5 Simple Secrets to Prevent Tearing During Labor
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Congrats, Momma! You have a bundle of joy on the way that will be here before you know it. I don’t care if this is your first or your seventh; during pregnancy, every momma is going to experience some worry over the potential of vaginal tearing (perineal lacerations).
I’ve been there. Twice now, I’ve gone through pregnancy surrounded by strangers who were compelled to tell me the horror stories of their deliveries. I then spent the remainder of my pregnancy terrified of what would come for me. Twice now, I’ve also had absolutely perfect natural deliveries (check out this post on my keys to a successful natural delivery) with zero tearing!
In this blog post, I want to share my 5 secrets so that you can go into your delivery with confidence and minimize your potential for tearing. I’ll be covering:
How I delivered two babies with zero perineal tearing
What exactly is a perineum?
Degrees of perineal tears
What causes perineal tearing
5 secrets to minimize the risk of tearing
The importance of starting early
So, if you have a fear of perineal tearing during your upcoming delivery and you want to know what you can start doing today to minimize that risk, then you are in the right place! After you read this, you can put those fears behind you and start taking action immediately.
How I delivered two babies with zero perineal tearing
When I got pregnant with my first child, a strange thing happened. It seemed like the moment my belly made an appearance, people--even strangers-- suddenly felt not only comfortable but almost obligated to tell me all about their horrible labor and delivery experiences and how they couldn’t sit down for two weeks because of their vaginal tearing. If that wasn’t terrifying enough, I already had deep-seated fear surrounding my upcoming labor and delivery experience because my mom and sister both labored at the hospital for over 24 hours and ended up having emergency c-sections. So, there I was, at the start of my third trimester, rapidly regretting my decision to have children.
Obviously, I was already committed to that decision, so I decided that instead of spending my last trimester in fear, I was going to do some research, make an active decision to have a beautiful delivery (read my secrets to a successful natural delivery), and do anything I could to minimize my chances of vaginal tearing. I got to work researching more about labor and delivery as well as perineal tearing. I took action on the knowledge I gained and made a plan that I implemented for the remainder of my pregnancy.
A few months later I was at the hospital getting ready to deliver my sweet bundle of joy. I had labored at home as long as possible, had been laboring at the hospital for a couple of hours and it was finally time to start pushing. The doctor came in and suggested that we do an episiotomy because he was certain that I would tear due to scar tissue I had from a previous injury.
Good Lord, I had done all this prep work to minimize tearing and the doctor is going to do an episiotomy anyway?? Well, at this point I was agreeable because if the alternative was certain tearing, I didn’t want that. The doctor turned to grab a shot to numb the area and when he turned back, it was too late, I was ready to push and so was my baby. The doctor didn’t end up doing the episiotomy and we just continued on as normal. Shortly after, I was officially a momma with my baby on my chest and the doctor exclaimed that he was pleasantly surprised because there were no perineal tears, just a few “skid marks” so there would be no need to stitch me up. Let me repeat that. The same doctor that had just told me an episiotomy was necessary because he was certain that I would tear, just shared that I didn’t have any tearing at all. Nothing. Nada. Zip.
I was over the moon to have this gift from God in my arms and didn’t give it much thought. It wasn’t until a few days later when I was reflecting on my delivery that it dawned on me. My efforts had paid off! My labor and delivery prep did the trick and I successfully made it through labor and delivery exactly as I had imagined it and avoided tearing completely.
Fast forward 2 years and I’m pregnant with baby #2 and all of a sudden, the fear of tearing starts creeping back up. Because the doctor was certain I would tear the first time, I started doubting the effectiveness of my efforts from the first baby and assumed that this time, that doctor was going to be right. Regardless, I went back to my tried and true secrets for the last trimester of my pregnancy. I have now successfully delivered my second baby and once again came out on the other side with ZERO tearing. I no longer think it is a coincidence. My research and commitment paid off and now I want to share that information with you.
