How long would you labor.....? - Page 2

[LavenderMae]

To me it wouldn't be a matter of time but if I felt like I needed to transfer. I will go with my gut. I'm pretty sure that I will know if I need to transfer, although my first back up is a homebirth midwife.

[MamaTaraX]

I'd labor as long as I felt that everything was okay. Any time (be it five minutes of fifty hours) that I intuitively felt something was wrong, I'd be gone. Otherwise, I'd be home for an eternity.

Namaste, Tara

[freebirth2]

If I felt something was wrong I would still ask my body what was wrong and how do I handle it without a hospital. I believe it will tell me. Plus to be honest I don't really want kids anymore. I would rather adopt that way I would never have to deal with a hospital birth. Plus there is way too many kids in this world anyway.

Following your Intution at www.unhinderdliving.com/childbirth.html is a great story on how a women handled early seperation of the placenta on her own without a hospital. If she can do it so can all of you.

[Bestbirths]

yeah, well, the transport listed in the link I gave wasn't for placenta previa, it was for hemmorage.

I suppose with no herbs for hemmorage at the birth, you would have eaten your placenta.

But seeing as you never plan on birthing children, I guess we'll never know.

Adopting is a great thing. There are a lot of children who need homes. Even lots of foster children here in the states who need homes. They need a lot of patience, understanding, & compassion. The foster program has a foster to adopt built into it, where you can just start out fostering the child and adopt if that child is the right fit for you. The foster parent program gives free parenting classes, and you don't have to be married. They will give counseling & help along the way if you have a child with troubles. You just have to take the classes, have a steady job, and a room that is safe for the child, and pass the homestudy.

[freebirth2]

Maybe you did not read the right thing
here is the link:

http://www.unhinderedliving.com/intuition.html

and she did not transport she stayed home.

[PrairieBohemian]

Originally Posted by freebirth2

Plus to be honest I don't really want kids anymore. I would rather adopt that way I would never have to deal with a hospital birth. Plus there is way too many kids in this world anyway.

Freebirth, I must applaud you here. This is a wonderful idea! I too felt the same way and thought I was infertile until I conceived unexpectdly. I wish more families would come up to the plate and adopt if they are not comfortable with birth and all the possibilities and variation that come with it.

[MidwifeErika]

I think it is easy to be die-hard when you aren't actually in the situation. It would be really easy for me to sit here on my computer and say "well, there is no reason for x,y, and z and she should just do this..." But, I believe it is more important for a woman to trust her own intuition and feelings. I believe the primary goal of UC (or any birth) is to have a healthy mom and baby, most UCer's believe that they are making the choice that is healthiest for their family. If they start feeling intuitively that it isn't healthy anymore and they need to transfer, who the heck am I to say differently? I recently had to make the same call in my birth. I had to turn my birth choices upside down because of what my intuition was telling me and while I mourn the loss of what I hoped my birth would be, I am very happy that I am fully healthy and we have a beautifully healthy little girl.

Things also become less cut and dry when you are no longer on your first child. If I felt my life was at risk, should I just let myself die and leave my other children without a mother? All for what? Because I was against going to the hospital and getting some medicine that could have saved me? Freebirth2, you seem to have all the answers, but life is just not that black and white, there are lots of shades of grey. I guess you have to make whatever choices you feel are best for your health.

As for the original question, for me it isn't a matter of hours in labor... it would be a matter of lots of other things. If I felt I needed to go in for anyreason, then I would. If things were going along nicely then I would stay home. My homebirth was 24 hours of labor, but I felt at all times that we were healthy and there was no reason to transfer.

[Bestbirths]

[Bestbirths]

Maybe you did not read the right thing
here is the link:

http://www.unhinderedliving.com/intuition.html

and she did not transport she stayed home.

Yeah, the first time the link didn't work. I provided a link for a UC emergency which did require a transport in post, #18, since you've never read any.

[alegna]

Originally Posted by arboriamoon

freebirth, PLEASE stopping ASSUMING you understand what a long labour feels like!!!!

I know you *believe* with everything in you that you would not transfer no matter what. With long labours (I mean 48hrs+), fatigue is pretty much inevitable. For some women, the pain of labour is far beyond all imagining--even if nothing is wrong.

My labor was *only* ~31 hours and I never considered transfering, but I was EXAHUSTED. Totally. I had not slept at all and could not sleep. I can see where it would become a health issue with a significantly longer labor where a transfer could be the safest choice.

