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Quotes about Episiotomy from the world's top natural health / natural living authors

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"We should add to this total of unnecessary gynecological surgeries the episiotomy (incision in the birth canal prior to delivery), done more often than either C-sections or hysterectomies. Of these almost one million episiotomies per year: There is little scientific support... for rhis procedure. The suggested advantages of episiotomy are challenged easily and the surgery is not without risks. Adverse effects... include an increased incidence of severe lacerations, blood loss, pain, delayed healing, dyspareunia [pain during sexual intercourse], psychological trauma and medical cost." - Gerald E. Markle and Frances B. McCrea, What If Medicine Disappeared? (Get the book.) "In addition to the episiotomy, consider the 494,000 operations to remove a woman's ovaries and Fallopian tubes and the 111,000 mastectomies performed in the year 2000. Most in this latter category are— and have been for at least twenty-five years—controversial. For localized cancers of the breast, it is well-established that removing the lump (lumpectomy) is just as effective and far less traumatic than removal of the entire breast, and perhaps the associated lymph glands (radical mastectomy) as well." - Gerald E. Markle and Frances B. McCrea, What If Medicine Disappeared? (Get the book.) "The suggested advantages of episiotomy are challenged easily and the surgery is not without risks. Adverse effects... include an increased incidence of severe lacerations, blood loss, pain, delayed healing, dyspareunia [pain during sexual intercourse], psychological trauma and medical cost.17 How is all this gynecological surgery to be explained? "It's not all that complicated," Fran sneered. "It's just a manifestation of sexism. Most gynecologists are males—all of them used to be—and every single patient with a uterus is female." Fran then told me a story." - Gerald E. Markle and Frances B. McCrea, What If Medicine Disappeared? (Get the book.) "Birthing without obstetric laceration or breaking of the amniotic sac, let alone C-section or episiotomy, would now by necessity happen in a natural way. A variety of gynecological conditions would not be subject to the purported amelioration of major surgery. Patients with coronary artery disease would not be subject to operations of the heart, from the less invasive insertion of stent to the heroic but oddly termed "cabbage." What would take its place?" - Gerald E. Markle and Frances B. McCrea, What If Medicine Disappeared? (Get the book.)

"In a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study of episiotomy pain, 160 women received either bromelain or placebo following episiotomy. After four days of treatment, the researchers found striking reductions in pain, edema, and inflammation in the bromelain-treated women." - Robert Redfern, The Miracle Enzyme Is Serrapeptase (Get the book.)

"Other examples of widely accepted medical treatments that have been shown not to be effective and frequently harmful when valid studies are done include routine episiotomy, brain bypass surgery for patients with warning signs of stroke, and hormone replacement therapy to prevent a second heart attack in women. The list goes on. Today, doctors routinely prescribe drugs, perform procedures, and use medical devices and tests on the basis of evidence that sometimes has only a little more science to support it than the contagion theory." - Shannon Brownlee, Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer (Get the book.)

"Along with this change, the place of delivery was transferred from the home to the hospital, and normal birth itself came to be seen as a surgical intervention, supposedly facilitated by routine episiotomy. The stage was set for the routine surgical circumcision of the normal male infant by the obstetrician, rationalized as prophylaxis. Against what? The answer is masturbation, a plague that could be prevented as well as cured by circumcision." - Thomas Szasz, The Medicalization of Everyday Life: Selected Essays (Get the book.)

"Will you have an episiotomy? (This is an incision made to enlarge the vaginal opening either so that forceps can be used or to hasten delivery or to prevent tearing in this area, which takes longer to heal than an incision does.) • Probably the most important question: Are you willing to have a cesarean section, and under what emergency circumstances do they perform this operation? If you had a cesarean for a previous delivery, will you be supported through a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) this time? Over 24 percent of American women who give birth in hospitals undergo cesarean sections." - Phyllis A. Balch, CNC, Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements (Get the book.)

"Other examples of widely accepted medical treatments that have been shown not to be effective and frequently harmful when valid studies are done include routine episiotomy, brain bypass surgery for patients with warning signs of stroke, and hormone replacement therapy to prevent a second heart attack in women. The list goes on. Today, doctors routinely prescribe drugs, perform procedures, and use medical devices and tests on the basis of evidence that sometimes has only a little more science to support it than the contagion theory." - Shannon Brownlee, Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer (Get the book.)