What exactly is the perineum?
Technically, the female perineum is referring to the anatomical region that could be represented by a diamond shape where the top point is the urethra, the bottom point is your anus and the side points are your inner thighs. This region contains structures that support the urogenital and gastrointestinal systems – and therefore, it plays an important role in functions such as: micturition, defecation, sexual intercourse, and childbirth.
The diamond shape that was just described can be divided into two triangles by drawing a line right at the bottom of the vagina. It is this area right between the vagina and rectum that we refer to in perineal stretching in preparation for labor. It is also the area where your doctor will likely tell you to focus your pushing during delivery.
Degrees of perineal tears
A vaginal tear (perineal laceration) refers to any damage to the tissues and/or muscles around the vagina and rectum during childbirth. The tear is categorized into degrees of 1 through 4 based on the severity of the tear. A first-degree tear is considered the least severe while a fourth-degree is considered the most severe.
First-degree: A first-degree tear is a small injury involving the first layer of tissue around the vagina and perineal area. This damage is comparable to a paper cut and, therefore, does not typically require any medical treatment and will heal on its own within a couple of days.
Second-degree: A second-degree tear is the most common severity of tear seen in childbirth. It involves a deeper laceration affecting the tissue and muscle of the vagina and perineum. A second-degree tear typically requires some stitches to aid in the healing process.
Third-degree: A third-degree tear extends from your vagina to your anus. This type of tear involves injury to the skin and muscular tissue of the perineal area, as well as damage to the anal sphincter muscles. These muscles control your bowel movements.
Fourth-degree: This is the least common type of tear during childbirth. Extending from the vagina, through the perineal area and anal sphincter muscles, and into the rectum, this injury is the most severe type of tear.
What causes perineal tearing
The most common factors attributing to vaginal tearing include:
Being your first delivery
The baby is face-up during delivery
The use of forceps or a vacuum during delivery
A large baby (>8lbs)
A previous episiotomy
A rapid delivery, therefore not giving the vaginal tissues enough time to thin out
While these are the most common reasons for tearing, the secrets I’m about to share can help counteract all of them outside of having a large baby or a previous episiotomy.
Even if it’s your first delivery, you can prepare your body and avoid tearing. Some of the secrets are about getting the baby in a good laboring position, which will minimize the chances of delivering a baby face up. All of the secrets address getting your body prepared for delivery, which, in turn, reduces the chances of needing forceps or vacuuming during delivery.
5 secrets to minimize the risk of tearing
Let’s get to the good stuff. What are these secrets to minimize tearing delivery? Below are my five secrets to success. Please keep in mind that I am not a medical professional. I do not know your exact situation or medical history and I cannot guarantee that you will not experience any tearing if you follow each of my secrets. What I can promise you is that I completed enough research to feel comfortable and confident with these methods and they were highly effective for me. I believe that if you commit to following through with these same secrets to success, you too will be able to minimize your chances of tearing during delivery.
Preparing Your Body For a Good Delivery and Making Sure Baby is in a Good Position
A major factor that will contribute to your chances of tearing is if you have prepared both your own body and your baby for the big day. The idea is that if you set your body up for success, you will hopefully spend less time and force on the pushing aspect of your labor. Less time + less force = decreased risk of tearing.
Due to a lack of availability in my community, I decided to take a course to become a certified Lamaze instructor. In doing so, I learned some very important things about how our bodies deal with delivery. One important reminder that was reiterated throughout the course was that our bodies have been perfectly designed to handle pregnancy as well as labor and delivery. This is great news of course, but there are a few things we should be doing to assist our body with that natural process. For me this list included:
Practicing prenatal yoga throughout my pregnancy
Being adjusted by a chiropractor throughout my pregnancy and including the day I went into labor
Developing a positive mindset
Prenatal massages throughout pregnancy
Claraderm Cooling Mist during last trimester (see below)
From 36 weeks on:
Perineal stretching and sex (see below)
4-6 cups of red raspberry leaf tea per day
Eat 6 dates a day
Nipple stimulation/hand expression of milk
Walking 30 minutes per day
The miles circuit
Acupuncture
Below I’m going to share more on the two body prep items that absolutely contributed to my success in avoiding vaginal tears. If you want to know more about the other items on my list and more information on how those things will prepare your body and baby for a better delivery, read this blog post.
