Perineal massage

Yes! For me it's not painful but uncomfortable and I agree with you, I don't feel I am doing it right so I am thinking to buy one of those long tools to do it, it might be easier?

I started a week ago around 36 weeks and bought the Frida perineal massage wand. It comes with a mirror and a how to guide. I would say get comfortable and try and relax as much as possible. I used some lubricant and took it slowly. My partner is also helping me - it is getting easier each time I do it.

It will be a bit uncomfortable to start with but just do it gently and you will find with repetition it gets easier/stretches. At the moment that area/skin is very firm/tight which is the whole point of massaging it because it does help to stretch that tissue and prime it for birth. But I found it really hard to do it myself and so my husband was recruited. We both watched videos on how best to do it (lots of resources out there) and it felt weird at first but just became part of the nightly routine and I did notice over the weeks it felt better. Didn’t get to a vaginal birth with my first in the end so can’t speak about the actual impact but studies show it is helpful so worth going. My mum did this and had 2 vaginal births/no tears. Though you’ll want something as lube otherwise it will be extra uncomfortable. I just used baby 100% coconut oil as wanted something super natural. There are specialised products for it though like My Expert Midwife. Stick with it!

Yes quite uncomfortable but after 3/4 goes it’s getting easier, my partner does it as i can’t reach properly! I had a consultant actually do it for me to show me how at the start and found it almost painful, she went quite hard, so i think it is supposed to maybe hurt/be uncomfortable to start off as i guess those muscles aren’t used to it.