Sorry for the strange question, I'm not pregnant or planning to get pregnant soon, I'm just curious!
If you were to regularly stretch out your vagina with really girthy dildos (eg vaginal fisting), would it be easier to give birth to a baby of a similar circumference?
I know that kegel balls strengthen your pelvic floor and are supposed to make the pushing side of things easier, but do they prevent tearing? And is it possible to stretch out your vagina with fisting and also have strong pelvic floor muscles through the regular use of kegel balls?
I'm not sure where else to go to find this information but I figured someone here might know, or it would at least spark an interesting (if unusual) debate!
I honestly don't think it would. The main thing that the baby needs to get through is the cervix, this dilates to 10 cm. As soon as the baby is passed the cervix and into the birth canal it is pretty much out. I don't think you can stretch your cervix, and if you're trying to get pregnant I wouldn't be messing around with your cervix for the safety of your baby.
Before your cervix is even dilated you will go through the contractions until you're ready to push, for a first baby this is usually around 8 hours. So regardless of how "easy" it is, you're still in a lot of pain for a very long time.
Kegal balls don't prevent tearing, nothing can prevent tearing. Sometimes it just happens, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes if the baby is struggling they can cut the entrance to the vagina, in the same place that a tear would be, to be able to get the baby out more quickly.
No one can make birth any easier, if you want a baby you just have to do it.
You don't realise until you've had your first baby how different every woman is, and how different every baby is. Every single baby delivery is totally different. There could be complications and you might need a c-section, this happened with my second delivery but I knew for two months beforehand that I would be having it. But some people do need to have an emergency c-section.
Sometimes things just happen, all of my deliveries haven't been the standard delivery. I've learnt that the best thing to do is not had any expectations of the delivery and just be as open and relaxed as possible. No matter what happens, when you have your baby in your arms at the end of it all it's all worth it. No matter how much pain you go through you forget it all, otherwise, no one would have more than one child! Haha!
I don't think so, considering the vagina goes right back to its previous size once the stretching is over. I guess it might at least get you used to the sensation (and relaxing during it more to the point), but a girthy dildo or fist won't be stretching your cervix so maybe not! I certainly never find girthy dildos feel like giving birth, but then again I've never been fisted.
As for tearing, pretty sure the only thing that will stop that is a splash of luck and some panting while the babies head is crowning lol!
The only thing that will help you in birthing is luck, health and fitness do play a big part though. I do pilates and there was a pregnant lady in one of my classes. She continued classes til just a week before birth and was back less than two weeks after having had an extremely easy delivery.
Most of it is luck as there can be complications no matter how well you prepare. But being fit and building abdominal muscle and endurance certainly won't do you harm and can really help recovery.
Ah of course, I hadn't even considered that it's the cervix that needs to stretch much more than the vagina does! I'm such a n00b.
Thanks so much for all of your detailed answers. As I said, I'm not pregnant or planning on getting pregnant any time soon, I was just looking at some thick dildos and it sparked the thought!
Hi, I just wanted to add that I have read elsewhere online about a woman who was regularly fisted during pregnancy and she believes this prevented her from tearing as she says she was much looser down below. I think though every body is different so that's just her opinion really. It won't take away the intensity of a contraction but it might prevent tearing. I never tore with my first child and he was nearly 11lbs so I think it just depends on your body.
I don't imagine it would make a difference. As others have said, it is the cervix that dilates and this allows delivery of the baby. The vagina doesn't play much of a part other than being the last place inside your body the baby sees before coming into the big wide world.
After birth everything does feel a little stretched but returns to normal (it near normal) after a time. Tearing just depends on various factors, which include your body's ability to adapt and size of baby, although as MissUnkown has said, this is not always a factor. My baby was 7lb and I tore. Every birth is different and you just go with it because at the end of the day, it has to come out eventually!