-Angela

[super kitty]

Originally Posted by alegna

I can see where it would become a health issue with a significantly longer labor where a transfer could be the safest choice.

-Angela

I totally think for some people the transfer is the right choice to make for them but why could it be the "safest" choice to make merely because of length of labour or fatigue?

[frontierpsych]

The only reason I would transfer due to a prolonged labour is if I was so exhausted I couldn't function and could not fall asleep between ctx... It would have to be really bad though, and it isn't something I forsee happening, but if my labour was that long and I was unable to sleep at all you'd think the sleep deprivation itself would cause complications. I'm willing to stay at home through a lot of things, and I will just have to trust my instincts as to whether or not to transfer.

[super kitty]

Originally Posted by frontierpsych

The only reason I would transfer due to a prolonged labour is if I was so exhausted I couldn't function and could not fall asleep between ctx...

What I don't get is what you think the hospital will do for you because you are tired? Is there still the interest in having the baby without interventions?

[frontierpsych]

I'm not sure. Like I said, I'd have to do what my body told me to do. I'm sure in most cases it would be to stay home, even with prolonged labour, because going to a hospital would only lead to interventions. OTOH, that is not something I will know until I am in that situation.

[beckyand3littlemonsters]

Originally Posted by freebirth2

How long would you labor before going to the hospital?

I believe the baby will come out on it's own time, and if I have to labor for a week then so be it. So how long would you trust and be paitient with your body? The women back then had to labor for as long as their body labored for no pain killers nothing to speed it up or give it a break, and they birthed a healthy baby, so why should time be an issue for transfer. It would not be for me.

I've never had an unassisisted dellivery i've birth all mine at home though but my longest was 23 hrs so don't really know how long i would stay at home labouring before concidering going to hospital

this is good site it has birth storys if you go birth storys and scroll down to hannah and click on the links it should say about her unassisted birth
http://www.homebirth.org.uk/alfie.htm

[alegna]

Originally Posted by super kitty

I totally think for some people the transfer is the right choice to make for them but why could it be the "safest" choice to make merely because of length of labour or fatigue?

Hard to say- I'm really thinking more of mind-set. Either the mom is so exhausted that she WANTS to transfer, or she has the feeling she NEEDS to transfer.

-Angela

[super kitty]

Originally Posted by alegna

Hard to say- I'm really thinking more of mind-set. Either the mom is so exhausted that she WANTS to transfer, or she has the feeling she NEEDS to transfer.

-Angela

I guess for me, it's one thing to decide to transfer for non energency type reasons (fatigue, fear...) but the fact remains that the hospital won't be able to do anything for you except to manage the birth with say an edidural, drugs etc....

I wish women who transfer while trying to UC didn't feel like they were a failure or any other such nonsense but at the same time I hate the idea that transfering is normal, common, safer, always for emergency reasons etc.

[littleteapot]

For me it really depends on what my gut is telling me, and HOW the labour is going, not how long.
My first labour was a non-progressive 42 hours, and then - BAM - 4cm to complete in three hellish contractions and I was pushing. I know a lot of things attributed to my labour being this way, like my obsession with vomiting that led me not to eat, and my excitement over it being labour that led me not to sleep when I could have. Both of these led to severe exhaustion, and your uterus will eventually just start not working. Like a car choking on fumes just before it stops completely. I started running a fever from the exhaustion as well.
Once I was able to eat something I was able to sleep between contractions, and once that happened my body just exploded.

So... with hindsight as 20/20 I'd really evaluate my situation.
What is emotionally barring me from continuing to birth? How can I address that?
Am I eating, drinking, moving and resting enough?
Have I emptied my bladder once an hour, could that be the issue?
What is the baby's position? Can I change it?
etc... in the end, if I intuitively felt I needed to go, I would.

[alegna]

Originally Posted by super kitty

I guess for me, it's one thing to decide to transfer for non energency type reasons (fatigue, fear...) but the fact remains that the hospital won't be able to do anything for you except to manage the birth with say an edidural, drugs etc....

This is very true. There are times for SOME interventions, just as there are times for a c-section. They are FAR overused. But not totally wrong in and of themselves.

-Angela

[super kitty]

Originally Posted by alegna

They are FAR overused. But not totally wrong in and of themselves.

-Angela

Agreed but "FAR" would be the key word here and perhaps even understated.