When most mothers are hit by the fact that they are expectant, they tend to be happy and start preparations to deliver their babies. Aside from the happiness of expecting a child, most mothers also experience anxiety regarding labor. The prospect of vaginal tearing during childbirth can be scary.
However, there are practices that expectant mothers can carry out to help prevent the tearing of the vagina. Various reasons that could lead to vaginal tear are when the baby’s head is too big to pass through the vagina or the mother’s perineum fails to stretch enough for the baby’s head to pass through comfortably. In this case an obstetrician does a surgical cut on the perineum and the posterior part of the vaginal wall to create more space for passage of the baby. This process is known as episiotomy.
The space between the vagina and the anus is known as the perineum and is crucial during childbirth since it is responsible for stretching to create room for passage of the baby during birth. The perineum should be elastic to reduce the risk of an episiotomy.
How Do You Apply It?
When getting ready for a vaginal massage, the first step is to take a warm shower, which helps the blood vessels in the perineal area to dilate properly and stimulate flow of blood around the area. Secondly, ensure your hands are clean to avoid infections on your vaginal area. You should then find a comfortable position where the massage can be done well and effectively.
The perineal massage gel helps soothe the skin and muscles around the perineum to allow for stretching. It also helps ensure that the perineal tissues stay hydrated for more elasticity.
Put some gel on your hands and rub the perineal area gently. This helps the gel get into the skin and muscles. After rubbing the perineum gently for some time, start exerting some pressure as your fingers explore the vaginal area. By applying pressure, focus and you will notice the stiff muscles. Insert you fingers or a perineal massage device. Inside your vagina, exert pressure in a downward manner to help the muscles to stretch. You should do this until you start feeling some pain or feel the perineum at its stretching limit. Repeat the process for around 10 minutes.
One may wonder which way is more effective between the use of fingers or the use of a vaginal dilatator but this depends on one’s preference. There is absolutely no harm in using either fingers or a dilatator.
Is it Important?
Is it really necessary to massage your perineum in preparation for childbirth? Well,here are some of the reasons why it is important.
Massaging the perineum helps soothe the muscles, making them more elastic. This will help reduce the risk of vaginal tearing during childbirth, which would require quite some time to heal after birth. Elastic muscles also help reduce the risk of the doctors performing an episiotomy.
Secondly, perineal massage gets the tissues ready for child delivery by increasing the blood flow around the area which makes the muscles stretch out easily without pain when giving birth. The massage also reduces the need for stitches after giving birth since the tissues are elastic. This practice is crucial for those who have had surgery before. It also improves the mothers’ mentality about child birth and gets her mind ready for giving birth.
When Should This Be Done?
The massage should be done during the third trimester of the pregnancy, that is, between the twenty-eighth and fortieth weeks of pregnancy. Ideally, it should start thirty-four weeks into the pregnancy. In a case where the expectant mothers’ stomach is really big, she will definitely need the help of her partner. However, nowadays there are specially designed devices that help the mother reach the perineum comfortably without having to be extra-flexible, which would probably be hectic work for the mother. This practice should be done at least three to four times a week and should take around 10 minutes.
Conclusion
As much as perineal massage is an effective method to prepare for child birth, there are other less-effective methods to reduce the risk of perineal tearing. These practices include using a warm pack around the perineum to relax it and make it more elastic.
Another method to prevent vaginal tearing is checking on the positions in which one is using when giving birth. One can consider giving birth in an upright posture or when lying on their side to avoid straining the perineal muscles which would lead to tearing. The body also prepares itself for child birth by producing hormones that make the perineum softer and enable it to stretch well during child birth.
However, massaging of the perineum is considered the most effective way to prepare the expectant mothers for child birth.