"Staphysagria: This remedy is specifically used to heal incised wounds. An episiotomy (cutting tissue to enlarge the vagina) as a result of childbirth is an excellent example of the kind of wound that calls for Staphysagria. It is appropriate for wounds that involve sharp stinging pains, and that are sensitive to touch. It can also be used to ease residual pain once stitched areas have healed. HERBALISM Tea tree oil: This is perhaps the best and most effective herbal therapy for treating cuts owing to the oil's antibacterial and antifungal properties." - Marshall Editions, 1000 Cures for 200 Ailments: Integrated Alternative and Conventional Treatments for the Most Common Illnesses (Get the book.)

"One of the most common types of surgery during delivery is known as an episiotomy or "cutting." The procedure helps to widen the vagina so that the baby's head and shoulders come out more easily. This routine operation is supposed to prevent tearing of the vagina. Yet if the mother were not induced and/or made numb by drugs and were properly prepared for the delivery, she would know perfectly well how and when and when not to push to release the child from the birth canal at the right time. The pain would tell her exactly what to do during the birth process." - Andreas Moritz, Timeless Secrets of Health & Rejuvenation: Unleash The Natural Healing Power That Lies Dormant Within You (Get the book.)

"These are also recommended for people who have had abdominal or colorectal surgery or an episiotomy during labor and delivery and must avoid straining. Old-fashioned mineral oil is the best-known product in this category. It should be used for only a short time, though. Mineral oil is petroleum-based and is not absorbed into the body. But it can interfere with the absorption of important fat-soluble nutrients, such as vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, and vitamin K. Over weeks or months, this could be detrimental to health." - Joe Graedon, M.S. and Teresa Graedon, Ph.D., Best Choices From the People's Pharmacy (Get the book.)

"Typical middle-class childbirth has changed since the 1950s, when a woman was alone with physicians and assistants in the delivery room, in stirrups, shaved and with an episiotomy, and often not even conscious while the doctor delivered the baby. Today, for nonrisky births it is much more typical for a woman to give birth in a birthing room, with her partner present, attended by a midwife or physicians. Often she is taking no medications. Soft music may be playing, and perhaps a friend is taking photographs. A fetal monitor of some type may be part of this serene scene." - Peter Conrad, The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of Human Conditions into Treatable Disorders (Get the book.)

"Corrective Vaginal Surgery following fpisiotomy_ In the United States, about 80 percent of women give birth by episiotomy. Of those operations, approximately 90 percent are improperly performed. "Doctors are just not instructed in how to do this surgery," says Dr. Vicki Hufnagel. "All you have to do is go to your local medical school, get out the textbook on obstetrics, and look at what an episiotomy is. It will have a drawing, and a discussion that says to put one or two sutures here, and one or two there. They are teaching physicians to close an entire organ system in just one or two layers." - Gary Null, Get Healthy Now with Gary Null: A Complete Guide to Prevention, Treatment and Healthy living (Get the book.)

"In fact, episiotomy rates have fallen by a third in the last two decades. In 1998, the rate in the United States was just under 40 percent, compared with almost 64 percent in 1980.30 But according to news reports, some hospitals perform episiotomies in less than 10 percent of mothers,29 suggesting that even lower rates may be appropriate. Perhaps this is another case of "less is more." What Can We Learn from Surgical Miscues? As with drugs, there are other examples of surgical procedures that became widely used or widely sought after before we knew whether they worked." - Richard A. Deyo M.D. M.P.H., Donald L. Patrick, Hope or Hype: The Obsession with Medical Advances and the High Cost of False Promises (Get the book.)

"A randomized trial comparing hamamelis water with ice and a proprietary formula found no difference between the three forms of treatment in women suffering episiotomy pain following childbirth (Moore et al 1989). Witch hazel is used in after-shave lotions and in cosmetic preparations. REFERENCES Baumgartner M et al 1998 Zeitschrift fur Allgemeine Medizin 74(3): 158 Bremner P." - Dr. Michael Heinrich, Joanne Barnes, Simon Gibbons and Elizabeth M. Williamson, Fundamentals of Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy (Get the book.)

