Dangers of pushing too hard?

[AuntG]

I pushed DD out so hard and fast she got two plump cephalohemotomas.

We fondly called her Princess Leia for three weeks!

But that's not why I am writing. I really did push her out in one big mighty push (til her head popped out) and then one more and out shot the rest of her like a rocket! She was VERY gurgly and mucousy. We found a bulb syringe and tried to help her out but decided it was best not to try too hard (or go too deep).
She wasn't especially purple and I'd say had pretty good color to begin with. It was only hours later that she started to turn blue. That's why we took her to Children's.

A few hours of oxygen and she was fine, and she's never been blue since.
Now, as it turned out, she does have a tiny hole in her heart due to Down Syndrome, but even with that, she keeps good sats. So, the conclusion was that she was pushed out too fast and didn't get time to expel all the mucous.

Fast forward a few weeks now. I met another mother who pushed her baby out "too fast" and ended up with a 10 day NICU stay because her daughter didn't get all the mucous out.
It sounded extreme to me, and I assumed there was more to it than that, but at any rate, it got me thinking...


???

How frequent is this?
I want to have another baby, and I would hopefully be doing another UC. But now I am already starting to wonder whether I could have enough control to push slowly?

Can we talk about the dangers of pushing too fast?


Thanks!

[AuntG]

Awwww, Come on! Nobody likes my topic?!?!

Anybody?








Anybody?

[notjustmamie]

I think it's a great topic. I've just never heard of the baby having problems because mom pushed too hard. Mostly I hear about nasty tears.

I'd love to see what others' experiences have been.

[wombatclay]

OK- so it's not exactly the same thing, but c/s babes are often "wet" with related breathing problems at birth since they don't get "squeezed out". So maybe there is something similar that happens in a precipitous birth?

And I know precipitous birth is linked to tearing and post-partum bleeding for mama, and there is some evidence that it can contribute to brachial plexus injury for the babe. Oh, and may increase mama's chance for prolapse. But none of those are "certain" obviously and if that's the way you birth then that's the way you birth!

I'm glad your little one is doing well!

[ecoteat]

I think I might have pushed too hard, but dd didn't have any trouble because of it--I do. I ended up with 3 stitches and I have been thinking for almost 15 months that I still had hemerrhoids from being pregnant, but now I think it might be a rectal prolapse from the stress on my pelvic floor during birth.

[stacyann21]

I pushed when other people told me to and ended up with a third degree tear and the recovery from hell. You better believe next time I will only push when I feel like I need to and only hard enough to relieve the urge.

[anudi01]

Oh what a difference it made the second time around...

When I had my DS I had an overmanaged 2nd stage labor. They told me when to push and I listened. I pushed harder and tried to hold my breath, count to 10, and all that other crap.

I ended up tearing a 3rd degree tear, and despite that I had a GREAT LABOR, and Delivery, I HATED, I mean DISPISED the pushing.

Fast forward to my DD. I told my midwife when I started to feel pushy, and I said "Oh, I hate this part...I hate pushing." She said "Honey, you don't have to push, the baby will do all the pushing." As soon as she said that, all the pressure melted away. I didn't push one time with DD. I just reacted to her pushing contractions the way my body told me to. And even though she took longer to come than my son (and only a little longer), the pushing stage was so much more enjoyable and comfortable. I did not tear, did not hemhorrage (like I did with DS) and recovery was much more comfortable.

Looking forward to not ever pushing again with this DC.

Seriously, it was the best advice I had received in terms of labor and birth.

[AuntG]

Wow! never heard anyone use the word "comfortable" to describe pushing!

I compare it to the gag reflex --- once she got to a certain point in the birth canal, it was like the ejector button had been pushed and I wasn't going to stop until she was out. I'm just afraid it may not have been in the best interest of my child to make it happen so fast.

Hmm. I like everyone's comments, thanks very much. Incidentally, I didn't tear at all with this one (7 pounds 6 ouces) and I did with the over-9- pounder I had in the hospital when I (obediently) pushed very slowly.

Geez, can there not be just some magic formula for figuring out how childbirth is going to go!?!

