How Common is Tearing During Vaginal Birth?
-
Kaely Harrod 0:00
Hello and welcome to Kaely Daily. Today's question is How common is tearing during childbirth? This is Kaely Daily, the bi weekly podcast about all things doula Tips and Tips where we answer one question about pregnancy, labor, postpartum, or lactation, in order to have your journey in this parenting world be just a little bit more informed and filled with consent. Hello, welcome back. My name is Kaely Harrod, I am your host of this beautiful podcast. And today we are talking about how common tearing is in the midst of childbirth. Now, I know that this is not a super lovely topic, because we're talking about your tissues in a very sensitive area. So I do have a warning about that. I would just like for you to be aware, that is what we're going to discuss. And if you feel up to it, then keep listening. I am a Kaely Harrod and I am a doula. I'm a birth doula, postpartum, doula childbirth educator, a mom. And I am really passionate about informed consent. So I have a class that I created called The Birth prep blueprint that is the host of this beautiful podcast. And this podcast was in part to get some questions answered that I here all the time. And so I'm I go through lots of questions. And I would love to hear questions that you have and add those to my lists. So today's question, How common is it to tear during childbirth. Now, obviously, this is talking about vaginal childbirth, okay. And the rates are a little bit different if you have ever given birth before someone who has not given birth before. So this is the first time giving birth, they nine out of 10 of those birthing people are going to have some form of tearing. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to have, they're going to need stitches, right? It doesn't always require that. But that's the prevalence of tearing when you have not given birth before your tissues haven't stretched in this way. And so that's how common it is, it is significantly less common, if you have given birth before. So that's good news, right? If you're planning to have more than one child, if you can, and want more than one child, one thing that I think is helpful to know about this is how the actual tissues work in that area. So we know, well maybe, you know, hopefully, you know that your tissues expand to let the baby through, right? In that process, they they sort of get expanded to the maximum when the baby is crowning. And then they can right away start to come back down. Now. They don't of course, like take some days for things, some weeks, let's be real, for things to, to really like come back to kind of it's more natural size, etc. But if there are some small tears, sometimes they just close up on their own mediately after birth. So that means they're not like actively bleeding and the tissues are closed up in a way that means they're going to heal really nicely. That depends, of course, how deep that tear is, where the location is, all of those different factors. Tear severity is another topic that we'll dive into in another episode. But today, I wanted to just talk about the how common it is. Now another thing I think that's important to know is that all of your birth canal so all of your vaginal canal is expanding in the midst of birth, right? That means there are like rug burn sort of tear, tearing that happens all throughout the vaginal canal and sometimes like on the labia or like near the clitoris and places like that. Those might be painful when you're urinating after birth. So sometimes after labor, it's painful to pee because when you pee, you get that more acidic urine into those areas. So if you're giving birth at a hospital, they will send you home with something called a parry bottle, where you use it to spray water on your self while you pee at the same time so you're diluting everything. If you're giving birth at home or you're having a birth center birth, that should be on the list of things for you to have for yourself ready after the birth so that you can do that same thing.
Kaely Harrod 5:01
Everyone has some sort of something in terms of like, micro tears or something, in my experience, in part because of pushing an enormous baby out, right, that's part of that process. It doesn't mean that everyone has or needs stitches. Okay. So that's today's short and sweet question. We're gonna start diving into some postpartum questions soon. So if you have postpartum questions, send them my way. I am easiest to get a hold of over on Instagram via DMS. But I would love to hear from you. I'd love to hear your questions so that I can add them to the list of things that are getting answered. And we do have another special guests coming up, which I'm super pumped for. And hopefully we'll have more in the fall as well. So all right, until I see you or talk to you all again. I hope you have the most consent filled well informed births. These episodes are edited and produced by Kaely Herat as I'm sure you can probably tell, and our amazing music is credited in the shownotes as well. So we look forward to seeing you on the next episode. And in the meantime, have a wonderful and consent filled
Unknown Speaker 6:27
birth.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Tearing during birth is one of the things most of us worry about! I know I did! I also hear many people saying they are trying not to tear without fully understanding how common tearing is and how it happens (in some small way) every time a person gives birth. Today’s question is How Common is a Tear During Vaginal Birth!
KEY TAKEAWAYS
9 out of 10 pregnant people tear when they’re giving birth for the first time.
Tearing is less common when you’re giving birth for a 2nd, 3rd, etc. time.
Everyone who pushes a baby out of their vagina has at least micro-tearing that often immediately closes off after delivery.
RESOURCES
FREE OXYTOCIN GUIDE:
6 Ways to Increase Oxytocin for Labor Progression
https://www.harroddoulaservices.com/free-guide-6-oxytocin-tips
CONNECT with Kaely on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/Harroddoula/
This podcast is hosted by the Birth Prep Blueprint - comprehensive Childbirth Education for expectant parents to feel calm, prepared and confident about labor and birth. Podcast listeners (that’s YOU!) get 10% off! Use the link below to get that great deal!
https://thebirthprepblueprint.com/offers/884d5a56-9089-4482-a944-6bb7c26c9b04
If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me @harroddoula
Kaely Daily is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services
It is sponsored by The Birth Prep Blueprint Childbirth Class
Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay
