Perineal massage prevents tearing

If you'd like to avoid vaginal tearing at the moment you're pushing your baby out through your hoo-ha, here's how:

• Be ready to get intimate in a weirdly medical way

  Have your partner stretch your vagina as much as you're willing to endure by inserting their sterilized-gloved thumbs an inch into your vagina while pressing down towards your anus for 1 - 3 minute intervals.

• Do the massage daily for the final month

  You or your partner can prep your perineum for birth with ten rounds of these stretches each day. You can lengthen the duration if it becomes "easy" with maximum pressure.

• Visualize your vagina

  We recommend taking each minute of perineal pressure to focus on opening, slowly inhaling and exhaling as you imagine the uterine contractions as waves of movement down and out your vagina.