[fruitful womb]

I pushed for 2 minutes with my 10 lb 5oz dd. No tearing. Pushed for 45 minutes with ds2 had a small labial tear. 4 minutes with ds3. No tears, he was 9/8. First child in hs and didn't get a chance to push on my own. Doc cut me a 4th degree episiotomy, used forceps and ds was out in 3 minutes. I LOVED pushing with my ds2. Painful labor tho. Pushing felt GREAT! The other natural deliveries, I was terrified of the pushing part b/c I could feel the MW's fear. She gets a certain way just at the time I begin to push. She stinks of fear! So I got very frighten. I later learned that she is closer phobic. Anyways, long story short. I wont use her again. I have prolapse now. I think the pushing really hard was harmful. I can't recall the urge to push. It all happened so fast. Someone told me when I was a child that a woman during labor has the strength to hold a grand piano with the muscles used to push a baby out. Make sense? I felt I was that mighty while pushing my last two babies out. Labor wasn't painful with them either. Maybe that had something to do with it b/c labor was really painful during the first hb I had. I was so warn out from the pain that I just surrendered to my body and let it push with little help from me.

[AbbieB]

If you follow your bodies cues, there will not be any to fast/to hard pushing.

But I completely understand the pushing to hard when you have a cheerleading squad pressuring you or you feel like you have to push even if there is no corresponding, overwhelming urge to.

I can see how this kind of thing could lead to problems for baby and mother. Your not letting your body have the time it needs to soften and open. You might not be letting enough time in between pushes go by for the baby and yourself to gear up.

But if your body just heaves and baby comes out fast...that's probably the way it was suppose to be. Even if there is a tear or an issue with the baby, this kind of thing maybe our body responding to distress and doing what has to be done.

I thought pushing was great. I waited for a contraction and when it hit just let it happen. Don't get me wrong, I was pushing and working. But it was just a natural urge. I do not think I could have stopped it if I wanted to. It's like puking. It just comes. (Another wise momma described it as throwing down rather throwing up. This is exactly how it was for me.)

[Ruthe]

Aunt G, I don't think you did anything wrong; sounds like you got a powerful fetal ejection reflex and went with it. Your daughter's wet lungs could have been just a fluke, or something to do with low muscle tone (which is something I believe is associated with DS, no?) or any other reason. Maybe her initial difficulties were the push you needed to realize, sooner than you might have otherwise, that she needed to be checked out. There's no way to know! All you can do is follow your instincts in these situations. I have a strong belief that everything happens for a reason.

[BeanyMama]

Originally Posted by AbbieB

If you follow your bodies cues, there will not be any to fast/to hard pushing.

Yes. I feel like a pushed way too much and too hard last time because I was told to, while my body was wanting to ride through a few contractions and take time to concentrate. Ironicly, I think if I had pushed less, he would have come sooner.

[AuntG]

Originally Posted by Ruthe

Aunt G, I don't think you did anything wrong; sounds like you got a powerful fetal ejection reflex and went with it. Your daughter's wet lungs could have been just a fluke, or something to do with low muscle tone (which is something I believe is associated with DS, no?) or any other reason. Maybe her initial difficulties were the push you needed to realize, sooner than you might have otherwise, that she needed to be checked out. There's no way to know! All you can do is follow your instincts in these situations. I have a strong belief that everything happens for a reason.

Thank you, I feel exactly this way too! If she had not been a little blue around the edges, it would have taken a lot longer for us to identify her other problems.

Also, the placenta came out only seconds after she did so I wonder whether it was partially abrupted -- there was also a LARGE blood clot between her and the placenta (in fact, I thought it WAS the placenta until I realized the placenta was coming out). So, we have always marvelled at how the pushing phase was totally out of my control, and instead in the control of something much more primitive, or perhaps divine?


Also, I LOVED the pushing part too, after the pain it felt so good to push! I have said I would do it a million times again if only I could skip the whole pregnancy part and go straight to the pushing part! Weird, I know!

[moonmama22]

Oh, I know I pushed too hard and too fast with my ds. I was pushing for about 10 minutes because the nurse was telling me to, and then I felt the "urge" to push, and it was entirely different. I compared it to throwing up also - your body gives you no choice but to push. However, ds's head was stuck (on my bone?) and so I pushed very hard for almost two hours, and still had a vacuum extraction. Ended up with a 3rd degree tear, and very long recovery. Next time, if I am able to have a vaginal delivery, I will absolutely wait until my body starts "heaving"!