A very common question & valid concern: How do I prevent tearing?
Understanding the cause can greatly help you prevent unnecessary tears.
What causes tearing?
There are multiple factors and potential causes based on circumstance.
Severe 2nd, 3rd and 4th degree tears are often due to hands on assistance and surgical trauma during the pushing stage of birth. Ex: The use of finger carving, forceps & vacuum are common causes.
Understanding what a true emergency looks like helps you prevent unnecessary hands on assistance that may lead to tearing.
Common in hands off birth:
•Skid marks & abrasions.
Common causes of hands off skidmarks and abrasions:
A precipitous (fast) labor, malpositioned newborn, full term healhy baby, maternal positioning, pulling baby out before they naturally rotate.
How to prevent tearing?
•Breathe baby down slowly.
•Do not push between contractions.
•Avoid Purple pushing.
•Advocate against hands on assisted vaginal delivery and allow baby to rotate/decend on their own.
•Get educated on what a true emegency looks like and when assistance is truly needed to avoid unnecessary tears.
•Do not stress about perineal massage and stretching, your sacred yoni stretches naturally as baby decends, breathing baby down is key.
•Use a warm compress in the pushing phase if you feel led to.
•Remind your birth team not to stretch you or pull on baby as they are born.
•Advocate against finger carving.
•Labor and birth in water.
Learn all of your options and how to.advocate for your evidence based decisions in The Wombsisterhood online Birth Class.
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