Photo: Cordmamas via Instagram

Toronto mom Serenity Kovarik wanted to avoid having an episiotomy?a surgical cut in the perineum (the area between the vagina and the anus) used to widen the vaginal opening during delivery?when her second baby, Tase, was born. (Her first was delivered by emergency C-section.) But when the head emerged and doctors saw the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around her baby?s neck, they didn?t even stop to tell Kovarik what they were about to do. ?I heard the doctor say to the resident, ?Get the scissors. We?re going to have to do an episiotomy.?? After the cut, Tase?not breathing and with the cord around his neck four times?was out in a matter of seconds and crying healthily minutes later.
There are few things that will make a woman cross her legs faster than the thought of a scalpel coming near her lady parts. But for much of the 20th century, episiotomies were a routine part of giving birth in a hospital. Particularly for first-time moms, doctors believed episiotomies helped avoid severe tears and damage to pelvic-floor muscles, prevented incontinence, caused less immediate and long-term pain and promoted faster healing. Decades and many research studies later, we now know episiotomies actually put women at a higher risk for significant tears and don?t do anything to shorten recovery time or reduce pain. These findings have resulted in a shift from routine use of the procedure to a ?restrictive? one in Canada. ?Now the standard is not to do t...