Dialation can stall due to the presence or influx of catecholamines - a stress hormone which puts the body in a state of fight or flight - and can stop a woman's contractions altogether.
Given that she was artificially induced before labour had the chance to start when nature intended, it is also likely that her body simply wasn't ready for labour, and this is why so many inductions end in complications and ultimately a c-section - the body simply says "No, this was not my plan - listen to me, not the guy in the white coat!"
Thats terrible that she now fears birthing naturally again. I'd recommend she read Henci Goer's book The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth - it explains in great detail why births which begin with intervention have a much higher risk of ending in intervention, and why allowing labour to start naturally is the safest and easiest way for the body to birth.
Although she may not want to consider it at the moment - birth trauma does fade over time and the experience is still very raw in her head so its only natural that she feels defensive about that. But the facts are that 2nd labours are renowned for being easier than the first - the body simply knows what to do - especially if it is permitted to start naturally.
I hope that with time, and the right sort of information, she is able to have faith in her body enough to try again.
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Last edited by JellyBean; September 25th, 2009 at 05:24 PM.
DD was not posterior and my labour stalled at 7cm and was even told by the midwife that she thought I was going backwards! This was in a Birth Centre and I was very comfortable, no fear, nothing changed etc to 'cause' it to happpen. I was transferred to a hosp and told by diff obs and drs that it is not uncommon in a first labour for this to happen and most unusual in subsequent labours and I have even read into it online and saw it in the very general What the Expect when you are Expecting book. So I can't answer the original qu- 'What causes it to happen' but just wanted to add my bit and that it is not unusual!
The funny name for your friend's labor pattern was a Posterior Arrest. The mother is not a jail, however. Releasing the baby means releasing the mother, too. By this, I mean, that often tight or twist pelvic floor muscles can hold a baby back at 7-8 cm for many hours.
If we can do a technique to release the tension on those muscles, the baby may be able to either rotate to a better postion (anterior, with its smaller head circumference) or simply suddenly have room to come out
An inversion and a pelvic floor release are two things that can be tried. See About Spinning Babies for a free education on Posterior presentation or other tricky fetal positions.
It doesn't have to repeat. Second babies are worth it!
This happened to me. Induced labour, posterior bub and only 3 or 4cm dilated.
I was told that the baby's head pushing on the cervix helps it to open and this doesn't work as well when bub is posterior. My bub got stuck and I was told that is why I didn't dilate any further.
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