Pushing for First Time Mothers

[tippytoes]

Wow what an informative article! Thanks Julie! The female body is amazing!

Rach xx

[Karina]

Julie, I'm in Sydney.
What you said - about how half the time the hospital causes these problems because of the environment and all the people hanging around - I told my husband exactly the same thing quite a while ago and he just thinks "oh it was going to happen anyway, so its a good thing they were there". Even though the midwife told me to get into a position that was the worst possible position to give birth in (who gives birth with their head lower than their pelvis?? I was telling the midwife it didnt feel right, but she just said "of course it doesnt, youre in labour, its going to hurt" Stupid midwife!) So, really I reckon the midwife made it harder for me by not listening to me and prolonged my labour by at least 2 hours. It didnt help that my husband is one of those people who thinks birth is scary and that the midwife knows everything.

[Cassius2]

thank you so much for posting this article! what a great read! i too wished i had of read it while pregnant with DD1.

I disliked the way the staff were urging me to push constantly, when in reality i was only getting urges on the 2nd and 3rd waves of the contraction. i found pushing on the first, weaker urge wasted sooo much of my energy. in the end, i used a mirror so that at least i could focus on that instead of what they were saying. and then, when they told me to stop pushing i told them that they would have to tell my body that, cause i was no longer in charge of it! and DD came flying out at 100 miles an hour LOL!

I'll def read this article if i fall pg again!

[teddy]

great read

[Beth-n-Sara]

I'm so glad I read this.

Fantastic article

[Kailani]

Argh! I wish I had read this before I had DS. Although my labour and birth was completely fuss free - no drugs/intervention, 2.5 hours at a birth centre (thanks God), I was continually "pushed" by the midwives to push when I didn't feel the urge!! I believe that it really contributed to how sore I was down there for MONTHS after the birth.

Also, it's nice to know internals are not necessary to assess labour progress. I was told I had to have one to be allowed in the bath I had already had one and it was so painful I didn't dare have another one, so I didn't get a waterbirth like I had wanted

Great article!!

[Jas]

Thanks for sharing! That is a fantastic article!!

[madamerogers]

that is just the thing i needed to read julie- thank you

i too like tellytubby have a little fear of my second impending labour, but am glad to have come across your post

thankyou

[CrazyLady]

This gets me a bit sad of the time limits imposed by so many places (including the hospital where my birth centre was)... I was only allowed 2 hours for this gentle pushing. My instincts were to go (relatively) gently and I was supported in that but in the end my 2 hours were up and everything had to change to crazy, intense pushing to get my baby out to avoid intervention. So, I think for this to work hospital policies on time limits need to change. My problem wasn't my midwife but the policies we were under pressure from.

I was really lucky because I didn't feel rushed. Also lucky that they let me go with my instincts and rest if i felt like I needed to between pushing. I have heard hospitals/birth centres do give time limits and i think that's bs.... you can't rush a natural wonder!

[Julie Doula]

You could print out articles like this one, and others such as the Maternity Coalition info sheet on instinctive versus directed pushing, and put them in a clear book, and take them along to ante-natal visits with your careprovider. If they are great cps, they'll say, "Great! So glad you came across this. That is just what we do here, and why." And if they are the kind of careproviders who start talking about women dilating 1 cm per hour like good cooperative little machines, and get that pinched prune look about the lips when you're advocating for what you want, then at least you have some advance warning and the opportunity to *run screaming down the street in the opposite direction* and change careproviders/model of care/birth location. You could offer them photo-copies for their waiting rooms ....

Women speaking up for what they want and demanding it, is one way to bring about change.

I spoke with a woman yesterday who told me that she DID NOT KNOW YOU COULD STAND UP AND WALK AROUND IN LABOUR until she read a birth story on my blog, about a woman who mobilised right through her long primip labour. Because of The Bed prominently displayed in the labour room, and sub-conscious messages she'd received through the post-epidural media, and the way many careproviders feel more comfortable once the woman is compliantly upon the bed .... she never even knew that you can walk during labour. Sounds like something from the 60s, doesn't it? During her third birth .... she walked around and refused to lie on the bed .... even for CTG monitoring or VEs.

There's a big difference between caring for a 'patient' like this woman was, before she stumbled across information, and a woman who rocks up with her folder of articles saying, "And I want THIS, and THIS, and THIS, and I won't be having that or that. And here's the research to back up my informed decision."

Chatted to another mama on the weekend who even though it was her first time, had done reading on GBS, knew the risks, weighed the risks, and refused induction and ABs for GBS. The OB told the midwives, "I'm not coming down there to talk to her. She knows what she is doing." Started labour naturally, baby born safely and well in 33 hours.

[lilmisshavachat]

Great articles Julie...

Whenever I see your name on a thread I know I just have to read what it contains... Thanks again...