Objective: This quasi-experimental research aimed to compare the proportion of perineal tear of primiparous women who had a natural childbirth and those who had a normal delivery.

Materials and methods: The subjects were 80 primiparous women. They were divided into two groups: 40 in an experimental group and 40 in a control group. The experimental group received natural childbirth program in 6 aspects: 1) humanized health care, 2) psychosocial and emotional support, 3) avoiding routine interventions, 4) not disturbing the natural process of birth, 5) use of non-pharmacological pain relief methods, and 6) strong promotion of the natural process of birth. A questionnaire regarding the perineal tear, was used to collect the data. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, chi-square test, and the Mann-Whitney U test.

Results: It was found that 27.50% of women in experimental group had no perineal tear, 32.50% and 40.00% had a first and second degree tear respectively. All of the women in the control group had an episiotomy and had a second degree perineal tear. The proportion of perineal tear among of women in the experimental group was significantly less than among women in the control group (z=5.73, p<0.001).

Conclusion: The primiparous women who had a natural childbirth without an episiotomy had the proportion of perineal tear significantly less than women in the control group with routine episiotomy.