Guest guest Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 I have a young friend who is expecting her first baby in a week or so. She has read about using oils on the perineum area to help stretch the muscles before the birth of her baby so she lessens the risk of ripping or needing an episiotomy. Her question to me is... what oils are used and in what strength. I told her I would find out. Thank you for any help. Regina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 22, 2003 Report Share Posted January 22, 2003 Start now to soften the perineum - 1 ml almond - or other softening base oil plus 1 drop rose maroc - It's easier to make up 5ml with 5 drops and keep it covered somewhere. Rub in once a day along the line of muschle and fibrous tissue which bridges the genital area and the anus Encourages elasticity and helps prevent tearing (but does not guarantee this) (taken from Valerie Worwood - Fragrant Pharmacy) My daughter used it for 2 weeks before, but sadly still had to be cut and had internal tearing too. Maybe it helped, maybe it would have been worse! wish her well from me Regards GrannyAnn I have a young friend who is expecting her first baby in a week or so. She has read about using oils on the perineum area to help stretch the muscles before the birth of her baby so she lessens the risk of ripping or needing an episiotomy. Her question to me is... what oils are used and in what strength. I told her I would find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 Hi Regina, I have a recipe for what I used buried somewhere here - it seemed to work well as I didn't have an episiotomy or tear .. I'll do my best to dig it out (I suppose I should for my sake too, huh - being that I am 33 weeks along now!). For the moment even using plain ol' sweet almond oil (or olive oil even) will do, she needs to get that stretching going on ASAP! It is really best to start doing it a few weeks before delivery but she can still do it now. Also, in the meantime here is a link for her to check out ... http://www.childbirth.org/articles/epis.html *Smile* Chris (list mom) <http://www.alittleolfactory.com> http://www.alittleolfactory.com Regina [taylor] Tuesday, January 21, 2003 11:48 PM Perineum Oils I have a young friend who is expecting her first baby in a week or so. She has read about using oils on the perineum area to help stretch the muscles before the birth of her baby so she lessens the risk of ripping or needing an episiotomy. Her question to me is... what oils are used and in what strength. I told her I would find out. Thank you for any help. Regina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 I did the stretching with oil thing with my first and I HATED it. I cried every time and when my midwife did it while I was pushing, I screamed at her (I was also crowning at the time so I had gone into " crowning hysterics " and we call them now). I decided to forego the stretching with #2 and #3 and still didn't tear or need to be cut, and #2 had a 15 " head that didn't collapse on the way down the birth canal the way it's supposed to! I guess for me, I just wasn't convinced that it actually helped any, when I had the same success of not tearing the last 2 times as I did the first time. -- <>< Erin very full time Mama to The Trio & Sprout! Sprout appearing sometime early spring. We now have an instock store! http://www.edenessentials.com/store Earn a paycheck while YOU set your hours! Become a Pampered Chef Independent Consultant. Email me for more info, with an order, or to have your own party!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 Hiya Erin, Glad to hear your bottom area survived all 3 births so well - that is awesome! May #4 be as well! :) I could be TOTALLY off on this, but it seems like it would make sense that it would be a little easier to not tear the second, third, etc time if one didn't tear the first time, than if one did. Like the massage/stretch prep thing might have helped the first time around, and not have been necessary the consecutive births cause your perineum was like " Oh, I've been there and done that before " Does that make any sense? Also, as I mentioned, I really think the skill of the midwife or OB involved makes a huge difference. A doc who never delivered a baby without doing a episiotomy or perineum tear won't necessarily be as successful at delivering a baby without mom tearing or getting cut as one who has delivered 1,000 babies and never had a mom's perineum damaged in their care ... From everything I've seen and read episiotomy rates in this country are way higher than they need to be (just another way to add more money onto the birth bill in many cases), plus it is a fact that when an episiotomy is done the likelihood of a higher degree tear is much greater than when not done. BTW - do you make post-partum feminine napkins? I don't want to use those big disposable ones, I want cloth *Smile* Chris (list mom) <http://www.alittleolfactory.com> http://www.alittleolfactory.com Eden Essentials [eddi01] Thursday, January 23, 2003 10:12 AM Re: Perineum Oils I did the stretching with oil thing with my first and I HATED it. I cried every time and when my midwife did it while I was pushing, I screamed at her (I was also crowning at the time so I had gone into " crowning hysterics " and we call them now). I decided to forego the stretching with #2 and #3 and still didn't tear or need to be cut, and #2 had a 15 " head that didn't collapse on the way down the birth canal the way it's supposed to! I guess for me, I just wasn't convinced that it actually helped any, when I had the same success of not tearing the last 2 times as I did the first time. -- <>< Erin very full time Mama to The Trio & Sprout! Sprout appearing sometime early spring. We now have an instock store! http://www.edenessentials.com/store Earn a paycheck while YOU set your hours! Become a Pampered Chef Independent Consultant. Email me for more info, with an order, or to have your own party!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 That's a good point. That could very well be it-- " hey, I know what to do. " LOL And of course a doctor who does episiotomies routinely won't give a rat's a$$ about waiting to see how well the mother will stretch. Yes, I do make post partum pads. I'm currently closed to custom orders because of some preterm labor I had last week (a whole day in the hospital hooked to monitors sure made me grateful for my 3 home births) but I have a PP pad up in my instock store right now, and I'll be adding more today or tomorrow. I'll definitely be using cloth this time--wish I'd known about it with the other 3. Thanks! Christine Ziegler wrote: BTW - do you make post-partum feminine napkins? I don't want to use > those big disposable ones, I want cloth > > *Smile* > Chris (list mom) > -- <>< Erin very full time Mama to The Trio & Sprout! Sprout appearing sometime early spring. We now have an instock store! http://www.edenessentials.com/store Earn a paycheck while YOU set your hours! Become a Pampered Chef Independent Consultant. Email me for more info, with an order, or to have your own party!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 Chriss response was right on the money...the perineum has stretched before with each birth. Nowadays most mothers are reminded to kegel to return the muscle to good pre-pregnancy tone as well as to kegel to practice control of the muscle during the pushing stage. There is a lot of reading material out there regarding the proper way for an OB/MW to support the perineum when mom pushes. Lastly, there is a hot issue as to whether or not a mother should push as soon as she feels like it, most second time moms have an urge to push prior to reaching that 10cm measurement - the concern being of course that a tear will be more than slight if a mother exerts full pushing before the cervix is ready. I don't even want to get started on the episiotomy rate in the U.S. and why the rate is so atrocious. Dale Eden Essentials [eddi01] Thursday, January 23, 2003 10:12 AM Re: Perineum Oils I did the stretching with oil thing with my first and I HATED it. I cried every time and when my midwife did it while I was pushing, I screamed at her (I was also crowning at the time so I had gone into " crowning hysterics " and we call them now). I decided to forego the stretching with #2 and #3 and still didn't tear or need to be cut, and #2 had a 15 " head that didn't collapse on the way down the birth canal the way it's supposed to! I guess for me, I just wasn't convinced that it actually helped any, when I had the same success of not tearing the last 2 times as I did the first time. -- <>< Erin very full time Mama to The Trio & Sprout! Sprout appearing sometime early spring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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