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I'm sorry, I don't know much about your condition, but I still wanted to try to offer you a little advice about v____al deliveries. I have had 3 v____al deliveries and I never pushed for more than 25 minutes and I have never torn with any. I think the key to not tearing, and this is my own little opinion of course,lol, is to make sure you are not fighting your body when it comes to pushing. Just let it all go, who cares what else might come out....the staff have seen it all before, push down hard with every contraction you are having and try not to push when you are not contracting, stop pushing when the Dr. says to, as well. Usually they will tell you at a certain point to stop pushing because that is when the biggest part of the baby is coming out (shoulders) and they want to check a couple of things: 1) they want to make sure you don't tear at that point, and 2) they want to check the baby to make sure the cord is in the right place. 2 of my lo's had it wrapped around their necks. You really need to try and stay in control of your body the whole time and use the pain and the peak of the contractions to push hard to guide the baby out as fast as you can. Also, I'm not sure how far along you are, but you can start to get yourself ready "down there" about 2-3 weeks before delivery by ma__saging the perineum, and hopefully your Dr. will do the same for you as you deliver the baby, it helps to stretch the area a bit more and reduces the risk of tearing, so maybe you could google it and do a little research . You mentioned your Dr. doesn't know much about your condition either, does he/she not think it would be better to schedule a C-section instead? I hope your delivery goes well for you. Keep me posted!

Hi Crystal, I appreciate your response. I will do the things you've suggested, minus the perineal ma__sage. I tried it twice and it just hurt and burned and made the skin stretch real tight and I barely pushed down on it at all. I thing that concerns me is that I think I'm going to start ripping way before crowning. Like I said in my original text, right now I rip from s_x and bowel movements and those two things are way smaller than a baby's head. My OB doesn't know much about it but said tearing is better than a c-section any day. I just don't know that it's better than a c-section if it will never heal properly. I'm hoping to speak to someone who has my condition to see how they're healing.

I also don't know anything about this condition, but I have had a c-section and while it's by no means a picnic, it's no biggie after the first couple of days. I would think if you were worried about continuing to tear down the road, a c-section would certainly be preferable to adding to what seems like a very uncomfortable condition. Good luck.

Does the condition affect only your skin, or also other tissues (like muscles)? Tearing is quite common, but if the condition is limited to your skin you should be no worse off that most other women after that. Problems tend to occur when the muscles are also torn (especially the a___l sphincter). But considering the severity of your condition, it may be better to just have a C-section to avoid a lot of skin tears. What does the dermatologist who diagnosed you say? S/He might have a better idea on the subject.

I think you should be adamant about a c-section. This is something that could affect you for the rest of your life even more than it does now if you were to tear to the degree in which you think you will, many women without this condition have had postpartum problems that affect them for years after giving birth, so for you this risk is increased by a lot. Is your Dr. not taking you seriously when she says that tearing like that is better than a c-section anyday? I think you should seek a second opinion and don't feel obligated to do something just because one Dr. says you should. If you fear tearing from just the head crowning it will really not help you very much when you need to relax and let your body do it's thing because you will be tense and restictive with your muscles trying to stop yourself from tearing. It's hard enough not trying to worry about things like that under normal circ_mstances, i just can't even imagine the fear you might feel, I hope you can get some answers from someone about this soon. Keep us posted.

Thank you so much for your responses! Luckily the condition only affects the skin, not the muscle...so maybe I will be ok? The tears I get are very surface tears...fissures. My OB will absolutely not do a c-section based on this condition. My dermatologist doesn't know what to think about a v____al birth because this condition usually affects post menopausal women. I've tried to do research online but haven't found anything about women who delivery v____ally or otherwise with this condition. I really appreciate your support and advice ladies. It really means a lot to me. I sure do hope I am able to connect with someone who has/does have this condition and has had a v____al delivery so I can get a better sense of what I'm in for.