To wax, shave or cream, or not. That is the question!
You're about to give birth to a seven-pound baby and what are you
most stressed about? Whether the Brazilian you had a fortnight ago still
looks trim. Believe it or not, many women do worry about the state of
their hair 'down there'. We ask babyworlders what they did when
pregnant and ask does it really matter if you let everything grow
wild.
Why worry?
Most of us like to keep our privates… private but during pregnancy and
birth, most of our modesty flies out the nearest window. Internal and
external examinations, plastic uteruses at antenatal classes and horror
stories of pooing in labour make it very hard for women to retain a sense
of dignity for nine months. All women in labour used to be given an enema
and shave but luckily these are a thing of the past! However, one particular
area of concern for some women is what people will think if they turn
up in labour looking like a Yeti 'down there'. Other women aren't worried
so much about what health professionals think as they are about maintaining
a sense of good grooming during a time when their body is doing all sorts
of bizarre things beyond their control.
Midwives and doctors will have seen everything before, from an itsy-bitsy
Brazilian to a grandiose garden. They will not be nudging each other and
tutting about your lack of pubic maintenance, as midwife Tania Pearce
explains.
'Iit's surprising how many women worry about these things though! Other
than for the ladies having an elective Caesarean who will usually be shaved
when in theatre, I always say in my antenatal classes that midwives don't
mind what style they come in! As to safety of products - waxing is fine
in pregnancy. Women just have to be aware that their skin may be more
sensitive and could come up in a rash. Hair removal creams haven't been
formally studied on pregnant women so I advise that you always read the
instructions carefully; don't use on broken skin or on your face; and
always do a skin test first as women's skin is often more sensitive in
pregnancy. Why not ask your pharmacist or beautician to suggest safe alternatives?.'
Supreme creams
Ouch factor: 1 scream, unless you have an allergic reaction.
'I'd have kept my pants on if I could have'
'I remember the days up to my due date lying on my back with my pants
off applying Veet with the aid of a hand mirror. For months I obsessed
about getting my bits out in the delivery suite. As it turned out, I ended
up in slow labour for four days, which was so freaking agonising it completely
took my mind of the state of my undercarriage. That said, during labour
I still cringed at every examination and kept pathetically trying to pull
the sheet over me. I'd have kept my pants on throughout if I could have.
I think in the end I probably had an attractive 5 o'clock shadow peeking
through.'
Belle
'I luckily am not too hairy when pregnant'
'I thought that neat and tidy, but not removing too much was the way
to go. I'm lucky that my body hair hardly grows during pregnancy, so I
waxed a couple of times but at the end just used Veet at the edges and
a quick trim of the rest. I confess that towards the end I was very particular
about shaving my legs, wearing make-up and having a decent blow dry every
day, as I looked crap in the pics after my first daughter was born. In
fact I was only in the pool for the last three contractions but still
managed to tell my husband not to get my hair wet. Shame I haven't quite
kept it up since!
Allyson
Brave shavers
Ouch factor: 2 or 3 screams, depending if you cut yourself or
get an ingrown hair.
'I ended up flat on my face'
'I kept it up (albeit with great difficulty) right up until the end! Not
going into too much detail, I remember I learnt to do it without looking
and just had to use my judgement! At one point, I leaned over the side
of the bath further and further and further so I could see and I ended
up flat on my face! The thought of being on show to all and sundry and
not being in tip-top conditioned scared me more than the thought of labour!'
Nicki
'It was a guessing game'
'Before my bump got too big I had a good old tidy. After that, I used
mirror and razor. Towards the end it was a guessing game and I thought
better to have tried to tidy then not at all. Midwives don't even care
but I still wanted all to look neat!
Sarah
'I did it by feel'
'Well, I shave everything off down below so once I could no longer see
past my bump, I just did it by feel. On occasion, my husband shaved my
legs, and though I'm sure he would've been very careful and gentle, there
was no way I was letting him near there with a razor.'
