not able to urinate during labour

i was just thinking about the labour i had with first pregnancy and going through what i liked about it, what i dont want to happen again etc. i remembered that i had a lot of trouble urinating during early labour. i was really trying to sip a heap of water too (cause they said to do that during antenatal class) so you can imagine how full, painful and how much pressure there was, especially when i had a contraction, because i just could not urinate. when i was having an internal examination i had a contraction and i guess either the pressure of the contraction or her hand being up there or just that i was soooooo full caused me to empty my bladder right then and there. i didnt even realise it until the midwife told me. i eventually had an epi and catheter.

my first question is: why would this have happened to begin with?
second question: what can i do in the future so that it doesnt happen again?
third: if it does happen again are there any techniques i should know about that i can try to use?

(sorry that it is a bit of a TMI question and a little embarrasing but i have never heard of this happening before).

I was unable to as well. I was told to give a sample when I first got to hospital but nothing came out and as far as I know there was none till after the birth and I peed in the shower.

Wow thats really interesting. Have never heard of thathappening before & feel for you. Have you spoke to your care provider about it?

Hi

In early labour i could wee and my doula and hubby kept reminding me to go - I was drinking loads of water too - then about an hour from delivery I couldn't think of anything worse than having a contraction on the loo and flat out just told them no I didn't feel the urge to wee anyway - I was sipping in between contractions - then just before I needed to push something happened and it came out :redface:

My advice is to just keep going in early labour and hopefully you won't have the build up you experienced last time. It is not uncommon - there is a lot going on in the body!!

yeah the thing is though i WAS trying to go to the loo frequently but nothing would come out. nah, i havent spoken to anyone about it yet cause i really only just remembered it. i will though cause it is a terrible feeling and i reckon made the pains worse. anyone else know about this sort of thing happening? and how to stop it>?

I wasn't told to drink lots (or any!) water during my labour that I can remember. Or to give a pee sample.

I do remember having to wee and getting helped from the bed to the loo at least twice (where I think I almost fell asleep too!), and giving myself the WORST bruising on the inside of my arm/elbow from holding on so hard to the rail next to the toilet during contractions I guess (the bruising lasted several months!). Anyway, nothing came, and it was apparently how the baby had moved, so they gave me a catheter for just a few minutes, and I remember feeling so much better afterwards. I didn't have an epi.

I guess just go (or try to) when you feel like you need to, and if you can't, then get a catheter. And I would only drink when I wanted to. Not sure I really answered your questions there.

I had the same problem with my first and started a thread on it before bub2 was born. Got some really great replies on what can help. Will see if I can find it.

ETA: Found it https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ng-labour.html

In my case, I was weeing early in labour but the combination of overly full bladder and descent of baby's head stopped me later on. I think it contributed to a much higher level of pain than necessary because the relief and decrease in pain once they catheterised me was enormous!

I wonder whether sitting in a deep bath would help with this? (Holding the baby's weight off the bladder a little?)

thanks astrid.. i am about to have a read through the link you posted but even if i find nothing of use i still feel better knowing i am not the only one this has happened to. :-) oh did you have the same problem second time round?

marydean- yeah it may help to be in water. they dont let you use the bath at the royal in brissy and i was induced so didnt do any labouring at home. its an idea though if i go into labour naturally at home and have the same problem.

netix- did having the catheter put in hurt at all? i had the epi in first and so i dindt really feel the catheter going in. i didnt realise they could do that for just a moment, i thought once it was in it was in for the long haul. thats interesting to know as well.

(just reading through your thread astrid.. i left a post there.. i had totally forgotten about even reading it let alond posting in there before. whoopsy )

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thanks astrid.. i am about to have a read through the link you posted but even if i find nothing of use i still feel better knowing i am not the only one this has happened to. :-) oh did you have the same problem second time round?

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Didn't get a chance to find out second time round :( After speaking to the midwives about my first birth, it looks as though she was a brow presentation and that may have caused the bladder problem during labour.