Natural Birth
kgunz11
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My observation of labor from these stories...
kgunz11
member
I know I'm making a very generalized statement here, but bear with me...
One thing I've noticed from reading natural birth stories both here and throughout the web is the difference in the amount of time spent pushing for those moms going med-free vs. with meds. It truly seems that (for the most part), the moms who went med-free push a LOT less than moms using medications and less than the "normal" 3+ hours for 1st time births. I wonder if that's a coincidence?
Whatever it is, that's even more reason for me to want to go natural. Sure, the pain might hurt like the dickens but at least I can tell myself that once the pushing starts it'll be over fairly soon.
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Re: My observation of labor from these stories...
I had an epi with my first and pushed only through one contraction. I had no meds with my second and pushed about the same amount of time, maybe a minute or two longer. I can't remember other than I know it was less than 5 minutes.
I think the first one seemed to "slip right out" because no one (doctor or nurses) bothered to come and check on me for quite a long time after I got the epidural and I think my body was just pushing DS out without any assistance (I only felt a lot of pressure and had no idea that it was probably my body pushing). I think, had a doctor or nurse been there right when I reached 10 cm and had "coached" me then I would have been pushing for a lot longer. Just a total guess though.
i have attended a lot of births and 99.9% of them have been natural, out of the hospital, and i truly have seen the whole spectrum of pushing times. some were born in the car on the way to the birth center, others pushed for hours and then we went to the hosp and they continued to push forever.
i haven't seen nearly as many hospital births, but in my experience natural birth does not speed up pushing times.
I agree with you. I know there are always exceptions but in general it does seem like med-free births have shorter pushing times, especially with first babies.
I pushed for about 10 minutes, 2-3 contractions.
med-free birth x2, breastfeeding, baby wearing SAHM
My BFP Chart
yeah, pretty sure there's no correlation between the two. I'd be willing to bet that one's position has a lot more to do with pushing times than if they had an epidural or not.
FWIW, I pushed with DS2 for two hours. He was 10.5 pounds, though, which probably had a lot to do with it...
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
Interesting. From my "observations" I had always thought the oppsite...that med-free labors pushed longer and those with epi's pushed for shorter periods of time....at least that was the case with me and my friends/coworkers that I've compared birth stories with!
DD was born med free and I pushed for 1.5 hours.
In comparison, all my friends/coworkers who had epi's pushed for way less time. They had this look of horror on their face when I told them how long I pushed. I didn't think 1.5 hours was bad considering they told us in our birthing class that first time moms can push for 2-3 hours. But my friends/coworkers report that they only pushed 20-45 minutes and some were "only 5 times"....all with their first child.
I think part of that is some/most (generalization) that go natural wait until they feel ready to push.
I felt pushy for about 2 hours (but I wasn't fully dialated...he was huge though). I only pushed for 10-20 minutes once I was fully dialated though.
Morgan's Birth Story: http://www.fullcirclemidwifery.com/2009/06/morgans-birth/
Chloe's Birth Story: http://www.fullcirclemidwifery.com/2012/04/chloes-birth/
The hair grows in thick where the horn used to be.
3 hours pushing in the hospital. Bleh.
I just wonder if the shorter pushing time correlation is just an artifact of the self-reporting seen in bumpie/web testimonials. Those that choose to tell everyone their story versus those that just don't bother.
I agree that I have also found this to be true - anecdotal evidence of course.
I personally think that it's because women who are going med free are pushing in other positions - squatting, standing, using gravity and that helps. Laying on the bed doesn't take advantage of gravity and when you can't feel the contractions, it can make the pushing stage take a lot longer.
Me too.
I agree with pps about 'reporting'. The sampling of birth stories is not exactly random. I'd imagine it also has to do with directed vs not directed pushing. It could go either way, but I bet women who are directed to push have shorter pushing stages than they otherwise would have. Or, this could lengthen pushing times if mom is directed to start pushing before her body feels ready to push.
I am also a first-timer, so I can't speak from personal experience.
But what I've heard from who's been there amongst my family and friends is that it is not so much the pain, but the fear that actually hurts. Fear of the unknown, fear of your body going and doing a bunch of things like it has a mind of its own. That fear supposedly makes you fight back and that just makes you hurt more. So (again, supposedly), if you are surrounded by people you trust, if you feel safe and secure, if you are educated as to what is going on inside you, and if you concentrate in just relaxing and letting go, it shouldn't be so bad. We'll see, anyway.
And yes, the ones that got the epidural told me that they could barely push. In some cases, a doctor came over and pushed down on the bump because they couldn't do it themselves, since they were too numb for it.
Besides, there's what I've already said in the thread https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/2/49909927/ShowThread.aspx#49909927
I want to have as natural a birth as possible not just because of the risks of the epidural, or just because I'd prefer to avoid any kind of medical intervention that isn't strictly necessary, but because I want to be in charge of the birth of my child. Not a patient, not a spectator. I want the doctors to be there just in case they are needed, not to direct or take over the whole thing. I want to move, to feel my body going into labor, giving up the child in my womb. I want to fully experience birth, pain and all.
Good luck to all of us!