Danielle
'During my ventouse delivery I was so glad I'd shaved'
'I've shaved my undercarriage in the shower without looking for a
few years now so it wasn't difficult to keep it up through most of my
pregnancy but it did get hard to reach around the bump, keep one leg up
and keep my balance at the end! I remember during the birth when I had
one of my "conscious" moments and seeing a man between my legs talking
to the midwife about stirrups (he was going to do the ventouse) etc. I
thought to myself "thank goodness I shaved the other day cos even though
the stubble is long they'll know I don't go unkempt". Why oh why did that
pop into my head?'
Karen
Helpful husbands
Ouch factor: 1-5 screams - depending on how skilful your partner
is.
'My husband clippers me'
'I always am quite a hairy beast anyway, all over the place. So I normally
do ask my husband to help me trim my bits to keep them tidy. My husband
would rather I'd take almost everything off at the front but I really
don't like that look for me. At the moment, he clippers me every month
or so, but he normally takes too much off which really annoys me so we
have a row afterwards! Basically everything comes off apart from a tufty
bit at the front which just gets tidied up.
Jessica
'I read a book while my husband clipped my hair'
'My husband did mine with clippers while I sprawled on a towel on the
bed with a good book. He is a bit of a perfectionist though and it took
bloody ages! A friend of mine did hers with a mirror and scissors and
snipped herself which put tears in MY eyes when she told me so no way
was I going down there with something sharp while I didn't have a proper
view!
Penny
'Having someone shave you is incredibly relaxing'
'It was one of my husband's duties; I was determined that SOME part of
me would stay unaffected by pregnancy! He managed to find a way round
the whole SPD issue somehow, and usually did my legs for me at the same
time. It is incredibly relaxing having someone wash you and shave you
and lift you out the bath and get you dry and dressed, I felt like a queen!
Actually thinking about it, I wonder if he'd buy it if I claimed I had
an SPD relapse?'
Rach
Waxing lyrical
Ouch factor: 3-5 screams!!!!!
'The therapist asked me what I thought of her work'
'I remember having a bikini wax a couple of weeks before I was due and
the therapist asked me how it looked - as if I could see! I had my legs,
bikini line and tummy waxed every six weeks as usual.'
Carole
'I was waxed while in early labour'
'Regular waxing was the way to go for me. I even made sure I went and
had it done whilst in early labour as I couldn't bear the thought of being
'overgrown' to give birth. It set off some pretty good contractions and
it was the quickest that the beautician had ever done it. Think she had
visions of delivering me on the table! I actually did have the baby later
that day so was lucky I got it done when I did! Emma
'I had my monthly wax two days before my C Section'
'I had my monthly bikini wax throughout both pregnancies - just because
I hate being even a little bit hairy and I swam a lot. As I was having
a planned C Section with my second son, I had my wax done two days before
the op as I knew I wouldn't want to get it done until a few weeks after
the birth. Lisa
Let it grow!
Pregnancy and birth have enough worries so stressing about hairiness
is the last thing on many women's minds. At the end of the day, a midwife
is going to be so caught up in delivering your baby safely that she's
not going to be comparing how well tended your lady garden is compared
to her previous patient!
'It's not like it's down to my knees!'
'They shaved me just after the spinal, and even with everything going
on, I was absolutely aghast that she was going to shave my lady garden,
and ashamed that it needed it. Have to say, have never been a topiary
girl... let it all go: it's not like it's down to my knees!'
Rachelsmammy
'I wanted more modesty'
'I grew mine back before I gave birth as I figured a nice fringe would
protect my modesty a bit more than my usual "kojak".'
'It was like having a badger down there'
'Anyway, I was one of the wild women of Borneo. And after the 28 or so
week mark a previous scar from surgery was really sensitive, so I didn't
touch it for ages. It was like I had a badger down there. Hideous.'
Immy
'Second time round, it didn't bother me at all'
'I was more bothered about this when pregnant with Rory, but after having
a ventouse delivery with half the hospital in attendance I really lost
all my modesty and second time round it didn't bother me in the slightest.
Quick trim with nail scissors is sufficient in my opinion. Although I
did have a friend who went into labour and her first thought was "must
shave my legs".'
Morag
'I just don't want spiders legs'
'The state of my foo is the last thing on my mind and who cares in the
medical profession anyway? I use the clippers to keep it short as I don't
want what looks like spiders legs poking out but that's all. I used Immac
to take it all off last time the day before my section anyway.'
Liz
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