Midwives' experiences of the Perineal Assessment and Repair Longitudinal Study (PEARLS) training package. Narrative literature review

  • Uddin, Zeenath
  • Bick, Debra

  • Zeenath Uddin is Head of Quality & Safety, Royal College of Midwives, London, UK.

    Professor Debra Bick is Professor of Clinical Trials in Maternal Health, University of Warwick, UK.

MIDIRS Midwifery Digest 30(1):p 33-39, 2020.

Introduction

Perineal trauma involves any form of injury to the female genitalia during labour, which may occur naturally or iatrogenically () and can affect the anterior and posterior vaginal wall, urethra, clitoris, labia, perineal muscle, perineal body, external and internal anal sphincters and anal canal (). Almost all women who have a spontaneous vaginal birth will experience perineal morbidity () with an estimated 85% of these women sustaining some degree of perineal trauma (Table 1), most commonly a second-degree perineal tear (). This figure equates to around 350,000 women a year in the UK who require perineal suturing with an estimated 20% experiencing longer-term effects which can include physical, emotional and psychological trauma arising from poorly-repaired perineal tears ().

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