"If radical mastectomy and episiotomy had been subjected to modern randomized trials when they were introduced, many women might have been spared their complications. At the time, of course, modern research methods such as randomized trials were unknown, and hindsight is always 20-20. But there's no reason why most new operations can't be subjected to the rigorous scrutiny undergone by internal mammary artery ligation, knee arthroscopy for arthritis, EC/IC bypass surgery, and fetal cell implants for Parkinson's disease." - Richard A. Deyo M.D. M.P.H., Donald L. Patrick, Hope or Hype: The Obsession with Medical Advances and the High Cost of False Promises (Get the book.)

"Howat R and Lewis G: The effect of bromelain therapy on episiotomy wounds—a double blind controlled clinical trial. / Obstet Gynecol Br Common 79, 951-953, 1972. 24. Zatuchni G and Colombi D: Bromelain therapy for the prevention of episiotomy pain. Obstet Gynecol 29, 275-278,1967. 25. Blonstein J: Control of swelling in boxing injuries. Practitioner 203, 206,1960. 26. Rimoldi R, Ginesu F, and Giura R: The use of bromelain in pneumological therapy. Drugs Exp Clin Res 4, 55-66,1978 27. Ryan R: A double-blind clinical evaluation of bromelains in the treatment of acute sinusitis." - Michael T. Murray, N.D., The Healing Power of Herbs: The Enlightened Person's Guide to the Wonders of Medicinal Plants (Get the book.)

"There is some feeling that the episiotomy may lead to a later lessening of sexual pleasure. Obstetricians were not long satisfied by the minor surgery of the episiotomy. They had to have something more awesome and dangerous. After all, the delivery room setting only adds to the feeling that something terribly abnormal must be happening here. And such an abnormal process surely demands medical intervention. The more extreme the better." - Robert Mendelsohn, Confessions of a Medical Heretic (Get the book.)

"If you have had an episiotomy, wait a couple of weeks for the laceration to heal a little. Then open a liquid vitamin E capsule and apply it to the area. When to See a Doctor If you have had an episiotomy—a surgical incision to enlarge the birth opening—the pain will gradually improve after the first few days, but call your doctor if: • Pain does not subside after two weeks. • Pain worsens. • Bleeding suddenly occurs. These symptoms may signal an infection that needs treatment." - Prevention Magazine Health Books, The Doctors Book of Home Remedies for Women: Women Doctors Reveal over 2,000 Self-Help Tips on the Health Problems That Concern Women the Most (Get the book.)

"In performing an episiotomy, the doctor cuts through muscles and nerves. When no episiotomy is performed, if tears do occur, they tend to take place where the perineum has stretched to its fullest, along the lines of least resistance and easiest mending. A 1990 study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that women who undergo episiotomies are 50 times more likely to suffer from severe lacerations.44 Another major study concluded that women with episiotomies undergo far more pain than those with tears, and that the pain lasts longer.45 Botched episiotomies are frequent." - John Robbins, Reclaiming Our Health: Exploding the Medical Myth and Embracing the True Source of Healing (Get the book.)

"Lewis, The effect of bromelain therapy on episiotomy wounds—A double blind controlled clinical trial, Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the British Commonwealth, Vol. 79 (1972), pp. 951-53. G. Zatuchni and D. Colombi, Bromelain therapy for the prevention of episiotomy pain, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vol. 29 (1967), pp. 275-78. 2. Curcumin, a component of curry, which has anti-inflammatory potency equal to the stronger NSAIDs. One needs pure curcumin in capsules, 400 to 600 mg three times a day. Or turmeric, the spice from which it is derived, 8 to 60 grams per day." - Leo Galland, Power Healing: Use the New Integrated Medicine to Cure Yourself (Get the book.)

