did your mothers childbirth affect your own childbirth

[madhavi]

i had heard somewhere that when a woman has a vaginal birth, it somehow teaches the female baby also how to birth. somehow sending a message to her body of what to do when it's her turn.
i wanted to see if this holds true in anyway.
did your mother have a c-section or vaginal birth and what was your own or your daughters birth experience?

[HarperRose]

Vaginal birth, completely knocked out, I was taken w/ forceps.

DS was born vaginally, demorol (useless!), and vacuum extractor.

DD was born vaginally, at home, no interventions.

#3 was m/c at home, no interventions

This one will also be born at home, no interventions.

[~pi]

My mother had two vaginal (NCB) births. I had an unplanned c/s.

Her first birth was me. Spontaneous labour, 45 minutes start to finish, no drugs.

Her second birth started with AROM. 2.5 hours later, my nearly 11 lb sister arrived.

I had my water broken at 40 weeks (I am type 1 diabetic.) 30 hours and many complications later, I had a c/s.

[sofiabugmom]

I was two weeks late from my due date, so mom was AROM'ed and I was pushed out by the doctor.

DD was nine weeks early and I had a placental abruption, so I had an C section.

So this is kinda like comparing apples and Chevrolets, isn't it?

[lyttlewon]

I was born at home and that 100% affected my decision to HB.

[zinemama]

That theory sounds farfetched to me.

[cornpicker]

I have not given birth yet, but my mother had 4 natural childbirths (in hospitals) and my goal is to have a natural birth at home. I don't know if I somehow 'absorbed' something in the birth, but I definitely think that hearing her talk about her experiences as I grew up had a major impact on me that I didn't realize until I became pregnant and had to think about the kind of birth I wanted. I'm sure it was much easier to have natural birth in a hospital 30 years ago than it is now, which is a big reason why I'll give birth at home.

[SwanMom]

Originally Posted by cornpicker

I'm sure it was much easier to have natural birth in a hospital 30 years ago than it is now, which is a big reason why I'll give birth at home.

I'm pretty sure hospital births have become more natural in many ways in the last 30 years...

[mamabadger]

Originally Posted by SwanMom

I'm pretty sure hospital births have become more natural in many ways in the last 30 years...

I don't think that's the case. I had my first child 25 years ago. A lot of interventions were routine, but I think they were easier to avoid than they are today. Induction of labour was far less common, and so were C-secs. Hospitals didn't have such rigid policies about those procedures either, whereas now women have to go to ridiculous lengths to get a VBAC or wait for labour to start spontaneously if they have long pregnancies. Obstetrics has been moving away from "natural" birth for quite a few years now.

[TypingMarie]

I was born by c-section, my son was born vaginally.

[GooeyRN]

Mother had vaginal births, and I had one so far. I am currently preg, and hope to have another! My midwife says that I have a more than adequate pelvis, so lets hope!

[lyttlewon]

Originally Posted by cornpicker

I'm sure it was much easier to have natural birth in a hospital 30 years ago than it is now, which is a big reason why I'll give birth at home.

No not really from what my mom says. She was 17 when she had my brother in 1969 and told them she didn't want an epidural. They forced her to have one. Since she was only 17 she didn't know she could fight. She had to argue about my second brother in 1972 and was able to forgo the epi but he was taken to the nursery and given a bottle. It was a little easier for my sister in 1976 but she had me unassisted because midwives in her area were basically illegal and being sued like crazy in 1978.

[chaoticzenmom]

I think that knowing how easy her births were helped my confidence, but that's about it. I knew that she birthed a 12lb baby with no meds and so I know that it was in my bones to birth a big baby if I had to.

Lisa (mom to 3 wonderful children)

[gcgirl]

Originally Posted by zinemama

That theory sounds farfetched to me.

:

If it teaches girls how to give birth, what does it teach boys?

[HarperRose]

Originally Posted by sofiabugmom

So this is kinda like comparing apples and Chevrolets, isn't it?

[Ruthla]

My mom had 3 vaginal births, and so did I, but she had 3 unconscious hospital births and I had 3 home births.

[Ruthla]

Originally Posted by lyttlewon

No not really from what my mom says. She was 17 when she had my brother in 1969 and told them she didn't want an epidural. They forced her to have one. Since she was only 17 she didn't know she could fight. She had to argue about my second brother in 1972 and was able to forgo the epi but he was taken to the nursery and given a bottle. It was a little easier for my sister in 1976 but she had me unassisted because midwives in her area were basically illegal and being sued like crazy in 1978.

Did epidurals exist in 1969? I thought they used "twilight sleep" or general anesthesia at that time?

[Yippy!]

my mother had a cesarean with general anesthesia, I was supposively stuck in the canal with dystocia.
I had a vaginal birth, the kid practically flew out of me

[Sileree]

Originally Posted by lyttlewon

No not really from what my mom says. She was 17 when she had my brother in 1969 and told them she didn't want an epidural. They forced her to have one. Since she was only 17 she didn't know she could fight. She had to argue about my second brother in 1972 and was able to forgo the epi but he was taken to the nursery and given a bottle. It was a little easier for my sister in 1976 but she had me unassisted because midwives in her area were basically illegal and being sued like crazy in 1978.

The same thing happened to my mom when she had my half-sister at 17 in 1974. She was ready to push and never felt like she was in enough pain to need a spinal but they made her.

[Peppermint Poppies]

My mum had an induced labour after PROM.

I also had an induced labour after PROM (3 days later), but unfortunately had no dilation and no effacement from the induction, and DS was oblique, not vertex, so a c/s for me I was having contractions (visible on the CTG machine) but couldn't feel a thing.

I was definitely influenced by my mum's birth experiences. She has birthed 4 babies, all without any pain relief and one of them was 10lbs2oz. I grew up thinking that vaginal birth was normal, that pain relief wasn't necessary, and that birthing big babies was no harder than than any other size babies. I also grew up believing that induced labours were incredibly painful, as that is what my Mum experienced with me. That was one of the reasons I delayed induction, against medical advice, for 3 days after PROM. But weirdly, my induced labour was completely pain-free.