Oh, how I wish someone had asked me this question before I had my first child.  If you haven’t heard of an episiotomy before, it is a procedure the doctor can perform when you are in labor.  In an episiotomy, the doctor makes a small incision in your perineum to help prevent vaginal tearing during delivery.  After delivery, the incision is sewn up and usually heals on its own without complication.

Is Episiotomy Necessary?
That, my friends, is the million-dollar question.  Research now shows there is no clear benefit to having this massacre of our down-there parts.  According to AmericanPregnancy.org: “When providers restricted their use of episiotomy, women were more likely to give birth without perineal damage, less likely to need suturing, and more likely to resume intercourse earlier.”

Of all the pain involved in labor, delivery and recovery, I can say without hesitation my episiotomy was the most painful, aggravating and slow-healing experience I endured.  In my case, my doctor did not ask for permission, but in my ignorance, I would have agreed anyway.

If you are not sure where you stand on the issue of episiotomy, you owe it to your anatomy to do a thorough research before you are in labor and ready to deliver.  Episiotomy scarring can permanently alter the terrain down there, leading to uncomfortable problems that may never go away.

While it used to be considered an effective preventive method to help women heal more quickly with large births, episiotomy does not do the things it was believed to do.  If it doesn’t improve the outcome of labor, why put ourselves through the torment?