Perineal Stretching | Having Sex
Perineal stretching is probably something you have already heard of. If you are like most mommas I know, you are probably thinking “Ummm, no thank you”. I get it. It sounds daunting, awkward, and not exactly arousing. But, if it can prevent your odds of tearing, isn’t it worth a try?
I believe that most of the hesitancy around perineal stretching is really just a result of a lack of education on how to complete the stretching properly. Besides not knowing how to complete the stretches, it isn’t something that people talk about often, contributing to the awkwardness. However, let’s debunk that right now. It’s going to decrease your chances of tearing, so let’s talk about it, let’s get you informed on how to do it, and let’s throw your hesitations out the window.
A study was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology that reported that ⅔ of women that required perineal repair after delivery had stretched the perineal length by 150% or greater during the labor process. This study uses these findings to propose that doctors could use the perineal length during the second phase of labor to determine whether or not to complete an episiotomy. Since our purpose is to avoid both natural tearing as well as an episiotomy, I think that we should be using this information to conclude that if you properly complete perineal stretching during pregnancy, you will be able to decrease the amount of stretching that will be required during labor, therefore decreasing your odds of naturally tearing or receiving an episiotomy. Those odds are enough for me to get past the awkwardness of doing perineal stretching!
When you read the directions on how to properly complete the perineal stretching you will read that you will hold the stretch until the area begins to go numb. You will probably be thinking, but Momma Nae, that sounds like it’s going to be really uncomfortable. Sure, it’s slightly uncomfortable, but I have a strong feeling it is far less uncomfortable than tearing and dealing with the healing process postpartum while you are also exhausted from labor, dealing with a flood of hormones, trying to get your milk supply established, your body is trying to repair a wound the size of a dinner plate (yes, that is the size of the wound where your placenta detaches) and most importantly, you are trying to cuddle and enjoy your new babe. So, just do it… Because Momma Said So!!
If completing your daily perineal stretching is just not going to happen, then I strongly encourage you to continue having sex until the very end of your pregnancy (unless your health provider has directed you not to or your water has already broken). As my midwife explained to me, having sex helps stretch the same muscles as perineal stretching. Besides comparable stretching, there are additional benefits of having intercourse. Semen contains prostaglandins, which will aid in softening the cervix and can cause your uterus to contract. Your orgasm may also initiate contractions, and will most certainly release oxytocin. Oxytocin is the natural form of Pitocin. If you aren’t familiar, Pitocin is a synthetic hormone that is often used at the hospital to induce or progress labor.
Ideally, you will be completing perineal stretching AND having sex, but if you just can’t get on board with perineal stretching, at least commit to having sex.
Pelvic Floor Exercises
Equally important to your success story will be completing pelvic floor exercises. Strengthening these muscles will benefit you before, during, and after your delivery. A strong pelvic floor will be able to better support you as your body grows and has the additional weight of your baby leading up to delivery. During labor, a toned pelvic floor is better equipped for the labor and delivery process and is less likely to experience injury. Finally, fit muscles will be able to heal faster postpartum.
When most people think of pelvic floor exercises, they immediately think of kegels. Kegels are great and are something that you should be doing, but there are many other exercises that you can do that will also strengthen your pelvic floor. I completed prenatal yoga throughout my pregnancy which incorporated pelvic floor exercises, but there are plenty of exercises that can be completed at home. For some great ideas of how to get started, check out these links:
Birthing Position
The position that you end up laboring in can also impact your likelihood of tearing. Lying on your back with your legs held up or in a semi-reclining position both tend to direct pressure toward your tailbone and perineum, which increases your likelihood of tearing.
