# Perineal Massage: How Rubbing The Right Way Makes A Big Difference In Birth



## applejuice (Oct 8, 2002)

Four children, four homebirths, no stitches, no problems. My midwife knew what she was doing, and I praise her for it!


----------



## cottonwood (Nov 20, 2001)

It may be that perineal massage is useful for certain things. For instance, breaking down scar tissue or familiarizing someone with sensations in that area. But it troubles me that it is still so widely recommended. By the same logic, we should all be stretching our vaginas in preparation for sexual penetration, yes? But we understand that what the body really needs in sex are the hormones of arousal which lubricate the vagina/vulva and make it stretchy. Likewise, the focus in birth should be on the importance of facilitating normal hormonal release that naturally do those things.

The idea that there is a benefit to pre-stretching is too closely related to the idea that in general women's bodies are inherently broken, not made correctly to manage this common, natural behavior of the body without injury. That's problematic. When we see a claim that 8 out of 10 women will experience a tear in delivery, shouldn't we be asking what is wrong with the birthing environment/practice, rather than what is wrong with her body?

But also, it's questionable that it's really doing what you think it's doing. Stretching skin doesn't make it more stretchy. Repetitive mechanical stretch increases extracellular collagenase activity in vaginal fibroblasts "Vaginal connective tissue fibroblasts are mechanosensitive with increased collagenase activity in the presence of stretch. This degradative behavior is inhibited in the presence of hormones. The data provide a mechanism by which events that induce vaginal stretch may lead to progression of pelvic organ prolapse, particularly, in the absence of hormones. Further studies are needed to determine whether these events lead to tissue with inferior mechanical properties." In other words, stretching without hormones degrades the tissue, i.e. makes it tougher.

Further, people tend to tense up when touched intimately by people with whom they are not normally intimate. This is counteractive to the purpose of relaxation and to the body releasing birthing hormones.

I could not locate the studies you reference - sources would be appreciated because there is something odd about those stats: 1 in 15 who do perineal massage do not need an episiotomy or stitches? So... 14 out of 15 do? Does that sound right to you?


----------



## cottonwood (Nov 20, 2001)

"Luckily, episiotomies are pretty rare nowadays, and are often only used if the baby needs to come out quickly." << This kind of statement creates a false sense of safety. It depends entirely on where you are. Episiotomies Still Common During Childbirth Despite Advice To Do Fewer "For example, in Los Angeles each of the six hospitals owned by AHMC Healthcare have continued to do episiotomies in more than 29 percent of vaginal births, according to state data. And two of the institutions - Garfield Medical Center in Monterey Park and Whittier Hospital Medical Center in the city of Whittier - have episiotomy rates close to 60 percent. Representatives of the chain and its hospitals didn't return repeated calls and emails requesting comment."


----------



## Cornyx (Jun 4, 2021)

That's an interesting fact about labor. Great share! My wife can't actually a hard time giving birth to her first son and I can't forget all the hard moments she had to endure in the hospital. I'm happy we are through it and we can finally enjoy our marriage and our sex life has become what it used to be in the past. Before having our kids we were experimenting with a lot of fetish activities, and one of my favorite ways to wear a cock cage all day at the office and sometimes even for days in a row. I'm going to buy a new one from Doctor Love Zinger Vibrating Cock Cage Clear - Lover Mart as we never experimented with a vibrating one!


----------

