Re: Is the use of perineal massage a useful technique for childbirth?
From: Claudia Twisdale RN (twisdale@mediaspecialty.com)
Tue, 5 Feb 2002 19:59:52 -0600 (CST)
I have worked with an OB who used this a lot. His patients did have
less need for episiotomy repairs than others. Many midwives use this.
At Mon, 4 Feb 2002, Jason Spah wrote:
>
>The hypothesis that performing perineal massage during the second stage
>of childbirth will decrease the chances for perineum tears during
>delivery was interesting to me because it is very simple to perform and
>has no apparent side effects. Perineal tears during childbirth can
>result in multiple long-term urinary and gynecologic problems, including
>dyspareunia, and urinary and fecal incontinence (Walling 2001).
>If these simple exercises could reduce just a small number of perineal
>tears, then I feel as though these exercises should be practiced
>extensively. However, Cerrato (2001) stated, perineal massage does not
>seem to reduce the risk of perineal trauma during delivery. Cerrato
>(2001) found that there were not significant differences in the number
>of episiotomies or first and second-degree tears between the massage and
>control group. Stamp, Kruzins and Crowther (2001) also found that there
>was no differences in number of episiotomies or first and second degree
>tears, but they discovered that there was a trend towards a reduced risk
>for the rarer outcome of a third degree tear. According to Johnson
>(2000), the woman experienced a much larger benefit from perineal
>massage when she is over the age of 30.
>
>I am curious how widely used perineal massage is in the current clinical
>field.
>
>--
>Jason Spah, Student Nurse at the University of North Dakota
>
>References
>Stamp, G., Kruzins, G., Crowther, C.(2001)Perineal massage in labour and
>prevention of perineal trauma: Randomised controlled trial, British
>Medical Journal, 322, 1277-1280
>Walling, A. D.(2001)Perineal massage during labor offers limited
>benefit: American Family Physician,64(11)1888
>Johanson, R.(2000)Perineal massage for prevention of perineal trauma in
>childbirth: The Lancet, 355(9200)250-251
>
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