Scared of tearing!

WanderingA · February 2013

I am giving birth at a birth center and one of my biggest fears about the whole labor and delivery is that I will tear and not have any drugs to numb me while I get stitched up!

I do plan on having a water birth and I have heard that this usually reduces the chances of tearing. Has anyone has experience with this?

tokenhoser · February 2013

Birth centres provide local freezing if you need stitches. It's not that bad.

Halen0804 · February 2013

I used Hypnobirthing and tore a little with DD. I had a topical anesthetic while getting stitched. I didn't feel anything, but I was also on such a "high" after giving birth and meeting my DD that I wasn't paying attention to anything happening down there.

erb82 · February 2013

I second degree tears with both deliveries, and they just gave me a local anesthetic after delivery before stitching me up. It wasn't pleasant but it was over fast and I was very distracted by my gorgeous babies!

oliversmommy32912 · February 2013

They give you a local while they stitch you. It's similar to being numbed at the dentist. You can feel tugging and pulling and while it is uncomfortable it is really not that big of a deal. It took them over an hour to stitch me up and it is really not that memorable. It is certainly nothing compared to giving birth!

LindseyJW · February 2013

rather than focus on how bad pain might be if you need stitches to repair a tear, better to study techniques that will help you avoid tearing in the first place!

become acquainted with the muscles and tissues you will expand during birth by doing perineal massage.

learn relaxation and breathing techniques that will help you relax the perineum and allow your baby's head to emerge slowly.

a slow birth (the actual birth of baby's head) is the best way to avoid tearing. when mom pushes and bears down hard, it forces the baby's head against potentially taught skin. when you allow your body to do the work, it takes longer, but the experience is worth it. you greatly reduce the likelihood of tearing when baby emerges only with your own natural expulsion reflex.

dosafyre · February 2013

I was super scared at first as well. It turned out to be pretty darn minor

My first I could feel the tear (felt like hot liquid)...second degree. My second I tore in the same spot again and while it stung a little more, it only needed a few stitched. Again...it wasn't anywhere near the drama I was fearing...whew!

9fraulein · February 2013

Me too, this is one of my biggest fears going into the whole labor thing. Thanks for the encouragement.

aylafsu88 · February 2013

erb82:
I second degree tears with both deliveries, and they just gave me a local anesthetic after delivery before stitching me up. It wasn't pleasant but it was over fast and I was very distracted by my gorgeous babies!

This. I had a internal second degree tear. It sucked but I did not notice it much because I was focused on LO.

brennarobbie · February 2013

The key is to go slow and to breathe!!

Look up something called "j-breathing" on you tube. There's an australian girl who talks about it...it's what I did to push little man out. The more you breathe during pushing (aka: not holding your breath to "bear down") the more relaxed everything stays down there. I did mother-directed pushing and j-breathing and it worked like a charm!

Good luck with everything! You will do a wonderful job and will meet your sweet baby before you know it! )

georgi611 · February 2013

I was terrified beforehand of tearing, and ended up having a 2nd degree tear. It wasn't that bad. I was so focused on the baby that I barely noticed, and even when I was being stitched up, I didn't really know she was doing it!

irishsweetheart83 · February 2013

your midwife can support your pelvic floor with her hand while you are in the pushing stage to reduce tearing. you can do perineal massage during your pregnancy here is some info on that-

https://www.midwife.org/ACNM/files/ccLibraryFiles/Filename/000000000656/Perineal Massage in Pregnancy.pdf

you can also help by eating jello, its super good for you and gives your skin great elasticity. healthy jello though not the junk with dyes n such heres a page with a good recipe-

https://mamanatural.com/how-to-make-healthy-jello/#more-2985

hope this is helpful also talk to your midwife about your fears of tearing and she should be able to ease your mind. they use local anesthetic to repair tears. so it feels like they are lightly tugging on your skin but it is not painful.

LindseyJW · February 2013

brennarobbie:
Look up something called "j-breathing" on you tube. There's an australian girl who talks about it...it's what I did to push little man out. The more you breathe during pushing (aka: not holding your breath to "bear down") the more relaxed everything stays down there. I did mother-directed pushing and j-breathing and it worked like a charm!

this is a HypnoBirthing breathing technique! it works very well! practice it on the toilet while having a BM.

tokenhoser · February 2013

I would also say to go on spinningbabies.com and start their daily exercises early.

My tear was a result of the position of my baby. No amount of breathing, slow pushing (I pushed for an hour and a half, with a LOT of time with DS's head right at the edge of emerging), or preparation ahead of time was getting that baby out without a tear. Most people with an OP baby seem to end up with a vaccuum/forceps extraction. My focus this time is to try to encourage proper positioning.

virginiagirl11 · February 2013

Have your Dr./MW do perineal massages. That helped me and I only needed a couple of stitches. As pp's said, it's one of the less memorable parts of my birthing experience. If you do tear, they'll give you a local anesthetic and stitch you up and you probably won't notice very much because, holy crap, you just gave birth to a human.

Also, I've read that tearing naturally is better than getting an episiotomy, so if something's gotta give, natural tearing is the way to go.

potbellypig · February 2013

I had a water birth and DID NOT TEAR!!!!!

BUT, I pushed for three hours. I went so slow on purpose, so that my tissues had a chance to stretch out. My midwife also used her hand to stretch the perineum. Best desicion ever, even though it was hard to hold back at times.

FYI, I was so confused as to why it stung to pee after the birth, I figured it wouldn't because I didn't tear. I did get "micro-tears", basically like little paper cuts/stretch marks, and they hurt terribly (IMO). I think everyone gets that.

Good luck, I think I was as excited about not tearing as I was about successfully having my natural birth.

bluefirekitten · February 2013

Originally, I was scared to death of tearing & prayed that it wouldn't happen, but it did. I had 2nd degree tearing with DS (completely natural birth). They just gave me a local anesthetic during the stitching. All the adrenaline running through me helped me to not really notice what my OB was doing, plus I was distracted by DS crying & wanted to make sure he was okay first. Oh! And, actually, I had no idea I tore until my OB mentioned she would have to give me stitches.

A37licia · February 2013

Can you talk with your midwives about tearing, and about what positions they encourage to reduce tearing? You could ask if they give lidocaine (sp) to numb before suturing. I had that at my homebirth, and the pinch was very unpleasant but I didn't feel much of the suturing.

Want a personalized experience?

Scared of tearing!

Re: Scared of tearing!

Choose Another Board

Search Boards