Epi No Childbirth And Pelvic Floor Trainer

Having recently given birth to a wonderful baby, if there is one piece of advice that I would give to all pregnant women planning on a natural birth it is – Go the Epi-No!

So what is an Epi-No? It is an inflatable device that you use to stretch down there. In essence, you are getting the area ready to be able to push a baby’s head out.

When I heard about this device, it made logical sense to me. If you want to run a marathon, you train your body and your muscles to be able to cope. So why not the same when you are about to embark on one of the most physically demanding things you will ever do? Coupled with the fact that I wanted to avoid tears, stiches etc. as much as possible, I was willing to give it a go if it would assist in any way.

You are only able to start using the device from Week 36 of your pregnancy, and you must do it every day from then on (at least one a day, no more than two). You place the inflatable device into your private part, and then pump air into the device (similar to a balloon), so that it inflates. The idea is that every day, you inflate it a bit more so that you slowly stretch the area. You leave it in there for around 10-15 minutes, and then you push the inflated device out using only your pelvic muscles – to give you the idea of what it feels like to give birth.

Now I can’t say that I enjoyed doing this every day. In fact, I really dreaded it, but I made sure I did it religiously and over time I built up my muscles so that the balloon was around 9cm in diameter – similar to the average size of a baby’s head. The result? I had no tearing, no stitches and I can honestly say that I really enjoyed the pushing part of giving birth. I can’t be 100% certain that this was due to the Epi-No but my gut tells me it was. And even if it wasn’t, it certainly gave me confidence when it came to this part of labour so that in itself can only be a good thing.

For more information visit Epi No