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Hello! My name is Jennifer. I am a mama to one beautiful little boy and am dedicated to helping women like you during their first trimester of pregnancy and beyond.
I find solutions for YOU and share them everyday here on this blog… (like this super helpful pregnancy journal and planner my readers are loving)
Childbirth is no simple matter and can accompany several bodily complications.
Your diet, exercise, and lifestyle all play a role in how your experience may play out.
With that being said, today I will go over numerous different strategies that you can implement into your pregnancy to help prevent tearing during childbirth.
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Let’s get into this.
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Eat a healthy diet specifically catered to pregnancy and exercise
Mommy Labor Nurse has a pregnancy cookbook that I recommend to all my readers.
It has tons of healthy recipes for every stage of pregnancy and even postpartum and specialty recipes for mamas who have conditions such as gestational diabetes.
You can check out the pregnancy cookbook by clicking here.
Tearing during pregnancy occurs due to the stretch placed on the vagina by the baby during childbirth.
The vagina does not always tear during childbirth, but it may.
This is why attention to your diet and exercise routine must be prioritized.
By optimizing your intake of water by at least 8 glasses per day, taking vitamin C and collagen you will help reduce your risk of tearing during childbirth.
These essential vitamins and minerals play a huge role in the structure and flexibility of your skin.
I really love Neocell Super Collagen+C Vitamins. As a first-time pregnant woman, I highly recommend these vitamins.
It’s the best brand to help reduce the risk of tearing during childbirth.
There is also a more affordable option like these that will get the job done too. You can check out the Neocell Super Collagen+C Vitamins by clicking here.
In addition, a gentle but consistent exercise routine must be implemented at least three days a week during the term of your pregnancy.
Exercise helps reduce your chances of tearing by not only increase the effectiveness of the vitamins and minerals but it also improves blood circulation, which can help to make the methods used to reduce tearing during labor and delivery more effectively.
Do your kegel exercises
Kegel exercises consist of simply contracting the muscle which you use to hold in your pee.
For those who have never heard of this exercise, you may think this is a little weird.
But nevertheless, kegel exercise is proven to help women during childbirth in many different ways such as – incontinence, faster pelvic floor muscle recovery and better control leading to a more relaxed pelvic floor muscle which in turn lowers the risk of tearing.
Practice perineal massage
The purpose of the perineal massage is to relax the vaginal walls and the vagina itself.
This massage actually loosens the vagina allowing it to stretch easier during childbirth – which leads to a lowered risk of tearing.
This method can be practiced during and up to the childbirth itself.
“First-time moms are at highest risk of having a tear that necessitates stitches, and in my experience, perineal massage can cut that risk in half,” says certified nurse-midwife Kim Trout, Ph.D.
So grab some of this, read a how-to article, and start massaging mama!
Get an epi-No
An epi-no is a medical tool used to slowly stretch out the vagina during childbirth.
Having one of these is very handy for those who aren’t lucky enough to make it to the hospital in time.
This piece of equipment might be expensive, but if you plan on having several kids, this tool may be seriously worth investing in.
You can find an epi-no on eBay.
Get in water
Laber in water, also known as water birth, is the practice of childbirth whilst the woman is sitting in water. It’s commonly known that when you are pregnant you love warm showers and baths, so much so that the relaxation effect that this has on you may actually help to loosen the vagina during childbirth.
In addition to the relaxation effects from the warm water, warm water actually helps to relax the skin naturally.
Breathe more while your pushing
During childbirth, a woman’s breathing rate will often lower due to the pain they experience alongside them trying to push the baby out.
This lowered breathing rate actually causes the body to tense up due to the un-relaxed state it’s in.
To reduce the risk of tearing during childbirth, it’s recommended that you control your breathing by breathing deeper and faster.
This will help you become more relaxed through each contraction which will help a lot during childbirth.
Use warm compresses
This is a great alternative to the water birth method. If the thought of having a baby in water makes you feel uncomfortable, a warm compress will do exactly the same job, just without the water.
As mentioned earlier, the warmth will actually relax you during childbirth alongside relaxing the skin and muscle making for more relaxed labor and delivery.
Using a heating pad like this one would be perfect for a warm compress.
Avoid an episiotomy
An episiotomy is a procedure that involves a surgical cut to the muscle of the perineal area.
This procedure is made with the intention to allow for more room for the baby to squeeze through – therefore leading to a lowered risk of vaginal tearing.
This procedure has been recently found to actually increase the risk of vaginal tearing and may actually cause more severe tears than as opposed to not having one at all.
This is now something that should be avoided.
Overview
There are many different strategies and prevention methods that can be applied to reduce the risk of tearing during childbirth.
As shown above, many of these coping strategies can be implemented into your pregnancy right now to help with a smoother delivery of your baby.
As long as all the above steps are applied and implemented, your risk of tearing and complications should be massively reduced.
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