would you choose ...

... to have an episiotomy over tearing????

Saw the rerun of shorty st this am where maia said she would choose that and i wondered why you would choose to be cut instead of tearing naturally...

Any thoughts on this one ladies?   

Edited by GandT

apparently tearing heals better (unless it's very bad) as the jagged edges heal together better than the straight cut - or so I've been told.

So I guess on that basis I'd choose to tear.

They normally only cut if they think that you may tear too much and that a cut would be smaller.

I would be sh*te scared of someone down there with scissors or a knife while I was in the middle of contractions - so i'm going for the tear.

I had episiotomy with #2 and tore with #3. I could not get out baby #2 and had been pushing for some time and that's why the mw did it. Perhaps it was cause I had an epidural, who knows. But I would choose to not have an episiotomy in the hope that I wouldn't have to tear at all!

Bearing in mind that I've given birth to a 9lber with a huge head and only ended up with a tiny graze I'd go for tear unless I was having forceps/ventouse coz that way you also get the chance of having no tear OR cut, but if it had to be one or the other I'd opt for the cut coz it's more controlled.
The big issue with cuts/tearing isn't the damage itself it's the way it's stitched, if it's stitched too tight it can cause problems later on.

Maya wrote: The big issue with cuts/tearing isn't the damage itself it's the way it's stitched, if it's stitched too tight it can cause problems later on.

This was the problem I had -- I had a second degree tear, which I didn't feel at all and didn't mind having stitched up (after giving birth with no pain relief I was like, "Sure, stick needles in my bits, I don't mind! Anything's better than childbirth!") But six months down the line my tear still wasn't totally healed -- and I'd started to grow extra scar tissue that was inflamed and painful. I actually had to have it cut away under local anaesthetic and it's still tender sometimes. Delightful!

That said, I think next time I would allow a tear to happen again. But I would be very careful about how it healed and would make sure it was healing properly.

You lot are putting my off trying VBAC with number 2 (which won't be for ages)

I had a 2nd degree tear that healed quite fast - we were in hospital for 10 days and I felt fine before we left. If I have the choice next time, I'd choose a tear again in the hope it won't come to that - I did not enjoy the stitching up

I had an episiotomy due to Madison getting stuck, she needed to get out and a little cut helped that. I only needed two stitches which healed very well. My mw didn't like doing them but in nher and my opinion it was the best option at the time. I think that if you can avoid them do, but if the tearing is going to be bad and a small cut will stop this then do it. All in all you have to trust your midwife to help you make the decision at the time.

And by the way it does hurt but only briefly