When women are pregnant and approaching the time of childbirth, one of the main concerns that they may have for their wellness and wellbeing is that they do damage to their sexual organs. The idea of something as large as a baby exiting via the small opening of a vagina can seem very daunting. Women worry a lot about either tearing or having to have an episiotomy (a cut made between the vagina and anus). Thus a term called ‘vagina anxiety’ was coined.
Vagina anxiety is the fear of the effects that childbirth could have on the birth canal and the delicate tissue and skin around the area. Women having preoccupying thoughts about this area of childbirth are thought to have this particular form of anxiety.
Health experts are not totally sure how many women do tear during childbirth, because many small tears are not ever recorded, but a UK study discovered that around seven out of ten women require stitches after childbirth, to sew up a cut or tear that has occurred during the birth. Bad tears are known as third of fourth degree tears, and tend to go from the vagina all the way to the anal opening, and these are far less common. A Canadian study found that only 7 in 100 women had a third or fourth degree tear during birth.
Episiotomy occurs when the healthcare provider makes the decision to make a small cut to the vagina, to ease the baby’s exit into the world. This can happen for various reasons, such as the baby being in distress, the baby being in an awkward position for birth, or the risk of tearing is very high. If an instrumental delivery is going to occur (such as when a doctor is going to use forceps) an episiotomy is often used to enable this to take place.