long labour (36 hours) - advice needed

Hi,

I recently gave birth to my daugther after a 36 hour labour and I have
some questions about what I went through and why certain things
happened - I hope someone can advise me or relate to this experience.
Basically, I wanted it to be a drug/medical intervention free home
birth. I spent the 1st 24hours of labour at home where I got to 5/6cm
dilation. I tried using a birth pool, but this made the contractions
feel worse (although the back pain I had went away completely). I then
stayed in the shower for what seemed like hours and this provided the
best form of pain relief.
When I got to 5cm and it had been 24 hours into the labour, the
midwife said that as there had been no progress for a while (despite
having frquent contractions) and I was very tired (I had been up for 2
nights now) I should go into hospital for some pethidine. This I did,
and so the cascade of interventions happened - basically pethidine
made me sleepy, therefore contractions (whilst very regular) did not
make me dilate further, so I had a drug to strengthen the contractions
which led to epidurals for the pain leading to a forceps delivery.
This wasn't what I had planned needless to say!
My questions a
- Has anyone felt that a birth pool can make contractions feel worse?
- Has anyone felt the pain of labour to be so much that they just
wanted to end it all? I can remember feeling almost suicidal at the
end when the epidural effects wore off. Perhaps it was more painful
than it need be because I had that drug to artificially speed up the
contractions?
- The midwife said my labour was slow because the top of my uterus
wasn't doing any work - all the pain from contractions came from the
lower half - has anyone had experience of this and why this was the
case? Do I have a faulty uterus? (I was drinking raspberry leaf tea
every day for 3 months prior to labour).
- Is there any other reason for me having such a long labour (the baby
was 7 lbs 11 when born so average size and weight, plus she was in the
correct position before labour, and I was very mobile and upright when
I was at home)? Can being at home make one too relaxed - or was being
in the shower going to slow things down?

I really appreciate any thoughts people may have on this as I really
want any subsequent labours to be much better, and not feel too bad
about the labour I just had which did not come off as planned. Many
thanks in advance, Abi

Abi wrote in message
om...
Hi,

I recently gave birth to my daugther after a 36 hour labour and I have
some questions about what I went through and why certain things
happened - I hope someone can advise me or relate to this experience.
Basically, I wanted it to be a drug/medical intervention free home
birth. I spent the 1st 24hours of labour at home where I got to 5/6cm
dilation. I tried using a birth pool, but this made the contractions
feel worse (although the back pain I had went away completely). I then
stayed in the shower for what seemed like hours and this provided the
best form of pain relief.
When I got to 5cm and it had been 24 hours into the labour, the
midwife said that as there had been no progress for a while (despite
having frquent contractions) and I was very tired (I had been up for 2
nights now) I should go into hospital for some pethidine. This I did,
and so the cascade of interventions happened - basically pethidine
made me sleepy, therefore contractions (whilst very regular) did not
make me dilate further, so I had a drug to strengthen the contractions
which led to epidurals for the pain leading to a forceps delivery.
This wasn't what I had planned needless to say!
My questions a
- Has anyone felt that a birth pool can make contractions feel worse?
- Has anyone felt the pain of labour to be so much that they just
wanted to end it all? I can remember feeling almost suicidal at the
end when the epidural effects wore off. Perhaps it was more painful
than it need be because I had that drug to artificially speed up the
contractions?
- The midwife said my labour was slow because the top of my uterus
wasn't doing any work - all the pain from contractions came from the
lower half - has anyone had experience of this and why this was the
case? Do I have a faulty uterus? (I was drinking raspberry leaf tea
every day for 3 months prior to labour).
- Is there any other reason for me having such a long labour (the baby
was 7 lbs 11 when born so average size and weight, plus she was in the
correct position before labour, and I was very mobile and upright when
I was at home)? Can being at home make one too relaxed - or was being
in the shower going to slow things down?

I really appreciate any thoughts people may have on this as I really
want any subsequent labours to be much better, and not feel too bad
about the labour I just had which did not come off as planned. Many
thanks in advance, Abi
#1 labour was 30 hours. She was correct position, not induced, was 7lb 15
oz. Had epidural and episiotomy.
#2 labour was 15hrs start to finish, no epidural (just TENS and gasandair)
despite before hand saying I wanted one. No stitches. Much easier.
Labour #2 was much more what I'd hoped for with #1 and didn't expect with
#2.
Hope that's encouraging!!!
Debbie
Ps I said #1 would be the only one until she was about 6 months-withy #2 I
was immediately certain that I wanted another

Abi wrote:

