if you had your first in a hospital

vababy · August 2012

STM's if you had your first child in a hospital without any interventions, how long were you allowed to labor? (before interventions were offered)

I asked my ob this question and she told me they will let me labor as long as needed if I and the baby are not in distress.

I was wondering about other's experience. Thank you!

annabelle.27 · August 2012

Went into labour at 8 am. Got to the hospital at noon and was 4 cms dilated. Laboured naturally in the shower with no interventions (only monitoring was done periodically by doppler) until about 8 pm. They offered to break my water at about 9 cms because they thought it might help me get through that last cm. Laboured standing by the bed until about 9 pm at which point I started pushing. Pushed for three hours, got a c-section at midnight. They didn't recommend a c-section until I had been pushing for a few hours and made it very clear that I could choose to try pushing for a little while longer, but I was done and ready for the c-section.

stoneycakes · August 2012

Not a STM yet, but I still like this board Smile

My contractions started at 3 a.m. on a Saturday morning. I was in touch with my midwife by phone but did not get admitted to the hospital until Sunday morning around 7 a.m. I labored naturally until about 11 p.m that night. I was fully dilated but hadn't slept in two days and just did not have the energy to push. This is when an epidural was offered so that I could sleep, which I took, and had DS on Monday morning. So interventions weren't offered until I had been in labor for over 40 hours and had been in the hospital 16 hours.

tokenhoser · August 2012

I laboured at home. I had mild cramping start at 11 am. I ignored it until about 4 pm. By 5 pm, I knew it was for real. I stayed home until 10 pm. We were up and assessed and I had a room by 11 pm. I pushed from 11-1 and then had a baby.

Stay home as long as you can.

AmyRI · August 2012

Well... I had a fast labor. Woke to contractions at 12:30am. Left for the hospital when they were 3 minutes apart, arrived at 4:30am and was 4cm dilated. OB offered to break my water (sac was bulging and felt TONS of pressure, I wanted her to break it) at 7ish and 8cm. Almost immediately dilated fully. Started pushing at 8, delivered DS at 8:15 am, less than 4 hours after arriving. Technically water breaking was an intervention, so I guess that was offered after 3 hours. But I was not pressured and voluntarily gave consent.

I wouldn't be admitted unless I was 4cm with a regular contraction pattern. I can labor as long as I want/need, so long as baby and I are handling it ok. If things had happened in a different order, I have 24 hours from membrane rupture to be in active labor. I never got a definite answer as to how long until actual delivery, but I know they prefer delivery within 24 hours of ROM.

sschwege · August 2012

I labored at home for the first 10 hrs. Arrived at the hospital 6cm dilated. Was fully dilated after about 5 hours in the hospital. Decided to 'labor down' for another 1.5 hours, pushed for an hour and had DD. No interventions were offered other than to break my bag of water when I decided I was ready to push (I declined). Other than having them listen to the heartbeat every 15min I was left alone to do my thing.

I agree with pp stay home as long as possible. On the day I had DD it was a busy day in L & D and I know I had to stay in triage for a long time because there simply weren't any rooms. Had I shown up at the start of labor and had been admitted they may have been itching to move me along.

StefandTodd · August 2012

I labored at home for about 7 hours, arrived at the hospital dilated to 8 cm, water broke shortly thereafter in triage, pushed him out about 3 hours later. I asked not to be offered anything, and no one offered me anything.

Klikina · August 2012

Here's how mine went:

Sometime between 12:30-1:30- woke up with 1st contraction, tried to go back to sleep

~3am- had another contraction. About 10 mins later, had another. 10 mins later, had another

4am- got up to take a bath and see if they would go away, they didn't. DH woke up and found me and started timing. They were coming pretty quickly but I could talk.

6am- got to hospital, got in a room, got checked at 6:30, was 4cm.

9am- 7cm

11am- 8-9cm (waters still intact)

12:30- almost 10cm

sometime between 3-4 pm- got the urge to push, my water broke, that got me to 10 cm

pushed from 4-almost 7pm- DS born at 6:54 pm

I put in my birth plan that I didn't want to be offered any pain meds and I wasn't. I was never offered pitocin, but as you can see, I dialated pretty well with every check (and I was ok with being checked because my waters hadn't broken). I also didn't want AROM. I labored all around the room: on the bed, the side of the bed, on the toilet, in the shower. Also, I was so tired from not getting any sleep the previous night that before my water broke, I actually took a nap during the contractions. The only real interventions I had was a hep-lock (I was GBS+), and an episiotomy, which DH still feels bad about not stopping (the doc did use a local anesthetic for that.)

alanap · August 2012

1:30pm - water broke while at work

2:30pm - at MW's office, confirmed water broke, but was not having any contractions. Was sent home to labor

3:00pm - started noticing crampy feeling while driving home

6:30pm - cramps (which I later realized were actual contractions, but didn't connect at the time) were strong enough and close enough together (1-2 minutes apart) that MWs suggested I go to hospital

7:30pm - checked in at hospital and was at 8cm

9:48pm - DD was born

Time wasn't really a concern for me because it happened so fast.

Morale of the story: labor at home for as long as possible so that you don't have to worry about time pressure.

principessa81 · August 2012

I was allowed to labor as long as I needed to. I eventually asked for an epi, despite my desire to labor without pain meds, but it wasn't pushed on me by any stretch of the imagination. None of the nurses or the OB even offered me anything, and they didn't attempt to "get things going" with labor enhancing drugs.

