Page 89 - April Issue

in focus: birth

Healing
down
there

Episiotomies were very
popular in the 1970’s and
1980’s and were believed
to reduce postpartum
complications.Today,
much of the medical
community believes
they should only be
performed in medically
necessary situations.The
healing time can be long,
and scar tissue can create
problems years later. If
you have an episiotomy,
taking steps to prevent
infection can reduce your
healing time and increase
your comfort level
following the delivery of
your child.

Function she explains and it can be a very asserts, also in the case of a mother, baby & child April 2011
tight stretch, because the head forceps delivery, the doctor will
An episiotomy, defines Dr is large in proportion to the need to do an episiotomy to
Manju Abhimanyu Lodha, baby’s body. “While the walls make room for both the forceps
Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and skin of the genitalia will and the baby’s head as well as if
in Prime Medical Center, often stretch without tearing, it the baby is delivered in breech
Deira, is a deliberate cut in the can take several minutes for the position.
perineum (an area of skin and genitalial tissue to stretch fully,
muscle between the genitalia and if there’s a need to deliver Types
and anus) that is done during the baby urgently, it may be
delivery of a baby. “When a decided to do an episiotomy The two most common
baby is born, its head stretches to speed up the delivery,” she types of episiotomies are the
the opening of the genitalia,” midline and the mediolateral

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