Perineal massage has not
only been studied at the delivery but also through the last
weeks of pregnancy. Although some studies report its positive
eVects on the rate of episiotomy [13, 29], others fail to
report such results [30]. Therefore, it seems that the perineal
massage in late pregnancy period or during delivery is
a challenging issue requiring further inquiry considering
confounding factors such as the total cases of episiotomy
and the anthropometric characteristics of women.