The Effectiveness of Perineal Massage in Preventing Perineal Tears in Third Trimester Pregnant Women in the Village of Tondomulyo, Pati

Abstract

Perineal tears are one of the causes of postpartum hemorrhage.  There were 162 cases (58.69%) of perineal tears in the Tondomulyo area of Pati district out of a total of 276 (100%) mothers who gave birth in 2022. The effects of birth canal tears include increased bleeding, deeper perineal lacerations, increased risk of anal sphincter damage, increased pain in the first days of the postpartum period, and increased risk of infection. One of the efforts that can be made to prevent tears in the birth canal during childbirth is perineal massage. The benefits of perineal massage are to prevent birth canal tears and episiotomy. The research method used was a quasi-experiment using a non-equivalent control group design. The sample in this study used total sampling of 40 respondents, divided into 20 respondents who received perineal massage and 20 respondents who did not receive the treatment. Data analysis used an independent t-test. The results showed that in the intervention group of 20 respondents, 12 had first-degree birth canal tears. There was a difference in perineal massage on birth canal tears in pregnant women in their third trimester between the intervention group and the control group with a p-value of 0.003 (p<0.05). The conclusion of the study is that perineal massage is effective in preventing birth canal tears in pregnant women in their third trimester in the village of Tondomulyo.