knowledge and support, you can avoid a tear.

Ask your nurse for ice packs in the hospital. Take maxi-pads and squirt witch hazel on them and freeze them for after the birth. You can wear them and they will help with any soreness on your bottom and help any tears heal. Use the squirt bottle that they give you to clean your bottom when you go to the bathroom. With the one tear I did get, I found that sitting on my Boppy pillow made me much more comfortable.

Hope that helps!