How long did your pushing last?

Hi all! I'm really curious after talking to other new mums...how long did your pushing last when bubs was born? My labour started around 8am, at about 2pm I got to hospital fully dialated & was told to start pushing...Riley was born at 5:45pm that day after pushing for at least 3 hours & only after an episiotomy did he come out... I was extremely buggered...

A friend who had a baby 2 weeks later didn't even push for 15 minutes...lucky girl!!!!

How long did you push for before your bub arrived??

I pushed for exactly 1 hr. That was my first baby.

I didn't really need to push. I was vomiting (m/s) so each time I vomited she'd come out. I did this 3 times and she was out, so only a couple of minutes.

Less than 15 minutes both times here too. I was worried about intervention so I pushed as hard as I could.

I pushed for 3 hours and 43 minutes with my first VBAC. He was posterior & delivered face up. The midwife encouraged me to push. I didn't feel an urge to push until towards the end. I think that left on my own, I would not have pushed the first few hours, would have ended up maybe half an hour to an hour total?
With my 2nd VBAC, the midwife waited till I felt the urge. She told me later that she thought I was fully dilated for at least a couple of hours before I pushed. I felt the urge on my own and pushed about 25 minutes. It seemed like about 5 minutes!

i pushed for 2 hours though it didnt feel like that long!!

Yeah I didn't feel the urge to push till the end either...and I was pushing extremely hard the whole time because his head kept coming out a bit then going back in...that lasted at least an hour! Argh!

Oooooh, a <15 minute pushing time sounds like bliss!!! ;)

With Lindsay it was not quite 1.5hrs, with Erin, it was about 10-15 minutes (she was nearly born on the toilet LOL) and with Paige it was nearly 1/2hr, but her shoulders got stuck and she was posterior.

I pushed three times, 2 for the head and one for the body. I was pushing for about 6 mintues. The midwife was telling me to start pushing an hour before that, and I refused to cause I didn't feel the need to. Once I started pushing it was over quickly (after 32 hours of labour)

It's good to wait for the urge - there is such a pressure to push as soon as you hit 10cms but its a good opportunity to rest and get a second wind of energy for pushing. The body is an amazing thing. Makes sense to work the the natural urge, which is a strong expulsion feeling... surely has to be quicker and easier to work with it than do it all on your own!

im sio excited!! i cant wait :D

That 2nd wind of energy is fantastic! I was just DYING during that last stage of transition.. then suddenly I felt like I had to go to the loo and started pushing. Maybe the adrenalin of "ok this is real now.. I'm about to push out a baby" gives you the energy too. LOL. And yep the urge to push is well.. undeniable. I've no idea how people hold back their pushing!

2 long hard hours for me.

about 30 minutes for me which is not too bad considering an hour before when we got to the hospital I was only 2/4 engaged!!! Francesca was in a hurray!!

I never had the urge to push.. but was made to by a horrible midwife.. i think i was pushing for around 1.5 hrs until they realised the baby was posterior and well and truely stuck

I also ended up with a minor prolapse so i recommend not pushing forcefully when you have no urge for that long - your body is probably trying to tell you something!

I'm still waiting to find out what this urge is that people talk about !

First was posterior and stuck - almost 3 long agonizing hours and made to lie on a bed for no apparent reason by a midwife that was plain awful.

Second I had educated myself much more, let gravity do the work, listened to my body and not the shoddy hospital's midwives (I kicked them out until I felt the urge to push LOL) and did it in 20 minutes.

Long pushing stage for the first is normal, subsequent babies are meant to go much quicker (thank goodness!)

Yep I'm another one that got a second wind by the pushing stage! I literally felt alive and so excited though my body was exhausted! I was pushing for 20 minutes.

I really enjoyed the pushing stage as well Shannon!

My first baby I pushed for over 3 hours. We laboured for 33 hours in total. She was posterior and ended up brow presentation.

My second baby I pushed for 20 minutes. My third was about 3 good pushes. My fourth baby was a big push and she was in the water.