I'm not sure I'll have as much luck this time around, though. I had DS at a wonderful hospital in Boston that is known for their low c-section rates and natural birth-friendly atmosphere, but we are in a different part of the country now, and non-intervention births are very rare here. I'm just going to labor at home for as long as possible this time and hopefully all will be well.

nosoup4u · August 2012

I had an IV put in during my first labor, probably a few hours after I was admitted (I was admitted in early labor - contractions were really mild, and I was barely 2 cm dilated). My doula reminded me to ask to have it removed after the initial bag of fluids, and I just had a saline lock for the rest of labor. I labored until pushing for about 10 hours, and then pushed for 4+ hours (his birth ended in a c/s) without any other interventions.

My records showed that the MW who was dealing with me was talking to the OBs on call that night, but she didn't ask them to come in until it was clear my DS wasn't coming out vaginally.

Have you asked about specific times for labor? Like, how long can you push before they talk intervention (not necessarily c/s), or what they would do if labor slows or stops.

ridesbuttons · August 2012

I laboured in hospital for 3 hours before I started pushing. No interventions were offered at any point. If I wanted something, I had to ask for it.

littlemaybaby · August 2012

Well I had only been in the hospital for ~12 hours, but my water had broken over 24 hours earlier, and despite getting to 10cm my contractions had completely stalled due to dehydration from being a labor puker.

At that point they told me pit to bring the contractions back was my only option to avoid a c-section. So I went with the pit and then cried like a baby for the epi, and 3 hours later delivered vaginally.

Rosebud2587 · August 2012

My whole labor was 6.5 hrs from my first contraction to DD in my arms. I was not at the hospital for very long. I think I was there for a little over 2 hrs and 45 min of that was pushing. They did break my water but that was about it.

KateLouise · August 2012

DD1 I arrived at the hospital at 5cm. It was 9pm. LO was born at 130am. No interventions were ever warranted or suggested.

DD2 I arrived at the hospital and I was only 3cm. My mw made it clear I could stay or go, but she said that if I stayed and showed no or little progress then the hospital would start to get antsy and want to look at induction options. She encouraged me to go home and come back when I was further along.

In hindsight I could have stayed at the hospital and declined induction options, but it really didn't feel like that was being suggested as an option.

mjr12 · August 2012

Stay home as long as you can.

I noticed contractions at about 11:00 pm, 6-7 mins apart. By 5am, they were 2-3 mins (hospital is about an hour away) we left for the hospital at 7:30am, got there at 9:00am. I was at 7 cm. DS was born at 10:10am. Just over an hour at the hospital and less than 30 mins pushing.

I did not have any interventions (including an IV or Heplock) There was no need, I arrived practically in transition. MW told the nurse not to bother with an IV, I did have to have the little monitor on my belly for a few mins, but that was it.

gimmietimmies · August 2012

I was in labour with ds over fourty hours before interventions were offered. He tolerated labor well until then, but he started having decels and other signs of distress. They started pitocin, and I had to have an epi four hours later, I was in so much pain it caused me to faint. I hadn't slept in much longer than that, and I couldn't keep food down. The epi helped me sleep, and ds was born six hours later, totally fine, and c/s was avoided.

I was in labour a grand total of 15 hours with all four girls, no epis. And no pitocin for three.

poison489 · August 2012

I wasn't successful in having a natural birth in the hospital with my first. It didn't help that my water had broken early in labor and the hospital started talking to me about interventions due to the risk of infection as I neared the 24 hour mark. I think their bad attitudes and fear mongering actually slowed my labor and made it more painful. I did avoid interventions for the first 30 hours of my 53 hour labor, but started to get panicked about not progressing and actually putting me and my son in danger. I was able to avoid a c-section though and that was important. I delivered at a hospital that was staffed with midwives and the one attending me claimed that she was fully supportive of natural birth, but kept pushing me to get pitocin and an epidural. After we insulted the midwife with our education, offering alternatives to her intervention pushiness, she disappeared and the OB that actually ended up delivering my son ended up being more supportive of my natural birth wishes. The greatest part was when some of the suggestions that we had made that were rejected by the midwife, were pro-actively offered by the OB in front of the midwife. That was the last we saw of her.

aylafsu88 · August 2012

I went into labor at 11:38 am. I labored at home until about 7 pm. When I arrived at the hospital I was 6 cm and my water broke when they did the internal exam to check my dilation. I labored in the tub until 10 pm, I felt the urge to push so the nurse checked me and I was fully dilated. I got out pf the tub and had my LO at 10:30 pm. The staff did not offer me any interventions because when I walked in I gave them my birth plan and told them to not offer/do anything. They staff and OB respected my request. However, I did have a quick labor and I was low risk. So it may have been different if the circumstances were different.

superned · August 2012

My contractions started at 4am. They were at the 5-1-1 point by 8am, so I called my OB's office when they opened and they suggested that I head to the office to get checked.

Got checked at 11am and was dilated to 5cm. Headed to the hospital.

Arrived at the hospital at about 11:30am, was checked probably around noon and was to 6cm.

I spent all of transition in the shower, but DH did tell me that the nurses wanted him to encourage me to move around and change position because I was still not completely dilated. I think they used the word "pitocin" with him, but only as in "let's get her to move around so we don't have to resort to pitocin."

At that point I moved to the bed and laid on my side for a short time and then was ready to push at about 6:30pm without another word about any interventions. DD was born at 7:20pm after 50 minutes of pushing.

vababy · August 2012

Thank you everyone! I am planning to stay at home as long as possible.

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