Perineal Massage/Kegels etc.--is it all just hype?

[Anonymous]

Do all these exercises really work in the end? If so, when should one start doing them?

[Anonymous]

I've been doing both and haven't given birth yet, so I don't know yet what good they'll do in the end. But my DH does the perineal massage with me and he says I'm getting more stretchy...um...downstairs , so maybe there's something to it (sorry if this is TMI). My OB/GYN has been supportive. She says it works great for some people, but not so great for others.

I figure it can't hurt to try, but most women give birth just fine without doing them. The book I read recommended doing Kegels all during pregnancy and starting perineal massage 6 weeks before your due date.

I'll let you know how things turn out, which should be in a few weeks, I hope.

[Anonymous]

OP here: I haven't done any and just completed 35 weeks. I guess I need to get on the stick. I'll give the perineals a shot. A friend gave birth to 5lbs plus twins recently and did_not_tear (!!) She said she did some perineals, but what really helped her was that her doc was massaging her during delivery. I can't imagine my doc doing that, but I guess it can't hurt to ask. Believe me, at this point, there isn't such a thing as TMI.

[HrCreuzi]

I had no tearing and did both. My doc did massage during and I really didn't notice. It actually helped me focus on where to push.

FWIW- my DD was 7lb 7oz.

Kegals after helps with any pee leakage you get, at least it helped me!

good luck!

[Anonymous]

As someone who didn't do Kegels I wish I had...definitely have problems with the pee leakage postpartum. Now I really need to do them!

[Anonymous]

About the perineal massage....I just found this on medscape:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/452758_5
Finally, two recent clinical trials have examined the effect of perineal massage in the weeks before delivery on the likelihood of an intact perineum at birth. One study included 861 nulliparous women under the care of midwives in England.[22] The other included 493 nulliparous and 1,034 multiparous women under the care of physicians in Canada.[23] Both randomized women to regular (either daily or every-other-day) massage versus no massage in the final 5 to 6 weeks of pregnancy. The majority of women allocated to massage in each study did not adhere to the recommended frequency and timing of perineal massage. Nonetheless, massage was associated with an increase in the rate of intact perineum in first-time mothers (from 25% to 31% in the English study, and from 15% to 24% in the Canadian study). In the Canadian study, better outcomes occurred in women who performed the most massage. These research findings suggest that perineal massage may have therapeutic value, and that more may be better.