Hi,

I recently gave birth to my daugther after a 36 hour labour and I have
some questions about what I went through and why certain things
happened - I hope someone can advise me or relate to this experience.
Basically, I wanted it to be a drug/medical intervention free home
birth. I spent the 1st 24hours of labour at home where I got to 5/6cm
dilation. I tried using a birth pool, but this made the contractions
feel worse (although the back pain I had went away completely). I then
stayed in the shower for what seemed like hours and this provided the
best form of pain relief.
When I got to 5cm and it had been 24 hours into the labour, the
midwife said that as there had been no progress for a while (despite
having frquent contractions) and I was very tired (I had been up for 2
nights now) I should go into hospital for some pethidine. This I did,
and so the cascade of interventions happened - basically pethidine
made me sleepy, therefore contractions (whilst very regular) did not
make me dilate further, so I had a drug to strengthen the contractions
which led to epidurals for the pain leading to a forceps delivery.
This wasn't what I had planned needless to say!
My questions a
- Has anyone felt that a birth pool can make contractions feel worse?
- Has anyone felt the pain of labour to be so much that they just
wanted to end it all? I can remember feeling almost suicidal at the
end when the epidural effects wore off. Perhaps it was more painful
than it need be because I had that drug to artificially speed up the
contractions?
- The midwife said my labour was slow because the top of my uterus
wasn't doing any work - all the pain from contractions came from the
lower half - has anyone had experience of this and why this was the
case? Do I have a faulty uterus? (I was drinking raspberry leaf tea
every day for 3 months prior to labour).
- Is there any other reason for me having such a long labour (the baby
was 7 lbs 11 when born so average size and weight, plus she was in the
correct position before labour, and I was very mobile and upright when
I was at home)? Can being at home make one too relaxed - or was being
in the shower going to slow things down?

I really appreciate any thoughts people may have on this as I really
want any subsequent labours to be much better, and not feel too bad
about the labour I just had which did not come off as planned. Many
thanks in advance, Abi

I'm speaking from a total lack of experience, here... (I'm due with my
first in August) Labour is not an easy thing. The death rate of both
women and babies in the past was pretty horrendous (heck it's still
horrendous in some parts of the world). I think it's unrealistic to
think that natural births are "supposed" to be wonderful, perfect
experiences, but that's just my opinion. That said, I'm aiming for
natural, but only because I just don't want to get drugged up if I can
avoid it, and not for some philosophical reason - but I will go for
drugs if I end up needing or wanting them. Anyway, I know of women who
have had terrible labours, despite everything else going really well. I
know one woman who was in labour for 50 hours, at home with a midwife,
before she finally caved and went to the hospital (the midwife had been
trying to convince her for *some time* before she finally went, too).
No one did anything wrong in her case, either, and AFAIK the baby's
positioning was just fine - it just *happened*. (oh, and this 50 hour
labour from hell did not stop her from wanting another one)

Abi wrote:

Hi,

I recently gave birth to my daugther after a 36 hour labour and I have
some questions about what I went through and why certain things
happened - I hope someone can advise me or relate to this experience.
Basically, I wanted it to be a drug/medical intervention free home
birth. I spent the 1st 24hours of labour at home where I got to 5/6cm
dilation. I tried using a birth pool, but this made the contractions
feel worse (although the back pain I had went away completely). I then
stayed in the shower for what seemed like hours and this provided the
best form of pain relief.
When I got to 5cm and it had been 24 hours into the labour, the
midwife said that as there had been no progress for a while (despite
having frquent contractions) and I was very tired (I had been up for 2
nights now) I should go into hospital for some pethidine. This I did,
and so the cascade of interventions happened - basically pethidine
made me sleepy, therefore contractions (whilst very regular) did not
make me dilate further, so I had a drug to strengthen the contractions
which led to epidurals for the pain leading to a forceps delivery.
This wasn't what I had planned needless to say!
My questions a
- Has anyone felt that a birth pool can make contractions feel worse?

Never tried one, sorry.

- Has anyone felt the pain of labour to be so much that they just
wanted to end it all? I can remember feeling almost suicidal at the
end when the epidural effects wore off. Perhaps it was more painful
than it need be because I had that drug to artificially speed up the
contractions?

Or it may have just been that the pitocin/syntocin
induced contractions were more brutal, and seemed even worse
when they hit you after your epidural wore off and you hadn't
been feeling them a while. That can be quite shocking. Many
people report that the pitocin makes contractions significantly
more difficult to handle.

- The midwife said my labour was slow because the top of my uterus
wasn't doing any work - all the pain from contractions came from the
lower half - has anyone had experience of this and why this was the
case? Do I have a faulty uterus? (I was drinking raspberry leaf tea
every day for 3 months prior to labour).

