waterbirtth and "ring of fire"

[lapoucelle]

Hey all!

I experienced the "ring of fire" burning during my second delivery and am hoping that birthing in water will alleviate if not all

together eliminate that burning pain. Any insight here?

Thanks!

Lara

[chaoticzenmom]

I had the ring of fire with during the waterbirth of my 3rd child.  Sorry to disappoint.  He was huge though and the ring of fire, while quite painful, was not something that would cause me to have fear of labor.  I didn't have any tearing.

The waterbirth was quite nice though.  It really helped alleviate other pains and possibly that one as well...I didn't have a comparison because the first births were with and epidural and the last birth was a 10lb4oz baby, so quite different.

Maybe other people will chime in with ring of fire advice. 

[lapoucelle]

Thanks! I had a feeling that would be the case :P

[Greenlea]

I had two water births.  I had the ring of fire with my 1st, but not my second.

[firewoman]

The only births that I had out of the water were in the hospital with epidurals so my take may be skewed.  I think that being in the water does soften up the perineal tissue making it more pliable and may alleviate some of the burn but it is still skin getting stretched to its limit and I would be misleading if I said I didn't feel anything.  For me, the ring of fire was nothing compared to transition contractions and the feeling of the baby descending through my pelvis.  The water helps those two things immensely.  I had healthy sized babies between 8.5 and nine pounds and the pushing phase was very short in all of them so that I may have made my perception of the ring of fire less, too, because it didn't go on for long.  Hope that helps.

[Amila]

Had DS at home out of water and dont remember the ring of fire so much but it was excruciatingly painful anyway.  Had DD in the water and the ring of fire was awful, but the rest of it was more bearable. If I had to pick Id do it in the water again!

[seashells]

Waterbirth - check.

Ring of fire - check.

Sorry. But I still thought the water did amazing things for me. It just didn't prevent ring of fire (and I tore, too).

[Jynuine]

I think the thing is this- your body has to stretch, and be that in water or out- it's going to stretch. Waterbirth HELPS with pain in many women and even relaxing that area and keeping it supple, however water is also dehydrating and over extended periods of time can dehydrate that area, too.

I had the ring of fire with my 6th in my first waterbirth 19 mos ago and I am looking for ways to prevent a fast entrance. I also got skidmarks which to me, were worse than tearing (which I did with my first and 2nd). I'm hoping to try some olive oil and meditate through that pushing phase, although I got to tell you- I really felt like I had no control over the pushing. My body went instantly to auto-pilot :/ .

[crunchymama214]

Yes, 2 waterbirths here and still felt the 'ring of fire' with both, but my labors (and pushing phases especially) are pretty short, so it was a small moment of discomfort and worth every minute in the end!!

[Banana731]

Originally Posted by firewoman 

For me, the ring of fire was nothing compared to transition contractions and the feeling of the baby descending through my pelvis. 

this. i've had 2 water births. 1st awful awful ring of fire because i was pushing a buldging bag for a while (like a mini ring of fire every push), and then head. #2 was bigger baby, faster, possibly positioned a little off, and the ring of fire was there but less intense compared to the decent. I was actually able to blow through that burn a bit, which i needed (tore a little anyway) where in my first wb I just pushed through (skid marks).
 

[~Boudicca~]

With dd1 I gave birth out of water in the typical lithotomy position and experienced the ring of fire and some freaking awful tearing.  With dd2, I gave birth to her squatting in the tub and experienced absolutely no ring of fire or tearing.

[chellebee]

I'm thinking this is more an anatomy thing than anything. I've had babies in and out of water, and never felt the ring of fire.

[kawa kamuri]

Originally Posted by chellebee 

I'm thinking this is more an anatomy thing than anything. I've had babies in and out of water, and never felt the ring of fire.

neither have I - all sorts of positions and scenarios

[lapoucelle]

I didn't experience it with my first, but I did with my second. That being said, my second was almost ten lbs so it was bound to happen :P

[beebalmmama]

Firs,t dry land birth I experienced ring of fire, episiotomy and tear.

Second, water birth I experienced ring of fire, tore and skid marks. However I still loved being in the water during the second birth and labor and would do a water birth again......but dh took care of that this weekend and we're all done with new babies.

[Lit Chick]

I had 2 land-births.  DS1 I had the ring and a slight tear.  DS2 was suppsoed to be a water birth, but he came way too fast - only about 45 min of labor.  No ring, in fact a completely painless crowning and I was totally intact.  (The labor and transition was hell though!)

The difference - with #1 I had no urge to push, so I was just bearing down with all my might and trying to get it over with.  With #2, even though he came so fast it was very steady.  As soon as I was out of transition I had a strong urge to push, but it was a very natural and slow push.  I supported myself as well and felt his head bulging.  The second push was effortless, I just let my body do it, and his head slowly emerged into my hands.  I was terrified the first 30 minutes, because I thought I was in bad endless back labor, but as soon as I was out of transition I was so blissed out and calm, so I'm sure that was a factor.  I was not clenched in any way.

DH and I had DTD right before bedtime (DS2 was born appx 3am) and I had a very good time, so perhaps that also helped with my overall relaxation.

[goldenwillow]

Water birth here and yep... I fell into the burning ring of fire.  Pardon the pun, couldn't help myself, listening to Mr. Cash today

Honestly, it was the best part of my labor.  I knew it was almost over at that point.   Oh... no tears here... my MW had me slow down and applied pressure to avoid those bad boys.

[Mamatoabunch]

I have had all my vaginal births in water, 8 of them. I think I felt the ring of fire w/ some, but at that point it all hurt, I don't know. 

[mangogirl]

On an aside.. I think the term "ring of fire" should be abandoned. It is a stretching sensation - makes sense, as your baby's head is coming down the birth canal....

I did not have any ring of fire with my 3rd bb who was born at home in water. I did experience what I would call stretching pain with my second baby who was born at home out of the water. With my first, I had a not so great epidural and also experienced stretching pain. With all of my births I did not experience any tearing requiring repair, but did have some "skid marks" - that wasn't so bad as long as I had a peri-bottle when going to the loo.... The additional things I did differently between my 2nd and 3rd births were that I went to a chiropractor and also used something called epi-no because I was having pubis symphis disorder from about the 17th week of my pregnancy. I did these things to 1) chiro: get my body in the best alignment esp. my pelvis, and thus in my mind get my baby in the best possible position and 2) epi-no - to practice kegels with bio-feedback to strengthen my pelvic floor muscles to help keep my pubis symphis joint together.  Also, being in the water allowed me to be supported in a kneeling position while leaning my upper body on the side of the tub. The big difference I found with my 3rd birth compared to my first two was that the 2nd stage of labour (pushing) was extremely short (20 min?) and little to no pain when compared with the previous births and second stages lasting around 3 hours....  It was such a relief to breathe down and work the the contractions!  Don't know what worked, but something did!  One last thing - for second stage, I imagined I was breathing baby down and around (like the letter "J") and this really worked for me.

[Sharlla]

water birth with my 3rd, no ring of fire.  she just slipped right out