Perineal trauma: prevention and treatment

R McCandlish1

  • 1National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Health Sciences, Headington, Oxford, United Kingdom.

This article examines two aspects of routine midwifery practice: management of the perineum at the end of the second stage of labor and management and repair of perineal injury. Although some aspects of perineal management and repair have been researched and there is reliable evidence on which to base practice, there remains a considerable and urgent collaborative clinical research agenda that midwives should actively pursue.

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