Before you head to the hospital to give birth, it’s tempting to want to give yourself a once-over with a razor before your legs and lady bits have some extra eyes on them. But a nurse, lactation consultant, and doula on TikTok is urging expectant mothers not to shave before having their babies and explaining why it's better to "leave the bush alone."
Angela Grant Buechner knows a thing or two about childbirth.
The birth specialist posts many helpful videos for soon-to-be moms on TikTok, including one video that’s attracted more than 3.6 million views.
"Pregnant? Don't shave the bush!" she wrote on the video.
For some people, that really puts a damper on their plans for a smooth day ...
But there’s a good reason why it’s best to stay hairy. According to Buechner, shaving pubic hair is not advised for pregnant women after 36 weeks.
"Shaving pubic hair can INCREASE risk of infection at the time of birth, even with caesarean birth!” she explained.
Although waxing might seem like a shave-free solution to the problem — “waxing isn't necessary either,” Buechner explained.
In fact, waxing is “usually more painful during pregnancy,” and although it might be weird to think about rocking a full ‘70s bush on your delivery day, Buechner explained you really shouldn’t worry about it.
“Doctors DON'T care!” she wrote. “Leave the bush alone!”
Some people were relieved that they didn't have to do a cleanup job before heading to the hospital.
“Good because I can’t see it anyway,” one commenter joked.
“If doctors care about that, they’re in the wrong field,” another person added.
“If you can still shave in your third trimester … I have questions,” someone else joked.
But other people really had their doubts.
“Okay I guess I’ll have an infection then,” wrote one commenter.
“Google and science don’t support you,” another person commented.
“If that’s the case then why the fudge did a nurse DRY shave me,” a third commenter wrote. “Even another nurse asked if she wanted soap and water.”
Although shaving before labor used to be more customary, Buechner linked back to a study performed by the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, which conclusively stated "there is insufficient evidence to recommend perineal shaving for women on admission in labour."
That means pregnancy is as good an excuse as any to get a little hairy.
