Episiotomy.

Did you know that it is standard practice for many OB's to give episiotomies to first time mother's. Um, what the honk is an episiotomy, you ask? It is a cut in the perinuem, the tissue between the vagina and the rectum. This area of the female anatomy receives quite a bit of tension during childbirth, as the baby is passing through the vaginal opening. Don't you think you should have some say in when your privates are cut open? I think so too. So, here is some info on the procedure, so you can make an informed decision, which is what I am all about.


Advantages of episiotomy:
*Widen the vaginal outlet (necessary for quick delivery of baby if serious complications arise, and sometimes used with forceps and vacuum extractions)
*Prevent a tear upwards (towards the clitoris, we don't want that for sure)
*May prevent a larger tear....may. (The problem with this is, if you take a sheet of paper and pull on opposites edges the paper is extremely strong, however, if you make a tiny cut in the paper and then pull on the opposite ends, RIP, you have taken a pretty strong tissue, and weakened it.)
*Some people believe it is easier to repair than a tear (which may be true, however, an episiotomy cuts through fat, muscle, and blood vessels, while a tear goes with the grain of the muscle, and rarely tears through a blood vessel.)

Disadvantages
*More blood loss (because of likelihood of cutting through blood vessels)
*Creates a birth that is too quick for the baby
*Baby will not receive the affects of the Fetal Heimlich Manuever (a natural phenomenon, where the mother's intact perineum pushes on the baby's rib cage as it is being born, causing a natural Heimlich manuever to expel the contents of the baby's nose, mouth and throat, making routine suctioning unnecessary in most cases).
* High risk of bladder incontinence (Snissing...peeing when you sneeze, cough, laugh, etc)
*High risk of fecal incontinence (having a small bowel movement when you sneeze, cough, laugh, etc)
*Painful sex, and/or sexual dysfunction
*Can create a larger tear by weakening the tissue of the perineum.

Now there, you can decide if you are ok, or not, with your Doc cuttin' on your lady parts. It's your decision, be informed. If your Doc has an episiotomy rate above 10%, and you're not ok with routine perineal cutting, then I would...RUN. It is never too late to switch care providers. Never.

Nothing But Love For Ya -
Brianna