In the UK, up to 9 in every 10 first time mothers who have a vaginal birth will experience some sort of tear, graze or episiotomy, for most women these tears are minor and heal quickly but these could also be easily avoided by training for birth, like you will do if you are planning to run a marathon.
As a mum of two who gave birth naturally, Epi-no has been my saviour, my coach, my rock and my best-friend to prepare for birth from 3 months and half of pregnancy until the day before labour.
Both times, Epi-no made my postpartum journey so much more comfortable, I could walk straight after birth, go to the bathroom, sit down with no pain as my perineum was intact.
The Epi-no method comes from Ouganda where German ethnologists in 1972 discovered that Ugandan women prepared to give birth by expelling larger and larger gourds as their pregnancies progressed.
“Epi-no as a stretching method to prepare for natural birth “
Simply picture a dancer who is planning to do splits one day without preparing and stretching before the D (splits) day. If the ballerina isn’t prepared and she forces to do splits it will crack, as simple as that.
It’s the same with birth as you will be trying to push a 10 cm baby head with no training.
Following your doctor approval, Epi-no can be used from 3 months and half of your pregnancy, up to three times a week, to stretch your perineum, by inflating a balloon in your vagina and expelling it using breathing technique and pushing as you would do on the actual day.
As your pregnancy is progressing, the balloon diameter will increase gradually, with the goal to reach a month before your due date a diameter of 10 cm which is the equivalent of a new-born head perimeter.
It’s recommended you practice Epi-no at home two or three times a week, which is a time investment but so rewarding ! I would say that Epi-no exercises would take me between 1h30 and 2h a week but in light of the results, I would re-do it again and again.
“Epi-no as a birth rehearsal exercise”
The beauty of Epi-no is also that in addition to the stretching of your perineum, you will also feel like rehearsing for birth every time you are using it, by using breathing techniques and muscular work to push the balloon out.
Before the actual birth of my two children, I really felt I had given birth 50 times on my own which gave me strong confidence going into the pushing phase of the labour.
As someone who has been always scared of the unknown, the Epi-no practice made me a master of the pushing phase of labour, which gave me a sense of control in the unexpected and unpredictable time of birth.
“Epi-no as a remedy to labour stress and anxiety”
Epi-no really gave me the strength, practice and confidence needed for birth, as when I felt the need to push, I was ready for it and in a couple of pushes my babies were born with an intact perineum.
For women who are anxious and stressed around labour and would like to control some aspects of it, Epi-no is simply perfect to relax your mind as you go into the last phase of labour.
“Epi-no can also be used as a pelvic floor training device”
One thing I would have loved to know before giving birth to my first child is that pelvic floor training is as important before birth than after birth, and a birth without tearing nor graze nor episiotomy doesn’t prevent you from pelvic damage.
You should train your pelvic floor in your everyday life and even more when you are pregnant as your growing belly is putting pressure on your pelvic muscles.
Pelvic floor reeducation is sadly still not so common in the UK and every new mother should see a pelvic floor therapist in her first weeks after birth.
Epi-no can also be used to train your pelvic floor muscles before and after birth, with different pelvic floor training exercises.
“Go Go Go Epi-no”
I would never recommend Epi-no enough to mothers to be, first time mothers or second/third/fourth times mothers that never used Epi-no before.
As I have been asked this question a thousands of times, I will highlight that your perineum are muscles that need stretching but will go back to normal after birth, just to remove any fear of having a very large and floppy perineum after birth.
But your muscles also have very good memory which means that if you have used Epi-no with success for your first pregnancy, the amount of time you will need to train with Epi-no for your subsequent pregnancies will be really reduced and you will only start training 1 or 2 months before pregnancy for the same no episiotomy, no tearing results!!