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The gentlebirth.org website is provided courtesy of
Ronnie Falcao, LM MS, a homebirth midwife in Mountain View, CA

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Prenatal Perineal Message

If you missed the segment about Orgasmic Birth, aired on ABC"s 20-20 on Jan. 2,
you can still catch the mini-segments:

Birth Orgasms: Women Speak Out - Is it possible to have an orgasm during childbirth?

Women Who Prefer Home Birth - For some, delivering a healthy child doesn"t involve a trip to the hospital.  [Note - the associated article says, "Modern medicine means not having to go through childbirth alone."  It"s more accurate to say "Responsible modern medicine means reserving risky interventions for when the benefits outweigh the risks." I know lots of responsible women who give birth at home with the perfect birth team . . . their partner, their midwife and their doula.  They are definitely not alone, and they have all the medical assistance they need, just like a woman giving birth with a midwife in a hospital!  Savvy people know the difference between midwife-assisted homebirth and unassisted birth.]

The Orgasmic Birth web site also has a lot of great information about birth in general:
Birth by the Numbers
The Director"s Blog
Birth Stories

This is for the woman who wrote and wanted to know more about Perineal Message.

Note: I had a 9# baby (first born), born at home with no tear and no episiotomy- thanks to perineal message and a wonderful midwife- my mom!

Prenatal Perineal Message

Prenatal perineal message is a technique which slowly and gently stretches the skin and tissues around the vagina and perineum. The perineum is the area between your vagina and rectum. Perineal message helps reduce the risk of tearing during birth and the need for and episiotomy.

Directions:

  1. Wash your hands
  2. Find a private, comfortable place and sit or lean back in a comfortable position.
  3. Put a lubricant such as KY jelly, cocoa butter, vitamin E oil or pure vegetable oil on your thumbs and around the perineum. ( I used vitamin E oil)
  4. Place your thumbs about 1-11/2 inches (3-4 cm) inside your vagina. Press downwards and to the sides at the same time. Gently and firmly keep stretching until you feel a slight burning, tingling or stinging sensation.
  5. Hold the pressure steady at that point with your thumbs for about 2 minutes or until the area becomes a little numb and you don't feel the tingling as much.
  6. keep pressing with your thumbs. Slowly and gently message back and forth over the lower half of your vagina, working the lubricant into the tissues. Keep this up for 3-4 minutes. Remember to avoid the urinary opening.
  7. As you massage, pull gently outwards (forwards) on the lower part of the vagina with your thumbs hooked inside. This helps stretch the skin as the baby's head will stretch it during birth.
  8. Do this message once a day, starting around the 34th week of pregnancy. After about a week you should notice an increase in flexibility and stretchiness.
I wrote this down from a pamphlet I have on Perineal message. It has more info and drawings. It also has directions for a partner message. (I found this much more successful for me.)

This Web page is referenced from another page containing related information about Perineal Protection / Avoiding Tears and Episiotomy

 


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