talk to me about pushing out the placenta

MamaAloha

Hello ladies!

Can anyone tell me more about their experiences with delivery of the placenta? I've been reading a little bit about this, have seen it once in person when I was with a friend while she gave birth, and have seen it in some birth videos too- it seems like there is often a doctor or midwife doing an awful lot of pushing around the Mom's belly trying to force the placenta out. Why?

If I've had a natural birth without any intervention why would I need someone pushing me around for this last phase of birth?

My body did all of the work of conceiving, laboring, and birthing this child, so wouldn't it stand to reason that my body can finish the job without so much external prodding? 

Thanks! 

 

jinnymb

My guess is they speed it along so they can move you to recovery in a hospital setting.

Even with a med-free birth they have given me a little bit of pitocin to deliver the placenta and for clotting.  At that point I didn't care anymore, I was just enjoying my baby, lol.

 If this is something you don't want done I would discuss it with your midwife or OB.

Nursing the baby can help the placenta deliver as well and would obviously be more natural. 

aylafsu88

I think the pushing on moms belly is to help the uterus contract to push out the placenta.  I barely remember delivering mine because I was so absorbed with LO and excited that I had done it with no interventions.  I do remember that it took a bit because we talked with the OB, looked at baby, and got a few photos. I remember the placenta slide out and I did not feel a thing when I delivered it.  IMO the external prodding is no big deal.  I actually preferred them to push on my belly to help my uterus contract as I did not want to walk out of the hospital looking like I was 35+weeks pregnant.  I know that they also do some pushing to feel the uterus and make sure it is starting to shrink after birth. 

Lina1030

to be honest I do not even remember birthing my placenta....I guess I was too busy loving on my babies!

superned

For me, I had some hemorrhaging after both births, so the OB was massaging my uterus to help it contract and stop the bleeding.  With DD I needed pitocin via IV (I had a hep lock, but delivered med free) and with DS my delivery was so fast (arrived at the hospital at 9.5cm) that I didn't have the hep lock and needed two separate shots in my thighs and a lot more massaging.

No lie, it totally hurt.  With DS, it was worse and I think after having him so quickly (total labor was 78 minutes), my body was kind of in shock, so the pain was incredibly intense.  But I was passing pretty large clots and the OB was concerned.

Odd question, but do you have red or reddish hair?  My hair is brown with red highlights, and I was told after I had DD that people with red/reddish hair are more likely to have issues with bleeding.

Anyway, I imagine if you don't have any complications that you wouldn't need any kind of intervention and could request not to have any.

Haley.Beth

BreanneL24:

With my homebirth, my MW tugged lightly on the cord and then asked me to push. I pushed once (nothing major at all) and out it came. It kinda freaked me out it came out so quickly! She didn't touch me at all, just lightly tugged on the cord to help guide it out. It wasn't a big deal at all.

That's exactly how mine went, except I was in a hospital. My doctor seemed surprised it came out so easily and cleanly. I really didn't even notice, I just remember him saying "Let's see if we can get this placenta out now," so I pushed again and out it came, no big deal! I didn't know until later when dh told me the doctor kind of guided it out with the cord, but I did all the work. They never pushed on my belly or anything (nor would I have let them, I was tired and just wanted to hold my baby, not have someone bruise up my stomach!). 

jennadoll87

BreanneL24:

With my homebirth, my MW tugged lightly on the cord and then asked me to push. I pushed once (nothing major at all) and out it came. It kinda freaked me out it came out so quickly! She didn't touch me at all, just lightly tugged on the cord to help guide it out. It wasn't a big deal at all.

This is what happened with my homebirth as well. Once the cord stopped pulsing my MW tugged lightly and asked me to push a little. I think it took two pushes for me and it was out. no biggie at all! In the hospital with my first that was quite painful! there was a LOT of pushing on my uterus and they somewhat forced it out just minutes after delivery.... Im pro waiting.

pinksweetpea2

With my first, it just came out pretty quickly after the cord stopped pulsing- I think I maybe gave a short push?  The cord had already been cut at that point because it was short and I couldn't get out of the birth tub with the baby attached.

