{"id":5349,"date":"2026-06-23T14:37:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T13:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/?page_id=5349"},"modified":"2026-06-23T14:37:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T13:37:33","slug":"birth-reducing-tears-when-giving-birth-easy-read","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/birth-reducing-tears-when-giving-birth-easy-read\/","title":{"rendered":"Birth \u2013 reducing tears when giving birth – Easy Read"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What this is about<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"birth\"<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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When the baby\u2019s head comes out, the mother\u2019s skin gets stretched and might tear. For most women these tears are small and heal quickly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"tear\"<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Sometimes a deeper tear happens. These will need surgery and can cause a longer recovery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

What we are doing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\"midwife<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Your midwife can show you how to massage the skin during pregnancy. They will explain the ways that they can reduce the risk of tearing when you give birth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"RCOG\"<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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This model of care is supported by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Find out more on their website.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"reception\"<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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If you do suffer a deeper tear you will have follow-up care. This will include physiotherapy and access to special support.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

How this helps you<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\"tear<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Fewer women will have a deeper tear. If it does happen it is spotted quickly. Women are offered the right help with their recovery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Our progress<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\"deep<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Our work means fewer women giving birth get a deep tear. We aim to lower this number even further by April 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

What you can do<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\"ask<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Ask your midwife what you can do to get ready for birth. Ask about the different ways to help reduce tearing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Read more detail about this topic<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What this is about When the baby’s head comes out, the mother’s skin gets stretched and might tear. For most women these tears are small and heal quickly. Sometimes a deeper tear happens. These will need surgery and can cause a longer recovery. What we are doing Your midwife can show you how to massage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":309,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-5349","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"scottsamson","author_link":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/author\/scottsamson\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":false,"rttpg_excerpt":"What this is about When the baby’s head comes out, the mother’s skin gets stretched and might tear. For most women these tears are small and heal quickly. Sometimes a deeper tear happens. These will need surgery and can cause a longer recovery. What we are doing Your midwife can show you how to massage","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/309"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5349"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5793,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5349\/revisions\/5793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}