Pushing for 2+ hours?

[NicaG]

Seems like all my friends, everyone posting here etc etc pushes for 10 minutes and voila: baby.  I pushed for 2.5 hours with my first, 2 hours with my second.  Both labors were pitocin-induced, so maybe that has something to do with it.  I'm expecting #3 and I'm wondering what I can do to avoid pushing for 2 hours.  Is that just my fate?  I am likely to be induced again (I get gestational diabetes when I'm pregnant and am not allowed to go past my due date). I'd even love to hear from anyone who has had a similarly long pushing phase and how you handled it.  I just hate feeling like I'm the only one who labors this way.

[Smokering]

Hmm. Did you have posterior babies, or were they in any other "funny" position? That can lengthen the pushing phase. Posterior babies often seem to wait until you're fully dilated, then faff around for a bit getting themselves turned around correctly, and only then descend.

I pushed for an hour (induced, but no Pit) ; it honestly didn't feel like that long, though. If I'd had to guess, I would have thought it was 10 minutes! So are you sure your friends are accurately remembering? :p I've certainly heard of friends and acquaintances with long pushing phases, so you're not abnormal, but I can see why you'd want a quicker second stage! Although, there's a lot to be said for not pushing the baby out in 2 pushes - I believe really quick second stages are more likely to involve tearing, because the tissues don't have time to stretch.

Squatting can shorten the pushing phase, because it literally shortens the birth canal (as well as giving the baby more room to get out, helping the body work with gravity, and generally being a Good Thing).

[Engineering_Mama]

I'll trade my 8 hours of pushing for your 2!   I know how you feel. I'm sooo jealous of these women who push for less than an hour. No tears though (it was my first baby) so that's the upside to pushing so long. Was there anything about how you were pushing or how the baby was positioned that you feel may have contributed? I think a big part of why I pushed so long was that I started pushing to early. I didn't really have an overwhelming urge to push, I just felt a little bit pushy and was bored so I started pushing. In hindsight I would have been better off resting until I HAD to push. The second thing I think contributed was the fact that my pelvis was a mess, despite seeing a chiropractor throughout the pregnancy. Pushing in an upright position can definitely help shorten your pushing time. Would you consider finding a care provider who would support waiting for you to go into labor on your own? As long as your GD is controlled that shouldn't be an issue.

[tourist.]

I'm hoping for the same thing as you.  I pushed for 2.5 hours with my first and would absolutely love to push for less time this go round.  With my DS1 his arm was up around his neck so I am pretty sure that contributed greatly to his slow descent.  I keep sending "chin tuck/arms down vibes" to this babe....Hopefully he gets the message.

[lifeguard]

I pushed for a long time with ds (no one really kept track for me but I know it was well over an hour). At one point I was told one more good push & he'll be here & then I went through a dozen more sets of contractions with no further progress. It was the most exhausting, frustrating, difficult things I have ever been through.

Like a pp said I believe a big part of it was starting to push to soon. I NEVER truly had a desire to push but was doing so 'cause that was what I was supposed to do. This next time I intend to wait until I feel a desire (I sure hope it comes!) with the hopes that that will make the pushing phase shorter & more effective.

FWIW - I was also induced with gd. I didn't need pit as the cervical gel was more than effective in getting things going. I will also be trying to avoid induction this time if at all possible but like you expect I will develop gd & my ob will not want me going past my edd.

[penguintattoo]

I pushed for just over 2 hours with my first, I think its because the nurse told me to start pushing and I had no idea what I was doing. I'm hoping this next time is faster, I'll probably just wait til I feel the urge to push though, pushing too soon just made me even more tired.  I have a lot of friends who say 10 minutes, or oh I only pushed 5 times. I'm guessing part of it is incorrect memory, part their babies were much smaller, and part they probably waited til they were ready. Its hard to say though!

[Nicole730]

1st - 2.25 hours

2nd - 17 minutes !!  Soooo exciting and much less exhausting!

One of my friends pushes her kids out in less than 5 minutes every time, she has 4 kids

Another friend took over 2 hours for both.

[Yuba_River]

I know how you feel. I pushed over 2 hours with my first and was really hoping I would be like my friends who pushed for twenty minutes with their second babies, but no such luck--still took over an hour with my second. It was hard and made harder by my midwife who seemed surprised and somehow critical of how long it was taking. Ironically, I felt much more effective once I lay on the bed on my back, which was how I birthed my first son. I regretted using that position with him, but apparently it works well for my body.


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[APToddlerMama]

I also pushed for 2.5. hours with my first and am hoping to not have a repeat this time.  I wasn't induced and was encouraged to wait to push...I was seriously feeling an urge long before I got to the hospital and found out I was 7cm dilated.  So, I don't think I'm one who pushed too early either.  I don't really know what it was for me although I wish I had listened to my body more and given myself more pushing "breaks" in the midst of things.  I was just being encouraged to push with each contraction and after a while I got really tired. 

[cocoanib]

OP, did you have the urge to push when you started?

Sometimes hospitals call it laboring down when you are complete, but still labor a bit before pushing.

I think that waiting to see if you get the urge may lessen pushing time.

[cyclamen]

I pushed for over two hours, too.  DD had a nuchal hand and I let them break my waters when I was fully dilated, so I think that may have had something to do with the nuchal hand... and hence the long pushing. 

[marinak1977]

I pushed for over 2 hours - I had a cervical lip that eventually let up, I also didn't exactly know what i was doing and was afraid of tearing so I took things slow. I took me very little time to dilate though, so I didn't mind the pushing part so much.

