Perineal Tearing: Home vs. Hospital

Perineal tearing is a common complication of vaginal childbirth. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the impact setting has on occurrence of perineal tearing. Home birthing tears are compared to hospital birth tears. A search for literature was conducted in the following databases: PubMed, CINAHL, ERIC, and ScienceDirect. Key phrases searched were perineal trauma, perineal injury, perineal lacerations, complications of home birth deliveries, complications of hospital deliveries, occurrence of perineal trauma, and rate of perineal lacerations. Eight research articles evaluated the rates and frequency of perineal tearing when giving birth at home compared to the hospital setting. One article evaluated the importance of decreasing perineal tearing as it is associated with postpartum depression. Overall, the common theme within the eight research articles, elicited the decreased chance of perineal tearing when giving birth at home. This decreases the risk of complications related to perineal tearing during childbirth like the increased rate of postpartum depression due to perineal tearing.