There are many different birthing positions and as you labor you will have to decide which one is right for you at the moment. Even as your labor progresses, you might notice that one position is more soothing than the other. However, when you are moving around and determining which position you will be in next, remember that the following positions are considered the least stressful on the perineum:
On all fours
Leaning forward in a supported standing, kneeling, or sitting position
Side-lying
If you find yourself squatting or kneeling, be mindful that having your knees spread widely apart can cause the perineum to be stretched sideways, which may increase the risk of tearing.
My first child was delivered traditionally at a hospital with me in a reclined position with my knees held up. The second was delivered at a birthing center in a warm bath. While I would certainly opt into a water birth for future deliveries and believe that there were many benefits of the water birth, I didn’t tear in either birthing position. I believe that I was able to birth in an unfavorable position the first time and still avoid tearing because of all of the other efforts I made throughout my pregnancy.
The Golden Ticket: Young Living ClaraDerm Cooling Spray
Pay attention, because what I am about to share next is what I believe is truly the golden ticket to my success. I avoided tearing with my first delivery even though I was in an unfavorable labor position and had vaginal scar tissue from my vagina to my anus from a previous injury (all reasons that I should have torn). While I believe that the whole combination of efforts was essential to my success, ClaraDerm Cooling Spray is the main thing I believe allowed me to avoid tearing when my doctor was certain that I would.
I am a big believer in natural remedies and have used essential oils to treat the majority of our household ailments since 2013. So, when someone in the essential oil community had recommended ClaraDerm Spray to minimize tearing, I absolutely wanted to learn more.
What I discovered is that ClaraDerm Spray is an essential oil blend that is made up of myrrh, tea tree, lavender, frankincense, Roman chamomile, and coconut oil designed to soothe and refresh skin. Let’s break down what each of these ingredients can do for you and why that makes it a perfect blend to minimize tearing and lead to a speedy postpartum recovery.
Myrrh
Myrrh has been a highly desirable item since before it was brought as a gift to the baby Jesus. It is used all around the world for various purposes, but, most relevant to this post, it has been used to cure chapped/cracked skin, inflammation, hemorrhoids, and wounds in general.
Tea Tree
The leaves of the melaleuca tree (or tea tree) have been used for centuries by the Aborigines to heal cuts, wounds, and skin infections. With twelve times the antiseptic power of phenol, it has strong immune-building properties. Tea tree has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-infectious, antiviral, and analgesic properties making it great for wounds.
Lavender
Lavender is one of my go-to oils because of its variety of properties. Some of its properties that make it a great contribution to the blend include being analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-infectious, and antimicrobial.
Frankincense
Another gift that the Wisemen brought to Jesus, frankincense also has healing properties such as being anti-infectious and anti-inflammatory.
Roman Chamomile
Chamomile was nicknamed the ‘plant’s physician’ because it supposedly cured any ailing plant placed near it. Similarly, its anti-infectious and anti-inflammatory properties have been used to aid in the healing of wounds, diaper rash bruises, cuts, and many other ailments. It has been said to increase the skin’s ability to regenerate.
As you can see, the oils that make up the ClaraDerm blend are packed full of properties to prepare the area for the delivery process and a quick recovery thereafter. Even with all of this great information, I was a little hesitant to make the purchase because of the price tag. With all of the expenses surrounding a newborn, I wasn’t positive I wanted to spend $90 on a little bottle of an essential oil blend that I didn’t even know would work. Then, I thought about the potential of tearing and not being able to sit down comfortably for two weeks while trying to nurse a newborn and decided it was worth trying. I am so glad that I did.
So how do you use this magical bottle to minimize tearing?
Once you have entered the third trimester of your pregnancy, each day, give your southern region (yes, I’m talking about your vagina/ perineal area) a quick spray and carry on with your day. It’s that simple. Just a spray each day (or every other day… I certainly wasn’t rigid about it being done daily) will allow the oils to sink into your skin and help prepare your vaginal tissue for delivery.
