Husband stitch explained

The husband stitch or husband's stitch,^[1] also known as the daddy stitch, husband's knot and vaginal tuck, is a medically unnecessary and potentially harmful surgical procedure in which one or more additional sutures than necessary are used to repair a woman's perineum after it has been torn or cut during childbirth. The purported purpose is to tighten the opening of the vagina and thereby enhance the pleasure of the patient's male sex partner during penetrative intercourse.^[2]

Medical perspective

While repair of the perineum may be medically necessary, an extra stitch is not, and may cause discomfort or pain.^{[3] [4]} Use of the term in the medical literature can be traced to Transactions of the Texas State Medical Association in 1885, where a doctor claimed to have performed one.^[5]

The term is also referenced in What Women Want to Know (1958), and in The Year After Childbirth: Surviving and Enjoying the First Year of Motherhood, written by Sheila Kitzinger in 1994.^[6]

Some medical practitioners have asserted that the procedure is mostly an urban legend, and false attribution, while others have claimed to know doctors who perform the procedure.^[7] The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, according to a report by Fatherly, does not deny that the procedure happens but alleges that it "is not standard or common". Other doctors, such as Jean Marty, head of the Union of Gynecologists in France, have claimed that the idea of a husband stitch comes from botched episiotomies and poor stitching, that lead women to have pain during sexual intercourse and while urinating.^[8]

However, there are several accounts of women who claim to have undergone this procedure without their consent.^[9] There have been several journalistic investigations on the existence of the husband stitch, trying to determine if it was real. They have overwhelmingly determined that the practice does exist, as seen in reports by Chelsea Ritschel, by Kaitlin Reilly for Yahoo Life,^[10] by Anam Alam to Thred,^[11] in reports from French Newspapers Grazia,^[12] and Le Monde.

Belgian researchers Julie Dobbeleir, Koenraad Van Landuyt and Stan J. Monstrey have studied the practice, finding evidence of it happening in Belgium at least since the 1950s:^[13]

The husband stitch has also been referenced in a 2004 study about the abuse of episiotomies in São Paulo:^[14]

Similarly in Cambodia, the practice has been linked to high rates of episiotomy:^[15]

Popular culture

A short story by Carmen Maria Machado, "The Husband Stitch", first published in 2014 by Granta and later published in the collection Her Body and Other Parties, describes a woman undergoing the procedure.^[16]

In Doom Patrols season 2 2020 premiere, Cliff's father tells him, "When that baby doctor asks if you want the husband stitch, you tell him, 'I'll take two.^[17]

In Colin From Accounts 2022 season 1 episode 4, a patient's male companion asks the protagonist student doctor to "throw another stitch in there, make it like new" and later on a different patient's male companion asks her to "chuck a husband stitch in there".^[18]

Further reading

• Braun. V.. Wilkinson. S.. Socio-cultural representations of the vagina. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology. 4 August 2010. 19. 1. 17–32. 10.1080/02646830020032374. 145198475.
• Green. Fiona J.. From clitoridectomies to 'designer vaginas': The medical construction of heteronormative female bodies and sexuality through female genital cutting. Sexualities, Evolution & Gender. August 2005. 7. 2. 170. 10.1080/14616660500200223.
• Mayra, K., Sandall, J., Matthews, Z. et al. Breaking the silence about obstetric violence: Body mapping women’s narratives of respect, disrespect and abuse during childbirth in Bihar, India. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 22, 318 (2022). .
• Zaami S, Stark M, Beck R, Malvasi A, Marinelli E. Does episiotomy always equate violence in obstetrics? Routine and selective episiotomy in obstetric practice and legal questions. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2019 Mar;23(5):1847-1854. PMID 30915726.

