Many pregnant people we connect with often ask about how to prepare for birth. We thought we’d share a few of our tips about how specifically to prepare your perineum for birth! 

A lot of people are concerned about vaginal tears during birth. These are extremely common, especially for nulliparous women (women who have not previously given birth). 

The good news is, there are some simple techniques that you can practice at home to reduce your risk of tearing and reduce the need for an episiotomy (when your care provider makes a small cut along your perineum to help baby birth safely). 

Perineal massage, which is the process of gently stretching out your pelvic floor muscles before birth, has been shown in studies to reduce the likelihood of perineal trauma (mostly episiotomy) and ongoing perineal pain. 

We have a handout for perineal massage and you can find it here. We provide an overview of its benefits, and how to perform it!...