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Learning care for a Episiotomy will make your healing time much shorter after childbirth. You see, sometimes when you are giving birth, your doctor or midwife will need to make an incision in your perineum (the area between your vagina and anus). Though reasons behind the practice of this vary, its main purpose is to enlarge your vaginal opening to assist the baby in coming out. It is more commonly done in first time moms and/or if the baby is a larger size.
Instructions
1. Apply ice packs. After stitching the incision, the nurse should offer you a perineum ice pack when explaining care for an episiotomy after childbirth. Use it! Even if you are still numb down there from an epidural or the numbing agent that was injected before the stitches were put in, using ice packs immediately will minimize swelling later on. They also offer a cooling sensation during the first few days when the inflammation will be at its worst.
2. Put hemorrhoid pads in your underwear. On top of the normal padding they give you to wear after giving birth, the hospital may also have hemorrhoid pads to place on top, right under the cut on your perineum. Ask a nurse about them if they don't offer it when first explaining to you care for a Episiotomy after childbirth. Having these in contact with that area at all times will help alleviate a lot of the discomfort that you will be experiencing, especially when you start moving and walking around. They are meant to cool down any burning sensation and also reduce inflammation.
3. Use a water bottle to spray the area when you go to the bathroom. If urine gets on your cut, which it will inevitably do when you pee, it will cause a burning sensation. Squirting water on it while you are going will prevent any urine from settling on your incision. The nurse should tell you do this when explaining to you care for a Episiotomy after childbirth. Without this, it will hurt very badly to use the bathroom. This also helps keep the area clean because wiping with toilet paper there is usually out of the question until you are healed more.
4. Take a stool softener. In order to avoid further tearing or pain while moving your bowels, often a stool softener is prescribed to minimize pushing, because of the extra pressure that it creates on the perineum area.
5. Spray pain reliever on your perineum area as needed. The hospital should also provide you with a pain relieving spray, when explaining care for a episiotomy after childbirth, that you can use whenever the discomfort gets to be too much. It helps relieve any burning and itching during the healing process.
6. Take plenty of warm baths. Even after going home, you need to take the time to soak your bottom in the tub as much as possible. Try to take a few a day, for at least 15 minutes to 20 minutes at a time. This not only offers some relief and comfort; it also keeps your stitches from drying out and stretching your skin.
7. Carefully watch your incision. Your cut will be checked at your 6 week postpartum visit, but if you notice any unusual redness or pain in your perineum area before then, call your doctor or midwife right away. Listening to your own instinct and resting as much as possible is the greatest tip for care for an episiotomy and other discomforts after childbirth.
Tags: after childbirth, explaining care, perineum area, your perineum, when explaining, when explaining care