Schizmu …Toronto and some insanity.

I didn’t know bullshit information like this was still being spread around.

Episiotomy prevents excessive stretching and possible tearing of the perineal tissues, including anterior tears. The incision is easier to repair than a tear.

It’s from the Merck Manuals Online Medical Library. This, to me, is just terrifying. A drug company, a company that we trust with millions of lives cannot be bothered to remove information from their website that is at least twenty years outdated. Worse yet, it is supposed to be an on-line resource for “healthcare professionals”.

WebMD citing a study from the The Journal of the American Medical Association and the American College of Gynecology states that A) the episiotomy rate in the United States is too high and that there was “no evidence that the practice helped women avoid severe tears.” This study is already three years old.

Futhermore, in 2002 this was published

It was once done routinely by obstetricians who felt that a surgical incision would heal faster than a natural tear. The procedure was also believed to shorten labor and reduce pelvic muscle damage, which increases the likelihood of urinary and bowel incontinence.

But several studies in the 1980s found no evidence that any of these medical benefits exist. Instead, the procedure was found to increase the risk of infection, blood loss, and postpartum pain.

Also

Women who give birth without an episiotomy may have some tearing, but episiotomies are more likely to cause deeper tears that are more painful and slower to heal.

Merck needs to come into the current century. An episiotomy has no “benefits” and should only be used when it is of the utmost importance that the baby be delivered immediately or there is no other way to extract the infant. Anything else is a barbaric and unnecessary practice.

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