Episiotomy: A Vagina's Lament

GirlsGoneChild — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:29:00 GMT

Hi, my name is Rebecca Woolf and I had an episiotomy. Oh and also? It sucked. An episiotomy for any of you breeders-to-be is when the doctor, cuts your vagina during delivery to make it easier to get the baby out or if you, prefer a diagram, this. Some episiotomies I'm sure are warranted. Mine, I believe, was not and I'd like to take this opportunity to speak against episiotomy-happy doctors and ask you, my dear readers some birth-after-episiotomy questions.

Still with me? Okay then....

A little back-story on my particular birth experience: My former OBGYN sucked all kinds of ass. Not literally, as far as I know, but I like to imagine him in compromising positions because the dude was a complete asshole. You can read more about that, here, if you so desire. As for now, I'd like to talk about the episiotomy he gave me even though I told him I absolutely didn't want one. I pushed once, people (ONCE!!) before my doctor gave up on me and cut me to "get the baby out faster because it looks like you might tear..."

Once again, I was only pushing for two minutes before my doctor gave up and cut the shit out of my shit. No shit.

My episiotomy was not slight. It was severe and not only did it take me weeks before I could pee without crying, but it took me a year before I stopped itching my crotch. It was like a yeast-infection on speed as it was healing. Not fun at all. Not only that, but it STILL doesn't feel the same down there. He cut through the muscle tissue so the whole vag-area feels just very funky and sad.

Needless to say, I'm now with another doctor. A GREAT doctor who knows my story and also knows that I really, REALLY REALLYREALLYREALLY don't want another episiotomy, like, at all, but who also let me know that those that have had them before are more likely to tear pretty severely where the cut was previously made. This made me sad.

I realize the damage has been done but I REALLY don't want another episiotomy and I've heard conficting reports about tearing being a faster heal than being cut with scissors. Doctors seem to typically state that "epsiotomies heal better than tears" except little tears vs large episiotomies? No way. I don't buy it.

So enlighten me with your TMI stories, my fine female friends... Did you get an episiotomy during your first birth only to go on to have an episiotomy-free, (relatively) tear-free second birth or am I kidding myself with this dream of mine?

Share your VBAE* stories with me, will you?

(And for those mothers-to-be, please find a nice doctor who isn't episiotomy-happy. If you're giving birth in the LA area, I'm happy to supply you with the names of great OB's who don't suck. Knowledge is powah, bitches.)

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*episiotomy

Straight from the Bottle : episiotomies

Episiotomy: A Vagina's Lament