How the heck would she know that? I don't know that
I buy her story.

- Is there any other reason for me having such a long labour (the baby
was 7 lbs 11 when born so average size and weight, plus she was in the
correct position before labour, and I was very mobile and upright when
I was at home)? Can being at home make one too relaxed - or was being
in the shower going to slow things down?

Some labors are just slow. My first was 45 hours,
with a very long plateau at 6cm. I just waited it out
(baby was doing fine, and so was I) and eventually things
happened quite nicely (only pushed for 20 minutes, easy
birth). My first was even smaller, at 7 lbs 2 oz.

I really appreciate any thoughts people may have on this as I really
want any subsequent labours to be much better, and not feel too bad
about the labour I just had which did not come off as planned. Many
thanks in advance, Abi

Well, you say that you were worn out by your labor.
Were you eating and drinking to keep your strength up? Were
you relaxing and conserving your strength, or were you
walking, walking, walking? It sounds to me like it was
really fatigue that got you in the end--which is very common
with first timers. I think what helped me was that my
midwives insisted on my eating and drinking regularly to
keep up my strength. I also spent a lot of time being
quiet and restful (though upright) to conserve energy.
I think the end result was that when the time came, I
still had energy and was still doing okay.
As for the future, other than eating and drinking
to keep your strength up, I don't know that there's much
for you to do. My second labor was only 2.5 hours long,
so it was all pretty much a moot point ;-) There's
certainly no guarantee that you'll have another long
labor.

Best wishes,
Ericka

(Abi) wrote:
When I got to 5cm and it had been 24 hours into the labour, the
midwife said that as there had been no progress for a while (despite
having frquent contractions) and I was very tired (I had been up for 2
nights now) I should go into hospital for some pethidine.

I'm not a midwife, but really, I think this is your problem right
he "the midwife said ... I should go into hospital". It's one
thing to get exhausted and decide one wishes to go to the hospital for
pain relief and try to rest. It's another thing entirely for the
midwife to make that decision for you. If I'm missing some
information that the midwife based her decision on, then I'm probably
wrong that she jumped the gun, but that's what it sounds like to me.

--
-- Vicki
Married DH May 21, 1995. Ima shel Stoic, born 11/16/99;
Whiny, born at home 5/19/02, and Expected, "due" September 4, 2004.

"Welches" wrote in message
news:g5EBc.678$4D4.146@newsfe3-gui...
#1 labour was 30 hours. She was correct position, not induced, was 7lb 15
oz. Had epidural and episiotomy.
#2 labour was 15hrs start to finish, no epidural (just TENS and gasandair)
despite before hand saying I wanted one. No stitches. Much easier.
Labour #2 was much more what I'd hoped for with #1 and didn't expect with
#2.

Thank you Debbie ... this give me hope that this birth will be shorter and
easier...
Amanda

--
DD 15th August 2002
1 tiny angel Nov 2003
EDD 19th August 2004

Abi,

I am sorry that your plans for a home birth did not work out.
I have some comments on your story below.

Abi writes:
: Hi,

: I recently gave birth to my daugther after a 36 hour labour and I have
: some questions about what I went through and why certain things
: happened - I hope someone can advise me or relate to this experience.

For a first birth a 36 hour labor is not horrendously long. However
it must be managed carefully, and the mother must be encourage to
get as much rest during the early labor as possible. We had a home
birth with Clara, and Monika labored off and on for 37 hours over a
2 1/2 day period. Basically it was 9 hours on, 14 hours off, 10 hours
on, 10 hours irregular, then a final 18 hours of strong contractions
leading up to the birth. We could have easily gotten discouraged and
gone to the hospital, but our midwife's good advice to rest at critical
points kept Monika going. Read the story at:
http://home.comcast.net/~l.mcmahan/birth.html

: Basically, I wanted it to be a drug/medical intervention free home
: birth. I spent the 1st 24hours of labour at home where I got to 5/6cm
: dilation. I tried using a birth pool, but this made the contractions
: feel worse (although the back pain I had went away completely). I then
: stayed in the shower for what seemed like hours and this provided the
: best form of pain relief.

If you had back pain, then it is possible that the baby was posterior,
and that is what kept the contractions from being effective. In this
case, pelvic rocks to rotate the baby might have been effective.

Also, after 24 hours of labor, it would be a good idea to try to get
some rest. If the contractions slowed down, the best thing would
have been to simply rest and regather your strength.

: When I got to 5cm and it had been 24 hours into the labour, the
: midwife said that as there had been no progress for a while (despite
: having frquent contractions) and I was very tired (I had been up for 2
: nights now) I should go into hospital for some pethidine.

