Bearing Down/Pushing V Being Told To

Hey again all,
I have a question that I don't think I have asked. Well, if I did, I can't remember the answer, 'cos I didn't write it down. No, that is not the pregnancy hormones at play, I'm usually this much of a goose.
During birth/labour (I forget which stage, but I did read it!) is it better to bear down or push when you get that 'natural uncontrollable urge', or to wait until the midwife/Dr tells you to? Also, doing it when it felt natural, wouldn't that generally mean a less traumatic birth for mother and baby?

Good question. I felt the need to bear down and the midwife was literally yelling at me not to push LOL. Apparently I still needed a few more contractions to fully dilate...

I listened to her and had a shower to distract myself and after that started pushing (about half an hour after I felt the need) and everything went really well.

Would be interesting to hear other people's response though.

When you get the uncontrollable urge most definitely :) The other is called purple pushing and can lead more to tears etc.

I was never told to push, only pushed when I needed too (sure I had encouragement when I was but never told before hand), only thing I was told was to wait LOL!

*hugs*
Cailin

Hmm, no, don't want any tears thank you!
I thought it would be better to push when one felt the urge.
Why wait, oh, for needing to dilate more? Is that all?

Bearing Down or Pushing

LOL I was so mad at my midwife for telling me not to push when I needed to. When I was in the shower every contraction I had I was almost down on my knees trying to stop pushing while she hovered by the door telling me not to push!!! I was about 7 or 8 cm as well when I first wanted to push Shannon.

I never really felt the urge to push like crazy....I was 10cm when I got to the hospital (thanks to my lovely bath at home) so was ready to....but as I said, I never had the uncrontrollable urge. My midwive had two fingers on my perineum to help me focus on 'where' to push if that makes sense, and when I had a contraction, she'd say 'Push Catherine, push!' (which was weird in itself as no one's called me Catherine for about 20 years!) which I did, three or four times until the contraction was over.
As it was, it took 2 hours to get Caty out (her poor little head!) so in hindsight perhaps I should have waited until I had the urge and I'd have gotten more rest and the pushing stage would have been quicker?
Whatever was the right 'way' to go, it was still a most fantastic birthing experience...
Good luck!

The urge to push doesn't always come straight away, it can take hours, something they don't give you in hospital. I will choose to wait for the urge next time. I never felt it with my first because I had an epidural of course ;) But when I had a drug-free birth, it was powerful and strong, surprised me.

with my second i was told not to push, that i didnt need to , bubs would do it herself. true but abit scary!:Plol
a drugfree birth no one should need to tell you when to push - you know! completely different if you have an epi and are all numb (like on tv births) LOL

Hum. So theoretically, if it's a natural birth with no urge to push once fully dilated, you can hang out for a few hours until you get the urge? Surely they'd 'let' you wait it out if you had that stupid (not so stupid in this situation!) monitor on giving you bub's heart-beat and it was fine? Interesting to ponder what they'd do if you refused to push! Hehe. Worth trying.

Unfortunately cc alot of hospitals prefer to get things going quickly so are urged to urge patients to purple push. Some people see the benefits in having the baby out fast. However I'd rather let nature take its course as if thats what my body wants then thats whats best for me IMO. Especially when its my pelvic floor muscles at risk LOL!

*hugs*
Cailin

When ever i wanted to push id get told "no not yet' and id scream 'but i have toooooo'. In some cases i didnt need to push but it helped iin getting her closer. In the end i couldnt push her out myself and had to get vac extraction, she kept slipping back in.

Go with what your body tells you to do.

Arrgghh! My internet window just closed, and I had finished typing a post! Darn it!
Now, what did I say? Oh yes, I did go back and reread that article (Bearing Down or Pushing). I had read it a while ago, but forgotten.
We had our first birthing class at the hospital last night (not breathing, just theory), and the midwife that ran the class said they at the hospital are more than happy to let things run on their own for labours and birth, as long as the mother and baby are doing well. They also seem more into the active birth, than stranded crab on your back position (unless of course you have an epi.). They seem really good. My man was very happy. And so supportive of me. We watched a video on epidurals, and I watched as much as I could, but still ended up having to turn away, and cried, cos I can't stand needles.
He is soo good to me.:hugs:

I dont do needles either & I believe my pure hatred for them is what has scared me enough not to have an epi...

I push when they say not too, but the urge is so strong you cant do anything but not push....

As Shannon says why would you trust a person who is feeling your bits & pieces for a few seconds when your the one experiencing it....?

When I called the hospital when in labour with Indah, the MW said well you seem to be speaking OK, so it might still be a while this was at 9:45pm, I still felt it was getting close So said Lets go, so off we went & arrived just after 10pm at the Hospital... The MW said I think bubs will be here at 2am, Dh said I reckon 12:30 (I glared at him, I mean what would he know?)
Indah arrived at 12:31am!!! I say push when you feel the need....

I felt huge pressure around 7cm but it got ridiculously hard to ignore after awhile and while I was trying to stop it on midwife advice my body was pushing regardless which made me exhausted and sore. I kept saying I needed to push but the midwives insisted it wasnt time, turns out I was right, I ended up being 10cm and after a half hour of pushing when I felt the urge, baby was born with no tears. You def know the difference between pressure and actual needing to push feelings. I contribute my lack of tears to pushing when I had contractions NOT when they felt I should push.