Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the effects of episiotomy repair performed before or after placental expulsion on the maternal blood values.

Patients and Methods: A total of 172 pregnant women were investigated retrospectively who delivered at term (37-41 gestational weeks). The patients were divided into two groups as Group 1 who had episiotomy repair after the plasental expulsion and Group 2 who had episiotomy repair before the plasental expulsion. The hematocrit and hemoglobin values of all the pregnant women in both groups before labor and at the 12th hour in the postpartum period were compared.

Results: There were no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of age, duration of labor, gestational weeks, episiotomy repair time, birth weight, and body mass index. The absolute hemoglobin difference between pre-delivery and postpartum 12th hour was 1.17±0.09 g/dl in Group 1 and 1.17±0.11 g/dl in Group 2. There were no statistically significant difference between the groups with respect to the mean episiotomy repair time and absolute hemoglobin and hematocrit differences (p=0.624, p=0.987, p=0.779).

Conclusion: Timing and the type of episiotomy must be evaluated according to the conditions at the time of labor. If there are no risk factors the episiotomy repair must be done immediately to prevent the leakage bleeding, and if it is thought that the episiotomy repair can minimize the exposure it will be better to wait for the placental expulsion.