[Nicole730]

Oh, wanted to add something else.  I realized that with my first, I did have an urge to push when I first started pushing.  My body did it all on my own, I don't even know if I was at 10cm at that point.  So with each subsequent contraction (every 1.5 minutes!) I was pushing.  For over 2 hours.  Looking back on it, I probably did not need to push through every contraction.  I thought I was supposed to be pushing and nobody told me otherwise.

[wombatclay]

With dd2 I had a 12hr from start to finish, unmedicated, pushing with the sort of urge where I probably would have split something if I /didn't/ push, birth and I still spent roughly 4 of those hours pushing.  I was squatting for the last hour or two and ended up with a 4th degree tear so, um, while I know the pros behind squatting my personal experience with squatting has been that it was pretty much useless and/or actually harmful for me so it's not a position I suggest much anymore.  I generally suggest trying a few pushes in a squat and then moving on if the result wasn't obviously speeding things up.

Also with dd2 my support people kept saying "one more push!" for hours.  It drove me bonkers.  I made dh swear to NEVER ever ever say that again unless the baby was literally halfway out.  I'm all in favor of encouraging mom, but that endless "nearly there" litany was hellish.

With DS the birth was 4 and a half hours from start to finish, and it was insanely intense (hypnobabies did nothing, the shot of narcotic did nothing, I would have sold my soul for an epidural though in retrospect there wouldn't have been time lol).  Even then though I pushed for about 45 minutes (according to dh, I was in no shape to look at clocks and the whole experience is sort of a blur).

According to the data, average time spent pushing for a first time mom is 1-2 hours, and from 1/2-1 hour in second timers so while I certainly know some "one push and the babe is out" moms, I think a lot of the stories are influenced by the time dilation of unmedicated birth.  It's still not fair though!  :)

[NicaG]

Oh my goodness, everyone kept saying "one more push" to me with my second baby and it drove me insane! Obviously I was not "nearly there" because I still pushed for another frickin hour! It was really distracting and demoralizing.  I think I will ask my dh to make sure no one says that this time around.

As for having the urge to push....I think I wasn't feeling it so strongly with my first, because I was a little clueless and a little out of it.  But with my second, I did feel the urge and I felt like I was timing my pushing really well with the contractions, but it hardly mattered, I still pushed for almost as long as with my first.

[lemonapple]

Did you try different pushing positions? As one person mentioned, squatting can help to lessen the time!

I pushed for 55 min. with ds, but wow, time flew. I wasn't really able to control whether or not I pushed...I HAD to push...it felt like, if I didn't, then my body was just going to do it for me anyway, and it would feel worse. Sort of like throwing up...where, if you just go with it, then it is quicker AND less...uncomfortable than if you resist and let your body do it anyway. LOL. 

[Dandelionkid]

Originally Posted by wombatclay 

With dd2 I had a 12hr from start to finish, unmedicated, pushing with the sort of urge where I probably would have split something if I /didn't/ push, birth and I still spent roughly 4 of those hours pushing.  I was squatting for the last hour or two and ended up with a 4th degree tear so, um, while I know the pros behind squatting my personal experience with squatting has been that it was pretty much useless and/or actually harmful for me so it's not a position I suggest much anymore.  I generally suggest trying a few pushes in a squat and then moving on if the result wasn't obviously speeding things up.

Also with dd2 my support people kept saying "one more push!" for hours.  It drove me bonkers.  I made dh swear to NEVER ever ever say that again unless the baby was literally halfway out.  I'm all in favor of encouraging mom, but that endless "nearly there" litany was hellish.

With DS the birth was 4 and a half hours from start to finish, and it was insanely intense (hypnobabies did nothing, the shot of narcotic did nothing, I would have sold my soul for an epidural though in retrospect there wouldn't have been time lol).  Even then though I pushed for about 45 minutes (according to dh, I was in no shape to look at clocks and the whole experience is sort of a blur).

According to the data, average time spent pushing for a first time mom is 1-2 hours, and from 1/2-1 hour in second timers so while I certainly know some "one push and the babe is out" moms, I think a lot of the stories are influenced by the time dilation of unmedicated birth.  It's still not fair though!  :)

I agree on the squatting. I tried it through the 3.5 hrs of pushing  with my first and it was only when the doctor told me to lie down for a bit (on my back, supposedly the worst position to birth in) that my dd started to make progress coming out. I imagine all the squatting really contributed to the swelling that was inhibiting dd from coming out. I`m really lucky my doctor was willing to hold off on the vacuum. The thing that also contributed was the nurses telling me I was at 10 cm and fully dilated. The pain was so bad I just wanted to get dd out so I started to push with contractions. If I had been at home for more of it and not been told I was ready to push I probably would have been able to hold off till my body was ready to push. 

Nonetheless, knowing this, I still pushed with my third at full dilation due to the pain- i just wanted her out of there! No impulse from my body to push yet. 

My second was at home for most of it and then made it just in time to be delivered in hospital- definitely felt the urge to push that time and he was my fastest pushing phase for sure.

Too bad you need to do all the work in the hospital but can you request that they don`t tell you when you are fully dilated but let you get to the natural pushing phase on your own? Or maybe you do feel an urge to push- it just takes awhile.

Hope things go better this time!

[sunnygir1]

I wish I had more advice.  I like the earlier ideas about waiting until you feel a strong urge to push and trying different positions.  I also think that perhaps exercise (like walking a mile every day) and chiropractic care throughout your pregnancy could help to make sure your body is strong and in good alignment and that the baby is in a good position.  Those things could help.

I don't know how many minutes I pushed, but I really think it was only a handful of contractions with both of mine, but they were premature and not very big, so I don't think their heads needed much molding to make it through.