Perineal massage during pregnancy in primiparous women

Abstract

Perineal massage, performed by the woman or her partner during the last weeks of pregnancy, has been recommended to increase perineal elasticity w1x. Recent studies showed that perineal massage reduces the occurrence of perineal trauma, thus increasing the probability of delivering with an intact perineum w2,3x. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of antenatal perineal massage with subsequent perineal outcomes in nulliparous women. A total of 531 primiparous women were included in this study, which was restricted to a sample that included all primiparous women who were expecting a normal vaginal birth of a singleton baby with cephalic presentation. Our studied population was divided into a perineal massage group and a parity-matched control group. Women in the intervention group were asked to perform perineal massage 3–4 times a week for 5–10 min starting