I think this is the questionable action that lead down the road to
increasing interventions. I think that English midwives, being a part
of the establishment, are much more apt to recommend a transfer more
quickly than midwives in the US.

In a very similar situation with Clara's birth our midwife told Monika
to drink a glass of wine and go to sleep. It worked! When she woke
the contractions has backed off a lot, and she was much more rested.

Again, I will say that your long labor and your back pain indicate
that you probably had a posterior presentation at that time. Your
midwife should have had you do pelvic rocks to rotate the baby.

: nights now) I should go into hospital for some pethidine. This I did,
: and so the cascade of interventions happened - basically pethidine
: made me sleepy, therefore contractions (whilst very regular) did not
: make me dilate further, so I had a drug to strengthen the contractions
: which led to epidurals for the pain leading to a forceps delivery.
: This wasn't what I had planned needless to say!

Not what you planned, but a sequence of interventions that is classically
common. There is no surprise in this.

: My questions a
: - Has anyone felt that a birth pool can make contractions feel worse?

We never used a birth pool, but Monika did labor for some time in
the swimming pool, hoping they would take some of the edge off of
the contractions. When it didn't work and she mentioned the back
pain, I suggested the pelvic rocks. A few minutes later I hear this
WOW! and I asked what is going on. She said the baby had just turned
and it made all the difference.

: - Has anyone felt the pain of labour to be so much that they just
: wanted to end it all? I can remember feeling almost suicidal at the
: end when the epidural effects wore off. Perhaps it was more painful
: than it need be because I had that drug to artificially speed up the
: contractions?

I think this kind of deperession is most often associated with the
pitocin used to strengthen the contractions, and with the wearing
off of the pain medications. I haven't heard this from anyone who
had an unmedicated birth.

: - The midwife said my labour was slow because the top of my uterus
: wasn't doing any work - all the pain from contractions came from the
: lower half - has anyone had experience of this and why this was the
: case? Do I have a faulty uterus? (I was drinking raspberry leaf tea
: every day for 3 months prior to labour).

I think this is bull****. I think it is possible that you had a
posterior babty and she didn't know how to deal with it!

: - Is there any other reason for me having such a long labour (the baby
: was 7 lbs 11 when born so average size and weight, plus she was in the
: correct position before labour, and I was very mobile and upright when
: I was at home)? Can being at home make one too relaxed - or was being
: in the shower going to slow things down?

If by correct position you mean head down, then I concur. If you mean
that you know she wasn't posterior, I'll have to ask you how you know.
Also some births, especially first births, just take longer than other.
It is imporant to get as much rest during the early part of labor. It
sounds like you may not have done this. I have never heard of laboring
at home of in the shower making labor more difficult.

: I really appreciate any thoughts people may have on this as I really
: want any subsequent labours to be much better, and not feel too bad
: about the labour I just had which did not come off as planned. Many
: thanks in advance, Abi

Well, the first thing I would suggest is a different midwife. The
second thing is to read up on homebirthing techniques to make the
labor go better and more comfortable. The more coping skills you
have, the less you will find a situation where you don't know where
to turn.

Good luck,
Larry

In message , Larry McMahan
writes
Your midwife should have had you do pelvic rocks to rotate the baby.

How are these done? Are these the ones where you get on all fours and
wiggle your bum up and down? Anything I should know about the
technique, in case I need it?


All the best,

Sarah

--
"I once requested an urgent admission for a homeopath who had become depressed
and taken a massive underdose" - Phil Peverley

In article ,
says...
In message , Larry McMahan
writes
Your midwife should have had you do pelvic rocks to rotate the baby.

How are these done? Are these the ones where you get on all fours and
wiggle your bum up and down? Anything I should know about the
technique, in case I need it?


These sites should help!

http://www.birthingnaturally.net/exe...elvicrock.html

http://www.naturalchildbirth.org/nat...e/exercise03.h
tm

http://us.pampers.com/en_US/content....ontentId=12093

-kim

Larry McMahan wrote in message ...
Abi,

I am sorry that your plans for a home birth did not work out.
I have some comments on your story below.

Abi writes:
: Hi,

: I recently gave birth to my daugther after a 36 hour labour and I have
: some questions about what I went through and why certain things
: happened - I hope someone can advise me or relate to this experience.

