Do you think being told how 'dilated' you are is beneficial?

Hi everyone,
this question has played on my mind ever since I had my girls. For both my births I was never at any stage told how dilated I was. I strongly believe that this helped me get through labour. The whole time I was thinking my baby is almost here when really I was prob only 4cm dilated. Had they told me that, I probably would have been so disheartened, thinking is this ever going to end, esp with my Dd1 who was born full OP. Just wondering for those of you who were told how far dilated you were, did you find it helpful or a hinderance for your state of mind during birth? I birthed with a birth centre midwife so I wonder if that is their policy.....

Absolutely not, but also a little bit yes :lol:

I thought I was a lot further than I actually was when I got to the hospital in labour with DD. I had been 3cm for the two weeks prior & after five hours of hard labour I hadn't budged. That was a killer, I couldn't believe it had been so full on for so long with no change. Three hours later no change & I was still disheartened by knowing nothing was happening.

Another hour & a half later I said I needed an epidural because I thought I wouldn't have changed again & couldn't cope. So they checked & I was up to 9cm, so 6cm in an hour & a half when there was no change for 8 hours previously. That news was absolutely awesome & gave me the energy to keep going knowing it was so so close at that stage.


(I ended up with an emergency c/s another 1.5 hours later though :( )

same!! i was 4 cm for the last friggin month and i wnet to 42 weekds

badddddddddddddddddddddddddd-

I would say yes and no..
I remember at one point of labour I thought in my head "**** pethadein(sp) give me an epidural!!" So I asked for the midwife to see how dialated I was and I was 8cm, so that encouraged me to hang on as I was so far along.

No obviously for the reason the other girls said, If I asked at that point and I was only say 2cm I probably would have felt like I couldnt keep going.

No.... With my last 3 births I refused all requests to put hands in my vagina. I have seen in done plenty with my clients and it is not beneficial! In fact I would say it is quite the opposite.

xx

No way... Having long labours, It always crushed me to be told I was "only 4 cms" or something like that...

Stupidly though, I wanted to know. Mostly because for all those hours of pain, I wanted to be told something good like 8cms..

My first was an induced labour and I had been 3cms to start.

When the pain got too much I asked for an internal that showed still 3cms maybe can stretch an extra half.

I was crushed that all that pain was still no progress so I asked for an epidural.

Epidural went in, they checked again and I had a small lip left - so essentially 9.5cms.....

Granted I was kinda glad the epidural worked when I tore and had to get stitches - but angry I had to go to 9.5cms before the epidural worked and then had 5 hours of epi when it wasn't needed :rolleyes:

This time round I am refusing all exams unless something doesn't feel right OR I completely lose it and have decided to transfer to the main hospital for an epidural. Only then will I get an exam.

I don't think it's beneficial to know. It would be disheartning to hear (for eg) after 30 hours of labour that you're only 3cms!
With DD2 the midwife broke my waters (at my request) and said that I was 3cm, 50 min later she was born. And I think I was one of the lucky ones there. She was just sitting there waiting for the waters to break to make her exit.

For me NO. I had an IE and being told that not to much had happened really knocked me of focus. Ended up having an epidural!!

Hmmmm I never got told but think it wouldn't have been a good thing. I found out when I was pg with Elijah that when I got to hossy with Oskar I was 9cm.... with Elijah though I don't know what I was but I do know that there was slow progress with some of it as the doc commented that there wasn't any or much change in about an hour and if things didn't start moving more then they were going to discuss another c/s.... ahahahah not on my watch Nelly... had already had a VBAC and I think it kick started my body again cos he was born about half an hour later. Anyway, back to question... I think it would've disheartened me especially with Elijah.

It depends what the answer is ;) When I got to hospital and the midwife did an internal and told me I was 7cm, I was shocked to be so far along. It got me excited knowing I was heading into transition with not long to go. I'm glad I held out at home for as long as possible.

Thanks for your replies ladies. What you have all said is exactly what I was thinking. I'm so glad I never knew. I know my midwife knew, I do remember the internals vividly especially with DD1 but I'm so glad she never told me. As far as I knew, the baby's head was almost out for the whole of my labour! Lol.

Hi
I'm with you! ;)
With DS1 I had an internal and they told me I was 4cms!!! I asked for an epi as I couldn't believe I was only 4cm! anyway I ended with a c/s.

DS2 was booked c/s so don't really know.

DS3 I never had any internals while in Labor. I rekon if I did have one and they told me I was only 4 or 6 cm I would have flipped out again! I did get excited when I heard my midwife tell my OB I was in transition! :D

i think they are really unnessacary unless there is a problem.

Nah, never wanted to know from someone else, I only ever wanted to be connected to what was happening, without the distraction of facts and figures.

I had two IEs and both time the midwife said I was 'only 4cm', and when they told me that the second time I compeltely lost it. It had been hours, I'd been in hospital 12 hours, I was 4cm at midnight and then not much past 4cm at 7-8am... I was hysterical and screamed hysterically at every contraction, Shel says she was really scared. I got an epi at that point and it ended with Jazz getting so stuck that even the vacuum couldn't get her out, and we needed a c/s.

Next time no one is checking. My dilation means nothing, it can't even be used as a tool to see if bub is distressed so all fingers are being kept clear of my vagina and cervix during labour thank you very much unless they are mine... and maybe Shel's!!!!!

With DD I had two IE's. One when I got to hospital after abour 4 hours of labour and was told about 4cm. Second one was 6 hours later and only 5cm. So I was completely disheartened and just wanted to give up. Luckily DH managed to calm me down, I refused any further examinations and she was born another 10hours later.

With DS, walked straight into labour suite telling midwife absolutely no IE's and I coped much better.

