Pushing baby out

[chase_mommy]

This may be a stupid question but I had to ask. Is there a time frame in pushing baby out? I ask because my two birth were completely different. With DS I couldn't feel anything (had an epi) and pushed for a little over 45 minutes. That seemed like a really long time to me, I was exhausted, agitated but happy to have my first baby. I have always wondered if maybe I wasn't completely ready to push and thats what took so long or perhaps I wasn't feeling much pressure at the time. With DD, I pushed her out in under three minutes. I felt the pressure (had to wait for Dr. ) and then pushed her out immediately. Very simple, fast and to the point, it was awesome. I could feel her moving down, it was a great experience. So, my two very different births leave me thinking "How long should it take you to actually push the baby?" I know everyone is different but I can't imagine pushing for 2 hours but I suppose it could happen. So how long did it take you? Have you read/know anything on the subject?

I think my whole thought process behind this is... Is their a point after pushing for so long, that something just isn't right and something else may need to be done?

[desertgirl01]

I pushed for 4 long hours, and it was exhausting! Everything I had read said to just go with the flow, your body knows what to do, etc. etc., and I trusted that advice. I started pushing when I felt pushy. After a couple hours of pushing in the water, the baby wasn't moving down very well, so we tried all sorts of positions for two more hours...I never felt her moving down, which obviously she did since she eventually slithered out! I actually ended up delivering her slightly reclined on the bed, a position I had never thought I'd be in, but ended up being most effective for me.

I was totally exhausted, but I didn't really know what to expect for the pushing stage (time-wise at least), and my midwife didn't show any concerns about how long it was taking, so I wasn't too worried about it. Just went along with the whole 'trusting my body' mantra. I had heard the midwife talking to her nurse, telling her she didn't think XX would be able to deliver "here" (at the birth center) and to prepare for a transfer. I really thought she was talking about another woman in labor down the hall, but realized after labor, that she was talking about me! My baby was never in distress, though she had pooped sometime during delivery and had meconium in the waters behind her. Her apgar scores were a bit low at first, but she pinked up and was a 9 at 5 minutes.

sorry, just noticed this was in UC...as I didn't have an unassisted birth, I don't know how I would have reacted without the reassurance of a "medical someone" that I trusted.

[tireesix]

First baby I was allowed 2 hours but I was only given 45 minutes.

Second baby was 3 hours + (homebirth with MWs, they were starting to get a bit agitated and I heard the hospital word a couple of times).

Third baby was 10 mins and an unplanned unassisted.

So, I guess it depends, my local hospital says 2 hours, my local MWs are fine as long as baby and mum are ok and as far as I am concerned, the sooner its over with the better lol cos that second birth was hard going!

[rach&becks]

I am no expert, both my kids were born with in a few pushes, and I waited to feel pushy.

But from the birth stories I have been reading and from reading "spiritual Midwifery" by Ina May Gaskin, The contraction can slow down for a lot of people when the pushing stage begins and can make for a longer pushing period. If that did happen to me, I think I would try and get the contractions closer together again before attempting to push more.

Dont know if that helped, but thought I would share.

[zoebird]

i did this ecstatc dance/movement and sounding thing for two solid hours.

i assume that was the pushing phase because it ended when the baby was out. it was sweet.

i just followed what my body wanted to do. and that's what it did. it totally felt timeless, fast, like 5 minutes or something.