I used perineal massage in the last 6 weeks or so of my first pregnancy. I did it every two or three days but only for about 10 minutes - and I don't think I ever got to the full 10cm. I thought if I could just 'soften' it up a bit - so that the whole stretching thing wasn't totally new the actual labour wouldn't be so bad. I also thought it might give me some idea what the labour would feel like.

I didn't have an episiotomy/ tear or have any stitches - who knows if it helped! I think i'll probably do it again this time...just in case it did!!