2+ moms who hypnobirthed

LindseyJW · July 2010

the other day, i read a birth story (here, i think) from a HB mom who said she was surprised that she had to actually push.

i recall from class that in HBing, you don't "push," rather, you breathe down the baby.

i met with my instructor yesterday and she said that if you are "pushing" it's b/c you are forcing it on your body and your body isn't ready yet. i.e., just b/c you are fully dilated doesn't mean the baby is ready to come out yet. she said that when you get the urge to "push" is when you should start the breathing down exercises.

i have a pregnancy condition that makes pushing that much more painful and scary (vulvar varicosity) and the pushing phase has given me a great deal of anxiety, which i'm working on through fear release exercises.

your experience is wanted! please share!

CTL2005 · July 2010

I did med-free and intervention free births for all three deliveries. I took hypnobirthing while PG with #1 and I loved it and think it is great BUT...I definitely pushed. In my experience, trying not to push would have been like trying not to close your eyes when you sneeze...your body just sort of starts pushing. That was just my super fast pushing experience though...the longest I ever pushed for was 25 minutes with #1 and the other two babies almost fell out of me. (#3 came out so fast he had severe bruising on his face and blood-filled eyes poor guy) So I don't know if my experience is different because it was more "fast and furious," but there is no way I personally could have prevented the pushing.

Also, during my third pregnancy I also had v.v. which sucked, but it did not interfere with pushing and pushing did not make it any worse. It went away within a few days of delivery.

Germanwife2b · July 2010

I'll be interested to hear these answers. I know for me, I spent a lot of time in that pushing phase (4 hours to be exact) and mentally, I started pushing as soon as I was 10cms because I was done being in labor and wanted the baby out. I had never had a baby before though, so I never knew what the "urge to push" was. It was on hour two that I realized the urge to push and couldn't NOT push if I tried. It was involuntary. It was like throwing up backwards. I couldn't NOT do it. I know now what that feeling is like and the next time, I definitely will not be pushing until my body is doing it for me. I have no idea how you can "breathe it down". What does that mean? The urge for me was something bigger than me that I wouldn't want to fight it...so I am interested to know more about this. I KNOW next time I will only be pushing for a short amount of time because my next baby is going to fly out of me :-) !!!!!!!!!! The power of the mind!!!!

LindseyJW · July 2010

CTL2005:

I did med-free and intervention free births for all three deliveries. I took hypnobirthing while PG with #1 and I loved it and think it is great BUT...I definitely pushed. In my experience, trying not to push would have been like trying not to close your eyes when you sneeze...your body just sort of starts pushing. That was just my super fast pushing experience though...the longest I ever pushed for was 25 minutes with #1 and the other two babies almost fell out of me. (#3 came out so fast he had severe bruising on his face and blood-filled eyes poor guy) So I don't know if my experience is different because it was more "fast and furious," but there is no way I personally could have prevented the pushing.

Also, during my third pregnancy I also had v.v. which sucked, but it did not interfere with pushing and pushing did not make it any worse. It went away within a few days of delivery.

i don't think she was suggesting that no pushing would occur, but that the mom shouldn't (have to) be working hard to push. that instead, she should allow her body to do that work for her and the only work she should be doing during that stage was breathing the baby down while the body pushed it out.

so, when you got the urge to push, did you feel like you had to work hard at doing it? or did you feel that mostly your body did that for you?

I'm also really glad to hear that your vv wasn't a problem during this stage. i often wonder if it was a block for me during my first labor.

LindseyJW · July 2010

Germanwife2b:
I'll be interested to hear these answers. I know for me, I spent a lot of time in that pushing phase (4 hours to be exact) and mentally, I started pushing as soon as I was 10cms because I was done being in labor and wanted the baby out. I had never had a baby before though, so I never knew what the "urge to push" was. It was on hour two that I realized the urge to push and couldn't NOT push if I tried. It was involuntary. It was like throwing up backwards. I couldn't NOT do it. I know now what that feeling is like and the next time, I definitely will not be pushing until my body is doing it for me. I have no idea how you can "breathe it down". What does that mean? The urge for me was something bigger than me that I wouldn't want to fight it...so I am interested to know more about this. I KNOW next time I will only be pushing for a short amount of time because my next baby is going to fly out of me :-) !!!!!!!!!! The power of the mind!!!!

i how i love you!

"breathing down" is a mental breathing exercise where instead of exhaling your breath through your nose/mouth, you guide it down and through your core so that it travels to your uterus and out through your birth canal. the idea is that it brings the baby along with it. take a deep breath through your nose, feel it sink to the bottom of your stomach, then guide it further down and out. try it on the toilet when you are having a BM. it's amazing how it works!

rachelann · July 2010

I haven't had my baby yet but we just finished the class last night. I know they say "breathe" the baby down with the slanted J breath but when we practiced this in class it sure seemed to me like it was a push. She said only to practice when having a BM (I assume because it really is more like a controlled push than a 'breath').

ErinMSB · July 2010

I'll give my experience, but I'm not sure it'll really make anyone feel much better... So then I'll tell you about the pushing stage for a couple births I've witnessed.