I didn’t realize that the ClaraDerm cooling spray ritual was the “golden ticket” in my routine until after delivery. My first baby was born at 4:27 am. We had some time to ourselves and then we had visitors throughout the day. By the time visiting hours were over, we were exhausted. This was also the first time I took a second to evaluate myself and I realized that my vaginal/perineal area was quite sore, inflamed, and uncomfortable when sitting upright and I had some burning when I used the restroom (a result of urine coming in contact with the “paper cut” like skid marks). Of course, I was tired and wanted rest, but I tossed and turned because I felt uncomfortable down there. In my postpartum stupor, I remembered that I had packed my ClaraDerm Cooling Mist. I grabbed it out of my hospital bag and gave myself a spray and headed to bed. When I woke up in the morning I was pleasantly surprised to find that overnight the ClaraDerm had reduced the swelling, the overall pain and discomfort, and the burning when I went to the restroom was practically gone! Amazed by the overnight transformation, I gave myself another spray. By the time we were discharged that afternoon, I walked out of the hospital feeling 90% back to my normal self as far as my vaginal tissues were concerned. I climbed into our car and sat upright with zero discomforts. There was no need for padsicles, no need for dermoplast spray, no more peri bottle. In fact, I didn’t need a single item from my postpartum care kit that I had prepared as far as pain management goes. I couldn’t believe it! Based on how quickly this little miracle spray revitalized my vaginal tissues postpartum, it was obvious to me that it was also a major contributor in preparing my vaginal tissues and perineal area for delivery.
When my second pregnancy came around, I still had enough of the ClaraDerm Cooling Mist that I didn’t have to buy more and was able to use it throughout my third trimester and postpartum. I also saved myself the time and money that I had spent on my postpartum care kit.
Was the $90 worth it? Absolutely!
If I had known how effective it was the first time, the $90 spray would have been covered by the money saved by skipping the postpartum care kit.
So, order yours today and when you are making your list of last-minute items you need to add to your hospital/birthing center bag (read my post on hospital bag essentials), be sure this is a priority!
Get your Golden Ticket today!
If you are ready to get your hands on a bottle of ClaraDerm Cooling Mist and minimize the chance of tearing during delivery and expedite your postnatal healing, order it now.
The importance of starting early
It doesn’t matter what stage you are at in your pregnancy, it’s never too late to start implementing these secrets, but I hope we have found each other early on in your pregnancy so that you can fully implement my secrets to decrease your risk of perineal tearing during your delivery.
If we did meet each other early on, I really encourage you to start implementing my secrets right away! Keeping your body aligned, relaxed, and prepared for labor throughout your pregnancy is going to have a far greater impact than trying to cram all the secrets during the last 2 weeks of pregnancy.
Now that I have implemented the above secrets and successfully delivered two babies with ZERO perineal tearing, I believe it is a recipe for success that you can benefit from too. I know that if my husband and I decide to have another baby, I will absolutely incorporate each of the strategies into my pregnancy and that I will head into my delivery with confidence that my body will be prepared to successfully deliver another precious babe without major injury to my vagina.
I want you to have that same confidence when you head into delivering your baby! If you're ready to silence your fears and take action to prepare yourself for delivery, I urge you to start today! Order your golden ticket ClaraDerm Spray now by clicking here. Download the free directions on how to complete perineal stretching available below. Check out this blog post and decide which body preparation methods you want and are able to start implementing.
I truly believe that implementing ALL of the secrets and strategies I discussed is the reason I had two perfect deliveries and avoided vaginal tearing altogether. However, if you aren’t quite ready to go all in, I have something that will help you get started! Get my 1-page handout on how to complete perineal stretching! Use the form below to get instant access to this FREE resource and get started on your tear-free vaginal delivery homework right now!
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