An episiotomy is usually a short procedure in 3 stages:
- pain relief
- the incision (cut)
- repair
Pain relief
Your midwife or obstetrician gives you an injection of local anaesthetic to numb the area around your vagina. This is so you do not feel any pain.
If you have an epidural, you may not need an injection. But you may have another dose of anaesthetic through the epidural tube (this is called a top up).
The incision (cut)
Your midwife or obstetrician usually makes a small cut from the back of your vagina. The direction of the cut is usually diagonal, down and out to 1 side.
Repair
After your baby is born, your midwife or obstetrician will close the cut with dissolvable stitches.
They do the repair within 1 hour of the birth. Any bleeding usually stops after the repair.
After an episiotomy
It can take up to a month for the cut to heal and stitches to dissolve. During this time, you may feel some pain. You can treat this with paracetamol and anti-inflammatory medicine.