Ask the Village: “Do I need to shave before childbirth?”

Late pregnancy not only brings obvious changes to your body, those changes also impact your ability to complete tasks that you might have taken for granted once upon a time.

Doing up shoes buckles, painting toenails, sleeping on your stomach … these are just some of the daily tasks most pregnant women need to put on ice temporarily while their growing belly is taking up more real estate.

And then there’s the bikini line … A Bounty Parents community member has asked the big question: “To shave or not to shave?”

Taking to Facebook, the mum-to be asked: “Apologies if this is TMI but I am being induced next week and want to know if I should tidy up downstairs before the main event or will they do it for me?”

They then went on to explain: “I have a vision issue ATM if you know what I mean and am struggling to maintain the lady garden. I don’t want to get waxed because I get ingrowns badly from it. Any midwives here that can tell me if this is a big deal or not?”

While most commenters were quick to assure the expectant mum that pubic hair was no huge deal, responses were mixed.

“I haven’t had any maintenance done with any of my four births. I’ve apologised to the midviwes and all of them have said they don’t care about that. I’ve only been told they’d prefer not to be bitten!” offered one commenter.

Another suggested she shave. “Blood and amiotic fluid all over the hair? Hard to clean, shave it a little, my opinion.”

“I got the clippers out and did it that way,” offered another, while one mum offered up her own experience as motivation to get it done.

“Shave it!” they urged. “I never did with any off mine and then baby number five was an emergency c-section … There was no time to prep so no shave for me. My scar is well below my underwear line. Dressing removal was torture! Even the nurses didn’t want to take it off when they realised I hadn’t been shaved in theatre lol.”

What a midwife says …

Bounty Parents‘ expert midwife, Megan Baker has weighed in on the hairy topic.

“Please don’t feel the need to shave prior to labour,” she encourages. “There is no medical reason for shaving, it’s definitely not encouraged by health professionals and the vast majority of expectant mums choose not to.”

So there we have it. What do you think, were you worried about this issue before you went into labour?