Assessment of Perineal Trauma during Child Birth by Estimation of Striae Gravidarum Score among Post-natal Mothers at Selected Hospitals of New Delhi

Abstract

Perineal trauma or injury to perineum is a contributing factor affecting the postpartum health. Striae gravidarum is thought to be one of such factors associated with the perineal outcome during normal vaginal delivery. In this study, an exploratory research design including 81 post-natal mothers via purposive sampling was used. Structured questionnaire was used to obtain background information and obstetrical data of the post-natal mothers. Striae gravidarum was assessed using Attwal numerical scoring system. Analysis and interpretation of data was done through Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 by using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The range of striae gravidarum obtained score for the subjects was 0-18 with a mean score 6.85; 28 (34.6%) post-natal mothers were having no signi cant striae, 27 (34.6%) had mild striae, 22 (27.2%) had moderate striae and 4 (4.9%) post-natal mothers had signi cant striae. Also, 22 (27.2%) had intact perineum, 9 (11.1%) suffered rst degree perineal trauma and 50 (61.7%) post-natal mothers either had episiotomy or second-degree perineal trauma. Using Chi-square test it was found that there was no signi cant relationship between the total striae gravidarum score and perineal trauma during childbirth. Our results contradict the ndings of previous studies which found a signi cant relationship between the striae gravidarum and perineal trauma among post-natal mothers.