Slowing down FIRST stage of labour

OK, so many of you who have been through a marathon 1st stage would kill for a 6 hour 1st stage but I'm on a slightly different boat.

Both my mother and maternal grandmother had nice, quick. non eventful and reasonably easy 1st stages never longer than 6 hours and I'm guessing that seeings my pregnancy has been much the same as their pregnancies, I could possibly expect to have a similar experience in labour.

My problem is (or I should say could be) that my DF works in Norway 7 days and is home 7 days and our bub is due on thursday the 19th and he's meant to get home late in the evening of wednesday the 18th. If by chance I go into labour early and it progresses quickly, there's a chance he won't be able to get on a flight and get home in time or if he's at his base and it's the middle of the night, make the 7 hour drive home before the baby is out and that would be a shame for all of us.

How can you slow down a 1st stage that has already started?

Can it be done safely?

Can it be done non medically?

The worst case scenario is if it's 11pm and he's just landed in Trondheim...the next flight out would be 8 next morning and he wouldn't be home before midday, meaning that if quick labours are in my genes then by the time he gets home I'll be well and truely done with the job....that would suck.

Not sure about slowing down labour Adele.
But couldn't DF fly into Copenhagen this month (assuming he flies into Stockholm) and cut his driving time down? Or is his driving in the Norway end?

Hi Deb and first of all congratulations on the new arrival, I tried to e-mail you but it seems you've changed your email address since I last heard! BTW, he shares a birthday with my mum!

Thomas is based in Sandefjord (Torp airport) which is just southwest of Oslo and a 50 min flight to Copenhagen (the normal way for him to get home) He has a car up there to get from the airport to his house at the base.

If I call him and say 'get home now', the quickest he could get home would be about 2 hours door to door, assuming there's a flight about to go and he can then just catch the Öresundståg from Kastrup to Malmö. If he's just missed a flight and he's in Sandefjord then he could have anything from 4 hours to 12 hours to the next flight so he'd just jump in the car and drive home (that's the 7 hours) but if he's in Trondheim and it's eveing then he's stuck there til the next morning - or if he's just landed in Aberdeen and has a 4 hour wait before flying back to Bergen and then Bergen to Sandefjord and Sandefjord to Kastrup...that could take longer...see why I'm worried!!!?!!!!

With a bit of luck, bub will come on his due date and it won't be an issue but with babies...you never know!

Hi!

No I didn't get your email and haven't changed addresses ...hmmm...try aidt @ privat dot dk without the spaces...
Thanks for the congratumalations! I look forward to hearing about your new arrival. Keep in touch.

Did you arrive on, before or after your due date? I was early and both my bubs have been early (according to dates not dating scans). That could be an indicator.

You will probably find you have increasing signs that labour is imminent - could be over a couple of weeks or days. the thing is everyone is so different, its just so impossible to predict what will happen.

Have you got someone else there that can be with you for the birth, if Thomas can't make it?

I'm sure everything will work out perfectly hon, try not worry!

If things are going too fast and you want to slow things down, get on your hands and knees to get pressure off your cervix. You can also put your head down, bum up. From memory this is what they also suggest you do if you notice you have a prolapsed cord, until help arrives.

Also being in a bath in early labour works against gravity and is good too.

Not sure if it was just the way my labours were going to be but I found that having a hot shower stalled my labour for a couple of days (much to my dismay I must add!). Also using the TENS machine in the early stages seemed to slow it down also.

Thanks girls,

Yeah I do have a couple of backup girlfriends to help me out if he's delayed. on knees and elbows with my bum in the air for 12 hours doesn't exactly appeal(!) but if that's what I have to do then I will! Hot showers sound great...that's one of my great loves all the same so I won't have any trouble applying that one.

I was born on my due date as was my mother. My sisters (twins) came 5 weeks early as mum had heatstroke (35 weeks pregnant with twins in a record hot february will do that!) and my brother came a week late.

We can just hope that bub owns a calander in there and knows to come onthe 19th!

:crossfingers: Fingers crossed here for you!

My friend's DH is a pilot & was away (but still in the country) when she went into labour. She was doing all she could to slow things down while he was trying to get there. From memory she tried laying on her back & even raising her pelvis, working against gravity.

Lets hope you don't have to worry about it!