Natural Birth

for the next one, how do you cope with back labor?(birth story)

my sweet baby girl is 10 days old and perfectly healthy but i'm still a little disapointed with my labor asnd delivery.

my water broke around 10pm fri night and she came at 1:15 sun morning. Because i'm strep B pos i had to be admitted right away to get abx.  Within an hour of my water breaking my ctrx were 5 min apart and we got admitted around 1am.  the first 8 hours i thought i was going to rock it- i was moving, breathing, dilating (slowly). Then around 8-9am, she must have turned slightly because suddenly it was all in my back. I continued walking, breathing, moving. i was down on all fours and kneeling a lot, but within a few hours it was getting the best of me and my support team. my husband was squeezing my hips together (hard- he is a big man and his arms were shaking) my mom was rolling ice cold soda cans across my back, and my best friend was holding my hand and spongeing my face and neck.  By 1pm, the ctrx were so close together i was having trouble relxing in between to gear up for the next one. My mw suggested nubain to help me relax and give me a rest. I did sleep for about an hour, then she checked me and i had only dilated 2cm in 8 hours (4 to 6).  I was still pretty stubborn- i walked some more, got in the tub, on all fours, kneeling, swaying. I even slept in between contractions in the tub. 5pm came and no further dilation, my mw started sounding like i was headed for a c-section if i did not get an epidural and pitocin.  She said my contractions weren't strong enough to dilate ( that was hard to hear as they were ripping me apart) and i needed to be able to rest and sleep before i had to push. It was hard- i was crying, my husband was crying, my mom finally said "hasn't she had enough?" so we went with the epidural and pit. 

After that, everything was uneventful- i slept, and then pushed. But since I had the epidural i had to push on command- hard, so i tore a lot.

The most discouraging part was that my mw didn't offer many suggestions for coping with back labor, and i want to know if there was anything i could have done differently to make it more bearable?

Re: for the next one, how do you cope with back labor?(birth story)

  • It sounds like you coped well, like you did what you could to deal with the pain.

    Talk it out with your support system, including your mw during the follow up checks.

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  • Sounds like you were doing many of the techniques I am familiar with. Sorry that you had such a frustrating labor, but it sounds like you were doing everything right, including taking the epi after that much labor and pain and lack of progress. Please don't be too hard on yourself. 

    The only other thing I had done during my back labor was having my doula stand above me while I was on all fours with a wrap around my belly and pulling towards my back trying to either adjust the baby or provide relief (not 100% sure what she was doing it for, I do know it felt good though).

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  • Honestly, I think the only way I got though both of my back labors was because I was doing a homebirth.  There was no way in hell that I was going to get in a car and drive to the hospital while dealing with back labor if it was not an medical reason.

    Also, my MW never told me what I was dilated or how long I had been in labor- that way I never got frustrated.  My first labor was 40 hours long and I would have NEVER gotten through it if I had knowing I was at 4 for 10 hours and 9 for 10 hours.  

    For me the water was my savior.  The birth tub and also the shower (I would sit on a birthing ball and DH would spray hot water on my back).   I can't imagine what I would have done without the water. 

    Congrats on your LO.  It sounds to me like you did a great job! 


    Lilypie - (ZESJ)Lilypie - (QAi1)

  • It sounds like you gave it your all :) Congrats on your healthy little girl!
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  • xnbridexnbride member
    I am not sure what other recommendations she could have made as they were already doing them. Those were the same things my mw had me do for my back labor.  I think everything went well enough for a first time delivery and you did an amazing job. I think you should feel very proud of your abilities and the way the birth went but I do understand your sense of frustration and hope that as time passes, you will begin to see it differently. big hugs. Every labor is different so hopefully next time, things go much more smoothly and swiftly.

     

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  • I feel your pain literally.  I also had back labor for many many hours and tried every trick I knew.  Unfortunately my DS' head was asynclitic and he wasn't budging.  I was at 9 cm for 16 hours .  I also ended up with an epidural and pitocin. A last ditch effort finally got his head to turn at which point I immediately dilated the last cm and was able to push him out.  We avoided a c-section by the skin of our teeth!  I feel very sad that things happened the way they did, but after more than a year of processing I am able to say that I did the very best I could.  I know you did, too!
    Lilypie - (vGZN)

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  • You did great! My only suggestions would be for next time. A doula might be useful juts for the fact of having previous experiences and handy tricks up her sleeve. Also see a chiro. Your pelvis might not have been optimal. 

    You did great. Back labor is very hard to deal with. Congrats on the new baby!  

  • CTri17CTri17 member

    with both of my girls I had back labor. Neither of them were in a bad position. 

     

    Some people just have back labor. IT SUCKS. But it can be manageable.

    My DH would push on my low back during contrax (not rub, PUSH).

    Side lying was ok in the beginning but then that really made it worse after a while.

    Bent over and swaying helped, squatting helped, the tub helped, kneeling over the ball helped. 

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  • stahlopstahlop member
    I did a home birth with back labor.  My DH and my doula basically massaged my back and gave me heated rice socks to put on my back during contractions.  Otherwise, there really isn't much you can do except find a position that works for you.  My two favorite positions were in the rocking chair (the slated back felt really good) and then later on the toilet leaning on a birthing ball.
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  • I think you did wonderfully.

    For me there were a few things that helped (two successful natural births so far, both with back labor). I only liked positions where I was leaning forward, either against the side of the bed, on the bar in the shower, over the side of the tub, on the birth ball etc. I'd lean forward and sway and when I had a contraction my husband would PUSH as hard as he could on my back (right around the base of my spine). I also spent a lot of time in the shower with the hot spray directed at that spot. Also, with both babies I was almost dilated but not quite and my midwife suggested pushing and seeing how that felt. It felt better to push than not so I ended up pushing "early" with both kids and that relieved a lot of the back labor and ultimately turned the baby into a more optimal position for birth. With my son I didn't notice but with my daughter I felt her turn inside me, which was super cool. 

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  • I think that you did wonderfully as well!

    Generally speaking, labor is difficult and can never be completely prepared for.  Back labor can be even more difficult, and many of the reasons for it can also make labor last longer.

    I labored for ~65 hours before finally ending up with a c-section.  The entire time, I never felt any pressure in my abdominal region, it was entirely focused in my back.  For the first 24 hours, my contractions were spaced out 10 minutes apart, but lasted for 4 minutes!  We tried everything possible to relieve the pain.  I had originally planned a natural birth in the BC adjoining the hospital, but eventually was transferred because of lack of progress.  Even with pitocin, I was stuck at 6cm for hours.  When I finally consented to the epi I quickly dilated to 10cm.  I pushed for 2.5 hours but was honestly too exhausted after staying up for three nights in a row to be very effective.  I wish I had gotten the epidural sooner, because I might have had the strength to push DS out vaginally.  And even if I had failed, I would have been better rested and better able to take care of him after he was born.

    All of that being said, I am a huge advocate of NB and hope to have a natural VBAC when we decide to have another.  The only thing I will change is making sure that I take care of myself better and to be more open to pain relief options if it looks like I am having another long, painful labor.   

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