I don't think its helpful and I think you know when your near the end (well I did anyway!). Honestly I think its better to not think about how dilated you may be and just go with the flow (removing all clocks helps too lol!)

Sangie, so true about the clocks. I never knew how long I'd been labour for until it was over. I knew it had been a while cos it had gotten dark outside but that was it. I specifically didn't ask how long I'd been there for or what time it was. I knew it would just distract me from the job at hand. If there are all these negative stories, why do they regularly do the IE then? Apart from when there's something possibly wrong obviously.....

I liked knowing how dialated i was. I was able to feel proud of the progress I was making, which gave me the encouragement to keep going. I imagine i will want to know in my next labour too

That's a great way of looking at it. Maybe they should be selective in what they tell the birthing mother then?....I mean if they aren't progressing but it's not a serious problem maybe hold off saying anything....but I can definitely see how it would be encouraging if the news was good....

I dont want to be told when i go into labour. I think if i find out im only like 4cm or so ill feel really disheartned. Its kinda like when i was trying to lose weight before getting preggers, i would be really good for the week and the scales was my reward at the end of the week, if i jumped on the scales and hadn't lost anything or only a few grams, i would be like "what was all that hard work for then?" and want to eat a tub of icecream.
I wont ask for an internal and refuse if they try to do one unless the MW thinks something is wrong, but once i know they know, ill want to know too, you know? LOL :) (did you follow that?)

Of course its helpful if you're progressing...

I'm the sort of person who wants to know details, so if someone did an IE I would want to know the result. With my DS I had one about half an hour after arriving at the hospital, to be told I was 5-6 cm. I was stoked! A couple of hours later, contractions were much worse and the MW said she thought I was progressing really well and would be ready to push soon. Ob came in and did another IE, only to tell me 5-6 cm. This time I was crushed and demanded an epidural, even though I hadn't wanted to have one.

So I'm another one who thinks they're great if you're progressing, but terrible if you're not.

:

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I don't think its helpful and I think you know when your near the end (well I did anyway!). Honestly I think its better to not think about how dilated you may be and just go with the flow (removing all clocks helps too lol!)

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:yeahthat:

The thing that really interrupted my flow big time with DS was the cranky old midwife who told me I was 2cm (I think?), gave me a panadeine forte and sent me home saying "you're in for another 24 hours of this". Being told that really badly disheartened me, and the panadeine forte made me too sleepy to focus properly but did nothing for the pain whatsoever. DS was born 3 or 4 hours later.

I think if I hadn't have been told how far dilated I was I would have had more confidence in my body to say no we're staying here and no I don't need the panadeine. I feel I knew I was near the end (I did transition when we arrived home), but telling me that undermined the confidence I had in my body. I had a great birthing experience overall, but I'm really angry that I had to experience such awful pain in the car needlessly because I didn't believe in my body, not to mention the sinking feeling of "omg i'm never going to be able to do another 24 hours of this, i need an epi or a CS".

When we arrived back at the hospital a few hours later I remember yelling from my wheelchair "I don't want to go home again, please don't make me go home" Little did I know I was at 9cm LOL.

Next time I will be requesting no IE and no cranky old midwives LOL

Tish
xx

imo, yes! i wasn't checked for dilation until labor! i thought it was a mandatory thing to do at your 37 week midwife appointment? i was a bit disappointed, just needed some insight on how things are going.

I always wanted to know cause my labours are long and difficult, but to my detriement was never good news although I always hoped it would be. I think you would be far better off not knowing so it does'nt knock you for six, but in saying that I am a gluten for punishemnt and am sure I will be asking this time around as well????? (I am slightly crazy)

I wanted to know because it was important to me to have an idea of how I was going because I wanted to know if I would need to step up the pain relief - eg. I was having gas, and was starting to think about other pain relief options, mw gave me an ie and I had progressed so I thought I could hang on with just the gas. If the news had been different maybe I would have asked for stronger pain relief. Also when I wanted to push obviously I needed to know where I was at so I knew whether to go for it or not. so yeah I think it can be useful but it is no doubt disheartening if you aren't as far along as you had hoped.

I was induced so they had to do internal exams to see how I was progressing. I remember I'd been in labour for a long time, and everyone was thinking I'd be about 6 cms which would be really good, and that encouraged me, but then we found out I hadn't actually dilated at all since they'd broken my waters earlier that morning and it upset me so much I was physically sick.

I think it really depends on your frame of mind. If you have your hopes up, you'll be disappointed. If you're doubting yourself, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Personally, if I'd had the choice, I wouldn't want to know how dilated I was, because I really lost focus & hope when I found out that nothing was happening!

First time around i wasnt checked for dilation until DD was in distress which was after 17.5hrs labour.....when i heard i was only 1cm i was sooo disapointed as there was nothing they could do to speed things up to get her out.... result was a ceaser.

Second time round i liked to know just to make sure i was progressing this time, although i didnt need as many as they gave me!

IN fast labours I would say it is great, but in slow labours it would be really upsetting. I think when I have done my study I will tell the actual number if there is good progress, but if the number is not wonderful then just say 'You're doing wonderfully, keep going'

I agree with Alioops :D I would go with the encouragement over the number, and look for them to offer a different position, or to walk around etc to help things move along, rather than you have only dialeted 1 cm in four hours. I feel that would be very disheartening, but I can't really understand what that would be like... yet ;)

For me having a very fast labour, and a premature one, we wanted to know if it was possible to stop it, but I had gone to 7-8cm, after 45 minutes of contractions (1 1/2 hours after waters broke) so for me it gave me a clear sign that we weren't going to be able to stop the labour, and that it would soon be over, and 45 min later she was out.