Effacement/Dilation w/OUT painful contractions?? - Page 2

[Black Orchid]

Women who use HypnoBirthing techniques often dialate without feeling pain. Its a very effective method because your body is relaxed and your uterine muscles are able to work without fighting your body for resources. I plan to use it with this baby and am looking forward to pain-free transition!

[minkajane]

15 minutes after my water broke, I was at 5cm. Turns out those progressively uncomfortable backaches I'd been having over the last couple of weeks were really contractions. The night before, I had a bad backache, but no pain while in the tub, and pain relief with heat/massage/counterpressure and sidelying.

I don't know how much I dilated before DS was born - he was a C/S within 2 hours of water breaking for breech presentation.

[PancakeGoddess]

My MIL had two painless births. Mine are not painless to the end, but I do think I must have opened nearly halfway in the last weeks of my pregnancy, and those were all painless. I just guess that because I was 6cm when I'd barely started having painful contractions. But that was my 3rd birth. The first two were painful earlier.

[Kirsten]

Absolutely you can! I did. Went longer with each birth. Dd3's birth was the most pronounced in this regard. I thought I "might" be in labor - a little this and that that made me think so - so called the midwife as we were planning a homebirth and I just wanted to give her a heads up as we live 40 minutes from her and she has kids to transport to her childcare plans.

So it turns out one of our two midwives actually is in our town for another homebirth so will stop by after that to check me. She comes a few hours later, talks to me, tells me I'm not really that far into labor as I am not stopping conversation or doing anything at all noticeable to deal with contractions. But since the midwives are not going to be nearby, and it is my third child, she asks if I want her to check me. I agree to it and the look on her face is priceless. She says "you are an 8..." I hadn't really had any contractions to speak of at that point. Dd3 was the only of my kids to be born posterior though so maybe that plays into it? I would NOT suggest that though - bad, bad idea...

I think MANY women can dilate a bit (1, 2, even 3) without having painful contractions - I think that is fairly common. Much less common would be getting to between a 5 and a 10 without them. But it is definitely possible.

One thing - I wouldn't assume that just because other women in your family gave birth a certain way that you will. I was SO sure that I'd have quick labors because my mom did (really quick, like barely make it to the hospital and left the moment you had an inkling) but dd1's birth was almost 20 hours. I actually think slow and easy is better than quick and hard but to each her own. We don't get to pick anyway.

[Brinda]

I had lots of pre-term contractions that were not painful. In fact, when delivering my second daughter, I only had like 2-3 contractions showing on the monitor, and they weren't painful at all. I did puzzle books, watched tv, etc. They were going to send me home because I wasn't in pain enough and not having enough contractions. Upon checking me, my cervix was changing! So, I stayed overnight and delivered around 9am with only 2 painful contractions only during transition.

[babysx9]

I don't really feel them until 9 or so. I had this annoying nurse once who kept coming in and asking me if I was feeling them. I think for me it had more to do with my state of relaxation rather than lack of pain.

[3ncountin]

With my last baby I walked around at 4-5cm and 90% effaced fir the last two months .My three hour labor was painless until the last 40 min. but as for the birth itself I dont think that part of labor is painful at all .Pain free birth is a beautiful thing!

[Karry]

With all three of my pregnancies I had tons of BH contx that caused my cervix to dilate and efface. I really don't start to have painful contrx until I'm in more active labor like 5-6 cm. I also go pretty fast too. My first labor was three hours plus and hour and a half of pushing. My last two labors were shorter. With my last one, I went from 4 cm to him being born within 2 hours.