Swollen cervix during labor - any remedies?

[ajramm]

Hi, I'm 5 weeks away from my due date to birth my second baby and I'm afraid of having the swollen cervix problem again which required a transfer to the hospital last time. Last time, my cervix was so swollen that my baby's head could not crown, no matter how much my midwife tried to hold the cervix back. I ended up having to do an epidural at the hospital which finally brought down the swelling. I do not want to go to the hospital again for this one!

Here's something I found, a post on the mothering discussion board by pamamidwife. She says it's the malposition of the baby that creates the cervical swelling.

"What I've done in the past is try to correct the malpresentation. Homeopathic Pulsatilla helps with positioning, knee chest position (head/breasts on the bed, bum in the air while on knees) with some rocking, homeopathic Gelsemium for the swelling directly."

Has anyone had success with homeopathics or anything else? I'd like to prepare as best I could for this as my midwife says it may be a possible scenario again. (I've tried to contact pamamidwife but have no response yet)

[nashvillemidwife]

Some midwives will poke the cervix with a tiny needle to reduce the fluid. I know it sounds painful but it's not, it works, and can prevent a hospital transport.

[Astraia]

Gloria Lemay wrote an article about pushing for first time moms and how if the pushing urge is denied until mom gets to 10 cm it could cause swelling and other possible problems.

This is the article here:

http://www.glorialemay.com/blog/?p=72


Not sure if this is true in your case, but something to consider!

[Courtney&Ry]

During birth class with my midwife group, they advised they'll encourage us to change positions to take pressure off the cervix lip that's swelling and to help reduce urge to push until the swelling reduces, and in extreme cases, they'll apply ice directly there to reduce swelling.

[sparkysgirl]

Epo on the cervix or ice

[chaoticzenmom]

I had a swollen cervix with my last birth. I was told to lie on my left side for 30 min and then my right side. I was given pulsita (sp?) and arnica homeopathic pills. After awhile, the swelling went down a bit and the midwife held my cervix in place while I pushed past it. Very, very painful, but it saved us a transport and possible c-section. I was on birthing stool holding onto the edges to ground myself. 10lb 4oz baby malpositioned

[XanaduMama]

I would definitely work hard IN ADVANCE to achieve optimal fetal positioning! You can read about it at http://www.homebirth.org.uk/ofp.htm and www.spinningbabies.com.

In summary, do your best to use gravity and pelvic positioning to get baby's head in the best position for birth. Avoid sitting on soft surfaces, or in any position in which your butt is lower than your knees. Do pelvic rocks (cat/cow) a LOT. Sleep on your left side. And so forth.

I would get a ton of chiro adjustments from someone who really knows Webster. Acupuncture can help too.

Of course, there are no guarantees, and you may still benefit from the in-labor techniques you're describing. Good luck!

[Kidzaplenty]

[emnic77]

Both my kids were posterior, with my second I know I had a swollen lip, which my midwife in the hospital had me lay on my left side and not push through several contractions. It sucked hard, but it worked.

My homebirth midwife with this pregnancy suggested a chiropractor to maybe fix whatever is making my kids go posterior, and I am definitely going to try that. I was doing everything under the sun for good positioning with my DS (so many cat/cows that I spent more time on my knees than my butt most days, lol) and he was still sunny side up.

[Lineymom]

Originally Posted by XanaduMama

Avoid sitting on soft surfaces, or in any position in which your butt is lower than your knees.

I remember that spinning babies says this about soft surfaces, but just thought about it. What about sitting on an exercise/birthing ball? It is soft and your knees are higher than your butt, but it is supposed to help with position. I know in early labor my ds2 was facing front and turned to the correct position while I was bouncing on an exercise ball.

I am not at all trying to agrue with you... I hope this post doesn't sound that way!

[kcparker]

Originally Posted by Lineymom

I remember that spinning babies says this about soft surfaces, but just thought about it. What about sitting on an exercise/birthing ball? It is soft and your knees are higher than your butt, but it is supposed to help with position.

