Over the years of doula work, we’ve found that a common concern for some clients is tearing during childbirth.
Clients want assurances that they won’t tear.
It’s a valid concern.
Significant tearing can take months to heal completely and often have more complications. It can impact the way someone can take care of and comfort their baby.
So, how do we reduce the risk of tears?
Unfortunately, we start first by recognizing that some risk factors of tearing during childbirth are things we cannot change.
Ethnicity, anatomy, baby’s size, are all things we typically have very little control over.
There are things, however, that can reduce your risk of tearing. Here are 2 of the things you can try during your birth:
Pushing slowly and controlled during the time of birth (when baby is crowning) to allow the baby’s head to stretch.
Having a support person or your provider apply a warm compress to the perineum during pushing and at the time of delivery.
Even if you do everything “right” you still may find that you tear during childbirth, especially if you are giving birth for the first time. If you fall into this category, be gentle with yourself! It is estimated that 9/10 people will tear with their first vaginal delivery. Reach out to your RCD postpartum doula for helpful recovery tips and tricks for comfort measures!
