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Sometimes it is a tear in the tissue around the vaginal opening that happens when the baby is very large or is being pushed out too fast before the vaginal tissue is ready. Tears also occur when doctors are using forceps to aid in the delivery. Tears are harder to heal and keep from infection than cuts are, so for that reason, during some births, the obstetrician will make a cut so it avoids a tear that is about to happen and that can extend beyond the perineum and even into the rectal tissue. To avoid this, the cut made by the doctor and is then called an episiotomy.

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15y ago

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