As Kelly said waiting for that urge is a good thing. Some hospitals/midwives want to get it all over but that resting time is sometimes given to us just to recoup before the grand finale! :hug:

ashlea was also posterior. Backing what kelly said about waiting until my body was ready to push, not when they told me to, i ended up with no tears, not cuts, no intervention and was literally bouncing around straight after the birth. I was pain free cause i waited til my body was ready and didn't have any problems at all :)

I pushed for over 2 hours with no 1 and ended up with a forcep delivery, but I pushed for 14 mins with No 2 and it was awesome. I love that feeling!

I pushed for about 1 hour with my first. (never felt the urge to push, actually, and I didn't have an epidural, either. But the good part was that I could stop without difficulty when she was crowning, so I didn't tear.)
About 10 minutes (4-5 pushes) with my second. I couldn't believe she was out already! Also no tearing! Hurray!
Both girls were about 7 hours of labour from first contraction to the end.

Wow I can't imagine pushing for three hours that would've killed me you poor girl!

I pushed for an hour and then they gave me the option of the ventouse which I gratefully accepted. I had been in strong labour for nearly 20 hours at that point and it was 5am in the morning so I was absolutely exhausted. 5 mins after I said they could use the ventouse she was out thank god.

I was 10cm dilated at 3.30am but midwife said to wait another hour till i start pushing, so she came back at 4.30am and i started to push and out she came at 5.20am so just under an hour...felt like 5 mins!!!

with my first i pushed for around 2 1/2 hours and needed an episotomy and forceps to help her out

with #2 around 15mins

#3 umm around 2 pushes if that lol - she just flew out rather quickly lol

With Jovie I felt the urge and I guess pushed or rather went with the urges for around 45 minutes.

About 3 minutes with 2 & 3 :)
Cant remember with #1

Tanya

I'd say probably 15 mins max with all 3 of my boys as well. I had no option but to push hard and fast with lachlan as he was in great distress and they needed him out, Kameron's I had an epidural so I just pushed when they told me too LOL, and Ashton was only 3 to 4 pushes with a short rest between each push and they told me to push when i was ready.

Love

15 mins here too... midwife said i pushed like a trojan!!! yay me

1hr40 minutes with Maddy. Certainly didn't feel that long - I really zoned out in concentration. I'd imagine it would have been faster not flat on my back, but I chose to have an epidural so I was prepared for a longer actual pushing/delivery stage especially with Maddy being my first. :)

Aidyn took 20 mins to push out.

1 1/2 hrs for Ruby. Second stage came really quickly and the midwife didn't quite believe I had the unbelievable urge to push. Im sure it would have been faster but I was quite scared of that part. After verbalising my fears and being reassured It was ok to go with the urge it still took ages cause my contractions were a couple of mins apart right up to the end and she kept popping back in! Frustrating!

#1 labour was 5 hours and i pushed for about 1hr 45mins. I never felt the urge and just pushed when they told me to because i knew no different. Needed the vacuum extraction in the end.

#2 labour was recorded as 14 hours. I pushed for 33 minutes. I had an epidural but when i still felt the urge to push when i was 9cms. They turned the epi right down so i could feel more and i held on until 10cms. I loved that i could feel it that time. Felt like i was in complete control. In the end he shot out pretty fast too. The midwife wasn't even ready, she told me i was doing well then she turned around and said, omg the heads coming out!

Wow, there's such a variety!! I couldn't imagine what it would be like to only push for a short while...it must be fantastic! I was totally BUGGERED after my 3+ hours of hard/full on pushing and didn't have the energy to even talk... It's definitely left a very bad impression on me when I think of childbirth...hehe! (not that anyone could actually enjoy it I'm sure)

Sherie, you will find that baby #1 usually paves the way for #2 to come out a bit easier (not always, but mostly). With Paige the urge to push was just so strong and primal - I tried to hide it from my midwife cause I knew she would take the gas off me if she knew I was pushing, but my body gave me away - it totally overtook my body.

With Jenna there was no pushing urge as I had an epidural. I pushed when they told me to push ;)
With Hamish - he was out in 3 contraction, so I would say about 4-6mins. It was fabbo, bu bloody hell it hurt!!!! :D