Episiotomies are a weird topic for me to be blogging about -- but, let’s face it, there’d be no episiotomies without kids. So, they’re fair game. (Plus, they’re all over the news today.) For the men and maybe a few women out there who don’t know what an episiotomy is, it’s when, during a woman’s labor, a doctor makes an incision in the perineum, which is the skin between the opening of the vagina and anus.

“The idea is that the incision will make delivery of a child easier and that a deliberate surgical incision will heal more quickly and with fewer complications than tears that occur spontaneously, minimizing the risk of sexual problems and other complications, such as incontinence,” reports Rob Stein in today’s WP. “Because the procedure has been in widespread use since the 1930s, it has been subject to careful evaluation only fairly recently.”

Say what? A surgery is widely used for 70 years or so, and then we start to examine if it’s safe—yet another medical horse before the cart. Now, a new study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality indicates that widespread episiotomies should be stopped—the procedure should be used only to speed delivery when the health of the baby is at risk.

“[T]he analysis found that it increases the risk of tissue tears, leading to more pain, more stitches and a longer recovery after childbirth,” reports Stein. “In addition, an episiotomy increases the risk of sexual difficulties later and does not reduce the risk of incontinence, the federally sponsored study found.”

So, it’s risky for mom, for sure. And what about baby’s well-being? The scope of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality study didn’t include specific neonatal outcomes. But, judging by numerous accounts from moms on the Internet, pain and infections make those first few days (and even months) of recovery much more difficult for mother to enjoy and bond with her new bundle of joy. I’d definitely like to see some future research on how a mom’s prolonged recovery after an episiotomy affects her ability to respond to and care for her new child.

What do women out there, especially the ones who’ve had the procedure, think about this issue? I’m sure men have some thoughts, too (look out, someday I’ll blog about the circumcision controversy, too).

Send comments to rob@connectforkids.org.