In labor is different than in the weeks before labor. When I think 'soft surface,' I think more about the deep, cushy couches a lot of Americans have - the no soft surfaces is more about not slouching or reclining for long periods of time and having good, upright to slightly tipped forward posture with good support for your ischial tuberosities (aka "sitz bones"). Basically, you want to avoid making a 'hammock' for baby that is towards your back - the 'hammock' should be to the front to encourage an anteior lie.

The reason for the knees lower than butt directive is because a squatting position (which is what that is) encourages baby to drop/engage in the pelvic inlet, and if they engage in a posterior position, it's harder for them to turn. The birth ball is helpful because it allows for you to be supported, but have a mobile pelvis - you can rock back and forth, bounce up and down, hula your hips, and that movement is what helps give baby the room to turn. Even a baby that starts OP in labor has an 87% chance of turning to an anterior position.

[ajramm]

thanks!

Thanks for all these suggestions!

I have a question for XanaduMama, you said to avoid positions in which my butt is lower than my knees, but my chiro and my pregnancy yoga teacher both recommend sitting in a squatting position alot now, a month before my birth. Why do you say not to?

Originally Posted by XanaduMama

In summary, do your best to use gravity and pelvic positioning to get baby's head in the best position for birth. Avoid sitting on soft surfaces, or in any position in which your butt is lower than your knees. Do pelvic rocks (cat/cow) a LOT. Sleep on your left side. And so forth.

[Kidzaplenty]

Originally Posted by ajramm

Thanks for all these suggestions!

I have a question for XanaduMama, you said to avoid positions in which my butt is lower than my knees, but my chiro and my pregnancy yoga teacher both recommend sitting in a squatting position alot now, a month before my birth. Why do you say not to?

Well, this would be good advice if the baby was in the optimal position for birth as it will aide the baby deep into position and make turning harder to do.

The problem comes when the baby is NOT in optimal position and then the baby can get into a position tha tis not great and can have a lot of trouble turning, thus making labor much more difficult, or even result in baby not being able to come vaginally at all.

At least this is my understanding of this.

[nashvillemidwife]

Originally Posted by ajramm

Thanks for all these suggestions!

I have a question for XanaduMama, you said to avoid positions in which my butt is lower than my knees, but my chiro and my pregnancy yoga teacher both recommend sitting in a squatting position alot now, a month before my birth. Why do you say not to?

You don't want to be reclining with your butt lower than your knees, like sitting in a recliner or fluffy overstuffed chair. It's more about how your spine is positioned than where your butt is, if you can picture the difference in your head. Squatting is great.

[XanaduMama]

Yes, what they said. Squatting is great, both for positioning and for preparing you for labor (though you shouldn't do it if baby is breech or otherwise known to be malpresenting).

As for the birth ball, I believe you want one that's neither too small for you nor too soft: you don't want your butt to be substantially lower than your knees on the ball--on the same plane or slightly above would be ideal. So make sure your ball is properly inflated.

Soft couches and car bucket seats are the real problem. I used a cushion under my butt and behind my back in the car during my pregnancy--not the safest, I know, but it was too painful to sit in the car otherwise (not to mention bad for fetal positioning). So avoid being in the car for long periods if you can help it. Avoid couches or armchairs and rather sit on your yoga ball, on a hard chair, or on the floor.

[Pookietooth]

My friend who birthed on the Farm said they applied arnica oil to her cervical lip. Seemed to work for her.

[pamamidwife]

Hi! I still stand by my theory that a swollen cervix is caused by posterior or asynclitic positioning. I don't have any other suggestions, except that OP positioning is less of an issue with women who are not having their first babies.

[nashvillemidwife]

I agree that it's caused by malpositioning, but that knowledge is too little, too late when you're in labor and the baby doesn't want to straighten up.

[Juvysen]

:

[JamieCatheryn]

My pushing always begins before time and swells things up. Usually you can just go with what your body is doing to give birth and it works, but this one thing is a problem for mine. Both times I had to blow and try hard not to push until it became 100% unavoidable. In my homebirth we put arnica infusion oil on the swollen tissues and it helped immensely, this was after baby was past the cervix. Actually avoided cervical swelling by pushing while the midwife held it out of the way, caught that issue before swelling occurred.