First, just an FYI for first time moms because I had NO idea about this, the PPer who said trying not to push was like trying to keep your eyes open when you sneezed was right on. Your body kind of takes over and "pushes" for you without you actually doing a "bare down and push" kind of push.

With DD, I started getting that urge to push at 8 1/2 cm. My MW said I had just a "cervical lip" left and I could push past it. So I started letting my body push. Well, the cervical lip didn't move out of the way and every time I pushed past it DD would just slip back. Turns out, her cord was ridiculously short and it was pulling her back every time we made progress. So I ended up pushing (both just letting my body push and later baring down and pushing) for almost 3 1/2 hours. But I really don't think this is typical, especially for HypnoBirthing moms.

So now two more encouraging stories... (1) I saw a first-time mom (HB/WB) breathe her baby down in 15 minutes, in about 4 or 5 "pushes" without a single tear. She kept amazing control of her breathing, said "I think I'm gonna push now," and baby was born 15 minutes later. It was so calm and beautiful! (2) A second-time mom (hospital birth with a CNM) breathed her baby down while vocalizing in less than 10 minutes with a tiny tear needing only one stitch. (And I think she only tore at all because her whole labor went crazy fast!) She completely let go and let her body take over. It was so empowering and amazing!

CTL2005 · July 2010

LindseyJW:
CTL2005:

I did med-free and intervention free births for all three deliveries. I took hypnobirthing while PG with #1 and I loved it and think it is great BUT...I definitely pushed. In my experience, trying not to push would have been like trying not to close your eyes when you sneeze...your body just sort of starts pushing. That was just my super fast pushing experience though...the longest I ever pushed for was 25 minutes with #1 and the other two babies almost fell out of me. (#3 came out so fast he had severe bruising on his face and blood-filled eyes poor guy) So I don't know if my experience is different because it was more "fast and furious," but there is no way I personally could have prevented the pushing.

Also, during my third pregnancy I also had v.v. which sucked, but it did not interfere with pushing and pushing did not make it any worse. It went away within a few days of delivery.

i don't think she was suggesting that no pushing would occur, but that the mom shouldn't (have to) be working hard to push. that instead, she should allow her body to do that work for her and the only work she should be doing during that stage was breathing the baby down while the body pushed it out.

so, when you got the urge to push, did you feel like you had to work hard at doing it? or did you feel that mostly your body did that for you?

I know this probably sounds contradictory, but I would describe it as working really hard at something involuntary. I guess, as I think about it is the same as getting through a contraction, you just sort of let your body take over and work with it rather then against it. Does that make sense?

14years · July 2010

LindseyJW:
CTL2005:

I did med-free and intervention free births for all three deliveries. I took hypnobirthing while PG with #1 and I loved it and think it is great BUT...I definitely pushed. In my experience, trying not to push would have been like trying not to close your eyes when you sneeze...your body just sort of starts pushing. That was just my super fast pushing experience though...the longest I ever pushed for was 25 minutes with #1 and the other two babies almost fell out of me. (#3 came out so fast he had severe bruising on his face and blood-filled eyes poor guy) So I don't know if my experience is different because it was more "fast and furious," but there is no way I personally could have prevented the pushing.
Also, during my third pregnancy I also had v.v. which sucked, but it did not interfere with pushing and pushing did not make it any worse. It went away within a few days of delivery.
i don't think she was suggesting that no pushing would occur, but that the mom shouldn't (have to) be working hard to push. that instead, she should allow her body to do that work for her and the only work she should be doing during that stage was breathing the baby down while the body pushed it out.
so, when you got the urge to push, did you feel like you had to work hard at doing it? or did you feel that mostly your body did that for you?
I'm also really glad to hear that your vv wasn't a problem during this stage. i often wonder if it was a block for me during my first labor.

I think I probably pushed with both of my births according to this definition, but it wasn't something I had any control over. It was work, but I wasn't doing anything really, if that make sense. My body was working hard, so I felt like I was working hard.

What I understand as breathing down didn't happen for me either time. I still don't get it, even knowing the second time what was coming. I really tried to do it the second time, but it still felt like bearing down. I'll be very interested to see how it works for you!

trinny · July 2010

LindseyJW:

so, when you got the urge to push, did you feel like you had to work hard at doing it? or did you feel that mostly your body did that for you?

I didn't do HB, but I wanted to say for #1 I never really got the "urge to push" but when my MW told me it was time to push, it felt much better to push than to labor through the contractions. She also had me do a low groan so I wouldn't be holding my breath. I only pushed ~30 min until she was out.

*speedracer* · July 2010

i sorta surprised when i had the urge to push at the end of a contraction...because the nurse had just checked me a few minutes before and i was at 7. it was really weird, because i never had that sensation with my first baby (epidural!). i couldn't control the urge, and i couldn't really stop my body from pushing. once i told the nurse that i felt the urge, she checked me again and i was 9. right after that i went into transition, and the baby was born. 10 minutes after i was a 7!

as for pushing, everything happened so fast that a lot of my hypnobabies stuff sorta went out the window. it seemed to me that the baby moved down and crowned without me doing anything. the doctor did ask me to pull my leg back and push after he turned the shoulders. one push and baby was out. the pushing was not painful at all...the contractions were what hurt. pushing felt good in a necessary way, if that makes sense.

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