 With my second it didn't come out right away when the cord stopped pulsing, so my MW had me get on the birth stool and after a easy push it came out.  Turns out it was huge (3 lbs- the biggest my MW has ever seen LOL), so it needed a bit of gravity.  

From everything I have read you do NOT want anyone pulling on your cord- it could break and end up leaving pieces up there.  I am sure there is an art to it and situations where it is deemed necessary, but I would try the gravity thing before anyone tugs on anything.  As for the pushing on your belly- that sounds horrible!

 

NoeliaV

A little tug on the cord and mine came right out. No pitocin and no pushing that I recall. I think my dr pulled on it during a contraction. Easiest part of LD for certain, lol.

abell77

With my first they were very hands off and the placenta came within 15 minutes and was no big deal.  With my second I was having a little more bleeding than normal, so they did push on my stomach to try to help things along in the hopes that once the placenta came out my uterus would contract more and stop the bleeding.  It was uncomfortable, but it's not that bad.

catsinawindow

For DS's birth, the doc said "one more little push for the placenta" and out it came.  I didn't even feel it and had to ask if I had actually delivered it.  So, no pushing or pulling.

After delivering the placenta, I was bleeding pretty heavily (I ended up getting 2 units of blood after the bleeding stopped) and that was when they started "massaging" my stomach.  It was very unpleasant, more so than you might think.  So, I'd avoid it unless necessary.

StefandTodd

I don't remember anything about pushing out the placenta with my hospital birth, but with my home birth my MW asked me to feel my stomach and see if I could feel my uterus and to gently massage, etc.  Then they had me give a light push and out it came.  So, there was massage, but she had me do it so I was able to make it as comfortable as possible for myself.

amberthehobbit

I had a home birth and my MW massaged while I pushed. I found it to be painful. Keep in mind all that "pushing" on the stomache is probably because there's still some fluid, fat, and swelling to get through to massage the uterus.

MrsBigTime

BreanneL24:

my MW tugged lightly on the cord and then asked me to push. I pushed once (nothing major at all) and out it came. It kinda freaked me out it came out so quickly! She didn't touch me at all, just lightly tugged on the cord to help guide it out. It wasn't a big deal at all.

This was true for me as well, though I think I had a shot of Pitocin to help it along. I also didn't even notice much about delivering it, in fact, I completely forgot about the shot of Pit until I read this! 

bornmommy

My midwife said "Okay, ready to deliver the placenta?"  Before I could say "okay" she she "Oh, wait"  gave the cord a tug, I felt a plop (mine was anterior) and with another tug, out it came.  I don't even think I had time to push...

jennyelf

I barely remember that part. I know I read about it before hand so I knew to expect to deliver the placenta, but the actually delivery of it is more of a "I'm pretty sure it happened" blur. I don't remember it being all that uncomfortable. I remember some uterine massaging, thinking that getting the placenta out was a lot easier than the baby and it just being over. I was pretty focused on LO by then.

I do remember that I got the pit shot in my thigh afterwards, perhaps 2 of them, as I was bleeding pretty badly. Also, there was a large clot stuck in me that they had to reach in and remove and that removal process definitely wasn't comfortable.

PansyPants

When I had DS1 they said they were pressing on my stomach to encourage the last fluids out and to stimulate more contractions so I would stop bleeding so heavily. They just rubbed and pressed and encouraged me to nurse DS because they worried that I was losing too much blood. I felt fine and nothing bad happened, but thast was what I was told. They did the exact same pressing and rubbing a couple times a easy while I was last thge hospital to check for air pockets and fluid or blood just sitting in the uterus. 

SarahinMD

I hardly remember it. Breastfeeding as soon as possible is supposed to help contract the uterus to help it come out, I think. I don't think midwife had to pull, certainly didn't push on my stomach. I doubt you'll even really be paying attention, you'll have a lot of other things holding your attention!

