I breathed DD1 out, my body pushed but I didn't make a conscious effort to. I asked for guidance, as in, being reminded to just breathe through certain parts. No tears or grazes, birthed on my hands and knees. Second stage was 1 hour and 40 minutes.

DD2 was fairly different when it came to pushing. I had overwhelming back pain that was only relieved about 10 minutes before she was born, so the urge to push was really dulled until that back pain was muted a bit. The urge to push was huge once that pain was gone, and I pushed hard lol. I did breathe through crowning and not push, but with extreme difficulty. I was thrown by how much faster she came compared to DD1 and asked my midwives a lot whether it was 'okay' to push etc. No tears or grazes, birthed on my knees in water. Second stage was 8 minutes.

I didn't do anything to specifically prepare during pregnancy for no tears. I inserted EPO but didn't massage it in. I think the key factor for me was good support, the two second stages were very different and both times my support people offered me suggestions appropriate to what was actually happening with me, which was awesome.