For a first birth a 36 hour labor is not horrendously long. However
it must be managed carefully, and the mother must be encourage to
get as much rest during the early labor as possible. We had a home
birth with Clara, and Monika labored off and on for 37 hours over a
2 1/2 day period. Basically it was 9 hours on, 14 hours off, 10 hours
on, 10 hours irregular, then a final 18 hours of strong contractions
leading up to the birth. We could have easily gotten discouraged and
gone to the hospital, but our midwife's good advice to rest at critical
points kept Monika going. Read the story at:
http://home.comcast.net/~l.mcmahan/birth.html

: Basically, I wanted it to be a drug/medical intervention free home
: birth. I spent the 1st 24hours of labour at home where I got to 5/6cm
: dilation. I tried using a birth pool, but this made the contractions
: feel worse (although the back pain I had went away completely). I then
: stayed in the shower for what seemed like hours and this provided the
: best form of pain relief.

If you had back pain, then it is possible that the baby was posterior,
and that is what kept the contractions from being effective. In this
case, pelvic rocks to rotate the baby might have been effective.

Also, after 24 hours of labor, it would be a good idea to try to get
some rest. If the contractions slowed down, the best thing would
have been to simply rest and regather your strength.

: When I got to 5cm and it had been 24 hours into the labour, the
: midwife said that as there had been no progress for a while (despite
: having frquent contractions) and I was very tired (I had been up for 2
: nights now) I should go into hospital for some pethidine.

I think this is the questionable action that lead down the road to
increasing interventions. I think that English midwives, being a part
of the establishment, are much more apt to recommend a transfer more
quickly than midwives in the US.

In a very similar situation with Clara's birth our midwife told Monika
to drink a glass of wine and go to sleep. It worked! When she woke
the contractions has backed off a lot, and she was much more rested.

Again, I will say that your long labor and your back pain indicate
that you probably had a posterior presentation at that time. Your
midwife should have had you do pelvic rocks to rotate the baby.

: nights now) I should go into hospital for some pethidine. This I did,
: and so the cascade of interventions happened - basically pethidine
: made me sleepy, therefore contractions (whilst very regular) did not
: make me dilate further, so I had a drug to strengthen the contractions
: which led to epidurals for the pain leading to a forceps delivery.
: This wasn't what I had planned needless to say!

Not what you planned, but a sequence of interventions that is classically
common. There is no surprise in this.

: My questions a
: - Has anyone felt that a birth pool can make contractions feel worse?

We never used a birth pool, but Monika did labor for some time in
the swimming pool, hoping they would take some of the edge off of
the contractions. When it didn't work and she mentioned the back
pain, I suggested the pelvic rocks. A few minutes later I hear this
WOW! and I asked what is going on. She said the baby had just turned
and it made all the difference.

: - Has anyone felt the pain of labour to be so much that they just
: wanted to end it all? I can remember feeling almost suicidal at the
: end when the epidural effects wore off. Perhaps it was more painful
: than it need be because I had that drug to artificially speed up the
: contractions?

I think this kind of deperession is most often associated with the
pitocin used to strengthen the contractions, and with the wearing
off of the pain medications. I haven't heard this from anyone who
had an unmedicated birth.

: - The midwife said my labour was slow because the top of my uterus
: wasn't doing any work - all the pain from contractions came from the
: lower half - has anyone had experience of this and why this was the
: case? Do I have a faulty uterus? (I was drinking raspberry leaf tea
: every day for 3 months prior to labour).

I think this is bull****. I think it is possible that you had a
posterior babty and she didn't know how to deal with it!

: - Is there any other reason for me having such a long labour (the baby
: was 7 lbs 11 when born so average size and weight, plus she was in the
: correct position before labour, and I was very mobile and upright when
: I was at home)? Can being at home make one too relaxed - or was being
: in the shower going to slow things down?

If by correct position you mean head down, then I concur. If you mean
that you know she wasn't posterior, I'll have to ask you how you know.
Also some births, especially first births, just take longer than other.
It is imporant to get as much rest during the early part of labor. It
sounds like you may not have done this. I have never heard of laboring
at home of in the shower making labor more difficult.

: I really appreciate any thoughts people may have on this as I really
: want any subsequent labours to be much better, and not feel too bad
: about the labour I just had which did not come off as planned. Many
: thanks in advance, Abi

Well, the first thing I would suggest is a different midwife. The
second thing is to read up on homebirthing techniques to make the
labor go better and more comfortable. The more coping skills you
have, the less you will find a situation where you don't know where
to turn.

Good luck,
Larry

Larry - many thanks for your reply. You are right about the fact that
I should have rested for much more during labour - this would have
definitley helped. Re the baby being in the posterior position I think
it's an interesting theory but all my antenatal checks irhgt up to
labour said that the baby was anterior all the time. In the last few
weeks of pregnancy I was always sitting or leaning forwards to assist
the baby go to the anterior position. I also never lied on my back or
sat back in chairs etc and also did a lot of walking.