BriDaily

After a delayed cord cutting, I delivered my placenta (It was somewhere around 20 minutes after delivery). My midwife was giving me some herbal tonic to help with blood clotting. It is very helpful to start breastfeeding as soon as possible after delivery as this will help decrease bleeding.

I do not remember being poked and prodded a lot during this time. I think my midwife may have gently pushed on my uterus to check and make sure the placenta was starting to detach, but it only took a few seconds. I don't rightly remember! Under NO circumstances should your cord be tractioned in order to speed up delivery of the placenta - it can cause excessive bleeding and even hemorrhaging.

It sounds like to me, you may want to check into doing a partial lotus birth. I am probably going to do one this time around  

merc5411

Pushing on your abdomen or massaging it helps your uterus contract and helps slow bleeding. Perhaps they do that while delivering the placenta to help your uterus expel the placenta and beginning contracting down.

pixieprincss

I'm with you. I think that in most cases, the body can take care of itself. With DS2, it was about 30 minutes before I delivered the placenta. I cuddled baby, talked to him, tried to nurse him, etc. I had specifically requested no pulling and my MW doesn't do ab compression. We did delayed cord clamping, so there was no rush. 

CoffeeBeanFiend91

Some women are too exhausted to deliver the placenta without assistance and are preoccupied with baby. It doesn't hurt to have a bit of help especially if it's just a little help contracting the uterus.

Rosebud2587

BreanneL24:

With my homebirth, my MW tugged lightly on the cord and then asked me to push. I pushed once (nothing major at all) and out it came. It kinda freaked me out it came out so quickly! She didn't touch me at all, just lightly tugged on the cord to help guide it out. It wasn't a big deal at all.

This (except for the homebirth part). It pretty much just slipped right out with one little tug.

BLPL101

I don't even remember pushing out the placenta!

bluefirekitten

I think they do the massage to help the uterus contract & get it out faster. However, talk with your OB/midwife about your birth plan & have in there that you don't want the "massage of death" (as a friend of mine called it). 

My OB knew I wanted to do everything as naturally as possible, so after giving birth naturally, she allowed me to deliver the placenta naturally with no massaging. She just gently tugged on the cord as I was delivering it to help me out. Although, the nurses did massage my uterus a few hours later just to make sure my uterus was shrinking like it was supposed to. 

Kellyjogo

i gave birth standing up in my bathroom. i walked to the bedroom to be checked out and stitched up by the MW and as soon as i sat down i felt a little contraction and it just kinda flopped out. i didnt push or anything. it was weird. didnt hurt at all. MW pressed on my belly a tiny bit after that and some blood came out but none of that hurt.

melody921

aylafsu88:

I think the pushing on moms belly is to help the uterus contract to push out the placenta.  I barely remember delivering mine because I was so absorbed with LO and excited that I had done it with no interventions.  I do remember that it took a bit because we talked with the OB, looked at baby, and got a few photos. I remember the placenta slide out and I did not feel a thing when I delivered it.  IMO the external prodding is no big deal.  I actually preferred them to push on my belly to help my uterus contract as I did not want to walk out of the hospital looking like I was 35+weeks pregnant.  I know that they also do some pushing to feel the uterus and make sure it is starting to shrink after birth. 

This is what I thought too.

MamaAloha

thanks for all of the replies ladies!

This makes it clear to me that expelling the placenta has just about the same range of possibilities as all the other aspects of labor and birth- from med-free, intervention-free, to use of these tools when medically necessary, and use of these tools out of habit or for physician convenience, to times when there really is an urgent need to intervene.

I really liked the post about a MW asking Mom to massage her own belly to get things going. My OB said she usually does a little traction, but I'm a DIY-type so I've asked to instead let me do the massage myself and see how it goes. She seems on board, so I just hope she doesn't forget and go pulling on my cord! 

Also the partial lotus concept is fascinating, but not for the faint of heart, eh? I'd love to hear what it's like if anyone tries it!