"CORRECTIVE VAGINAL SURGERY In the United States, about 80 percent of women give birth by episiotomy. Of those operations, approximately 90 percent are improperly performed. "Doctors are just not instructed in how to do this surgery," says Dr. Vicki Hufnagel. "All you have to do is go to your local medical school, get out the textbook on obstetrics, and look at what an episiotomy is. It will have a drawing, and a discussion that says to put one or two sutures here, and one or two there. They are teaching physicians to close an entire organ system in just one or two layers." - Dr. Gary Null, The Woman's Encyclopedia of Natural Healing (Get the book.)

"EPISIOTOMY The most common surgical procedure in childbirth and medicine overall is the episiotomy an incision in the muscular wall surrounding the vagina intended to widen the opening and ease delivery. A Canadian study now recommends that routine episiotomies be abandoned. Instead, researchers suggest, this surgery should be reserved for cases of fetal distress or if a woman is unable to deliver her child without help. Episiotomies do not, as previously thought, prevent perineal tears or trauma, enhance later sexuality, or benefit the baby." - Larry Trivieri, Jr., Alternative Medicine the Definitive Guide, Second Edition (Get the book.)

"It was also assumed that episiotomy helped to prevent weakening of the pelvic floor muscles, which sometimes led to incontinence of the bladder. Finally, doctors figured that by speeding up delivery, it might prevent injuries to the baby. After delivery, the obstetrician would have a clean surgical incision to sew up, rather than a possible ragged tear in the muscle and skin. Superficially, this all seems like sound reasoning. But as with many of the treatments we've described, the reality doesn't match the expectation. And it took decades to find out." - Richard A. Deyo M.D. M.P.H., Donald L. Patrick, Hope or Hype: The Obsession with Medical Advances and the High Cost of False Promises (Get the book.) "By the 1960s, a majority of women who delivered in the hospital would have an episiotomy.29 Only in the 1970s did patients and doctors begin to challenge its value and start doing systematic research on the procedure. Rates subsequently began to fall, but by 1997, almost 40 percent of women having vaginal deliveries still received episiotomies.30 When the research finally began to yield results, what did it show? A review of high-quality randomized studies was done in 1999; it included six studies conducted during the 1980s and 1990s." - Richard A. Deyo M.D. M.P.H., Donald L. Patrick, Hope or Hype: The Obsession with Medical Advances and the High Cost of False Promises (Get the book.)

"CORRECTIVE VAGINAL SURGERY In the United States, about 80 percent of women give birth by episiotomy. Of those operations, approximately 90 percent are improperly performed. "Doctors are just not instructed in how to do this surgery," says Dr. Vicki Hufnagel. "All you have to do is go to your local medical school, get out the textbook on obstetrics, and look at what an episiotomy is. It will have a drawing, and a discussion that says to put one or two sutures here, and one or two there. They are teaching physicians to close an entire organ system in just one or two layers." - Dr. Gary Null, The Woman's Encyclopedia of Natural Healing (Get the book.)

"To prevent tearing the tender area (called the perineum), physicians and midwives sometimes take preemptive action and make a neat, clean cut (an episiotomy) to enlarge the birth opening. Then it is stitched up after delivery. PATIENCE AND PAMPERING If you've had an episiotomy or tear, healing will take a while, says Mindy Smith, M.D., associate professor in family practice at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In fact, you may feel uncomfortable for as long as three to six months. Here are some things that you can do to help yourself, right from day one. Cool it." - Prevention Magazine Health Books, The Doctors Book of Home Remedies for Women: Women Doctors Reveal over 2,000 Self-Help Tips on the Health Problems That Concern Women the Most (Get the book.)

"Perineal Tears or Extensive Episiotomy The perineum (the area of skin between the vagina and the anus) may be surgically cut (an episiotomy) or may tear during birth. Usually, these will heal faster if all significant tears are stitched. A number of simple procedures can help alleviate discomfort and speed healing: Apply ice immediately after the repair is finished to decrease swelling. Take sitz baths with infusions of vulnerary herbs. Apply Aloe vera gel. Calendula, Symphytum, Hydrastis, and Achillea are all good choices of herbs for ointments or sitz baths." - David Hoffman, FNIMH, AHG, Medical Herbalism: The Science Principles and Practices Of Herbal Medicine (Get the book.)

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