Notes and References

1. Book: The Year After Childbirth. Kitzinger. Sheila. 1994. Oxford University Press. 978-0192177841. 1st. Oxford. 71. Sheila Kitzinger.
2. Braun . Virginia . Kitzinger . Celia . The perfectible vagina: Size matters . Culture, Health & Sexuality . January 2001 . 3 . 3 . 263–277. 10.1080/13691050152484704 . 10.1.1.552.8931 . 143982758 . Virginia Braun . Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson.
3. Web site: Vinopal . Lauren . Who's Afraid of the 'Husband Stitch'? New Moms Everywhere . Fatherly . 17 August 2017 . 15 October 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171016070105/https://www.fatherly.com/health-science/why-parents-fear-husband-stitch/ . 16 October 2017 . live .
4. News: The 'Husband Stitch' During Episiotomy Repair is a Disturbing Reality for Many New Mothers . Ritschel . Chelsea . The Independent. 29 January 2018. 9 February 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180207220039/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/husband-stitch-episiotomy-misogyny-motherhood-pregnancy-surgery-stitch-sexism-childbirth-a8184346.html. 7 February 2018. live.
5. Book: Transactions of the Texas State Medical Association. Seventeenth Annual Session. 21–23 April 1885. Texas State Medical Association. Houston, Texas.
6. Book: Kitzinger, Sheila . The Year After Childbirth: Surviving and Enjoying the First Year of Motherhood . HarperCollins Canada . 1994 . 9780002550727.
7. Web site: 2014-06-24 . Le point du mari, un vrai scandale? . 2023-03-10 . elle.fr . fr . The husband stitch, a real scandal?.
8. News: 2014-04-18 . Derrière le " point du mari ", le traumatisme de l'épisiotomie . Jeantet . Diane . fr . Le Monde.fr . 2023-03-10 . Behind the “husband stitch”, the trauma of episiotomy.
9. Web site: Halton . Mary . 26 April 2018 . The 'Husband Stitch' Leaves Women in Pain and Without Answers . Vice.
10. Web site: Is 'the husband stitch' a medical myth? Women speak out about their experience. . Reilly . Kaitlin . 2023-03-10 . Yahoo Life . 21 February 2023 .
11. Web site: 2023-01-17 . Understanding the pain behind the 'husband stitch' . Alam . Anam . 2023-03-10 . Thred Website .
12. Web site: Mezaguer . Louhann . auteurs-louhann_mezaguer . 2021-11-26 . Point du mari : tout savoir sur cette mutilation gynécologique faite à l'insu des femmes en post-partum pour favoriser le plaisir de l'homme . 2023-03-10 . Grazia . fr-FR . Husband stitch: everything you need to know about this gynecological mutilation carried out without the knowledge of postpartum women to promote the man's pleasure.
13. Dobbeleir . Julie M. L. C. L. . Landuyt . Koenraad Van . Monstrey . Stan J. . May 2011 . Aesthetic Surgery of the Female Genitalia . Seminars in Plastic Surgery . 25 . 2 . 130–141 . 10.1055/s-0031-1281482 . 1535-2188 . 3312147 . 22547970.
14. Diniz . Simone G . Chacham . Alessandra S . 2004-01-01 . "The Cut Above" and "the Cut Below": The Abuse of Caesareans and Episiotomy in São Paulo, Brazil . Reproductive Health Matters . 12 . 23 . 100–110 . 10.1016/S0968-8080(04)23112-3 . 0968-8080 . 15242215. 25469154 . free .
15. Schantz . Clémence . Sim . Kruy Leang . Ly . Ek Meng . Barennes . Hubert . Sudaroth . So . Goyet . Sophie . May 2015 . Reasons for routine episiotomy: A mixed-methods study in a large maternity hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia . Reproductive Health Matters . 23 . 45 . 68–77 . 10.1016/j.rhm.2015.06.012 . 1460-9576 . 26278834. 23339273 . free .
16. Web site: Machado . Carmen Maria . Carmen Maria Machado . The Husband Stitch . . 28 October 2014 . 2 February 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180128111411/https://granta.com/The-Husband-Stitch/ . 28 January 2018 . live .
17. Web site: Make it Tighter: The Husband's Stitch . livewire.thewire.in . 2022-04-13. 2023-01-30.
18. Web site: Colin From Accounts Season 1 Episode 4 Recap . reelmockery.com . 2022-04-13. 2022-12-15.