precipitous birth

[snugglebug14]

I was supposed to a doula for my sister and law and was supposed to be her ride to the hospital. This morning she had a very precipitous birth. She woke up at 1230 having some contractions. Called me at 155 to say she was definatley in labor and I decided I would head down. She called again at 215 to say her water broke and I told her I was heading out the door. The baby was born 5 minutes later on the bathroom floor, her husband caught the baby. I felt so bad that I didn't get there, but even if I left immediatley when she called me, I wouldn't have made it. Mom and baby are both doing great though.

My question is, what causes a birth to go so fast? This was her third baby, the last one was a 30 hour labor though. She's 30 years old, a smoker and has really poor nutrition.

[wendy1221]

It just happens to some people and no one knows why. It has nothing to do with her health, I know super healthy people who have had precipitous births. My first labor was 4 hours from start to pushing, my 2nd, I was 9cm when I got to the hospital 1 hour after waking up in labor, but my 3rd was 8 hours long. You never know what you're gonna get, but I have been told that I am more likely to have a precipitous birth since my first 2 were so fast.

[nashvillemidwife]

4 of the last 5 births I attended were precipitous, so fast that only one of us made it, and then just barely (all planned home births). All of these moms called at the appropriate time and we responded appropriately, but they were just so fast! The first was a 2 hour labor start to finish, my partner arrived 15 minutes before birth. The second I went to her house to assess, and when I stepped up on the porch I heard her yell "I think I have to push!", baby born 10 minutes later. Third I arrived as the head was delivered; they had considered UC and the dad wanted to do it all himself, I arrived just after the head was delivered and they thought the entire thing was perfect though they didn't intend it. Fourth the lady came from out-of-state to a rented house, I was waiting on the porch when she got there and baby was born was dad was still unpacking the car.

It's odd for them to happen so fast, but what about a string of them? Blew my mind. Of course the one that wasn't precipitous was 26 hours so it evens out in the end.

[mwherbs]

just happens, our second was born in 1 hr- total.
sometimes placental abruption can cause a rapid labor- but not always
some define it as labor under 3 hrs

[majikfaerie]

I had a mother call me to say "it's a girl! born 15 minutes ago" we had agreed that she would call me 2 hours after starting ctx, and I asked her why she didn't call me. she said "this is the 2 hour phone call!" she had been in labour for only 1 1/2 hours!
it happens.
you can't predict it.
and I've heard of women having 3 or 4 precipitous births and then the next baby taking over 24 hours to make an apperance.
sometimes everything just works right

[my5girls]

All five of mine have been precipitous...my LONGEST labor was about 2 hours from the first contraction to delivery; I hardly push. My OB basically told me that I'm "lined-up" well, ie. pelvis, pubic bone, birth canal...also, my uterus is an efficient contractor.

Let's see what #6 brings.

[lillysweets]

Originally Posted by my5girls

My OB basically told me that I'm "lined-up" well, ie. pelvis, pubic bone, birth canal...

My biology mind tends to agree with this. I think that the length of labors depend alot on position of the baby and high movement / low resistence in the mom. Also imagine how this is compounded with a rupture of membranes: a hard boney baby head is a more efficient mechanical dilator of the cervix than a swishy bag of waters. When the "stars" align, babies are born fast!

[mamallama]

My own labors were 6hrs (induction,) 4hrs (homebirth) and 2hrs (UC.)

I'm in good health--obsessively so when pregnant.

I attribute my quick and easy labors to 1-good luck, 2-genetics (my mom had quick & easy labors) 3-a v. high level of physical activity. My babies were lined up and ready to go long before labor started. I had a lot of prodromal labor with my second two.

My doula clients who have had quick births have all been regular recipients of chiropractic care. The fastest labor I've personally heard of was the wife of a chiropractor. The fastest labor I've attended was 2hrs--I barely made it. The mom got adjusted weekly. She also mucked stalls and rode her horse up until her birth.

[crazy_eights]

My first was born after 4 hours of labor (and that included a "rest and be thankful" phase before pushing which took about 30 minutes). 5 out of 7 births have been under 2 hours, the shortest being 50 minutes (and that was #5). My sisters also have labors like this .

[mwherbs]

my first was textbook length-- #2 as I said was 1 hr- I did exercise in pregnancy some- but if I were to atribute it to anything besides being near my due date is that it was early in the morning the day Mt St Helens blew up- and so many women had babies that night and day that they had to open another area to be a postpartum ward,( in Portland)-- #3 born at home and active labor was fairly average but prodromal labor was over 24 hrs, very good diet and plenty of exercise- couldn't say how much walking but I am sure miles a day-- #4 was even a longer UC -- and in that pregnancy I walked about 5 miles/day on top of regular activities all my babies are big #3 smallest at 9 lbs...

[sevenkids]

Who knows why it happens, it just does. There is some connection between crack/cocaine use and precipitous births (and ALL the hospitals here will drug test ALL babies born in under 3 hours for cocaine but it most often happens to healthy, normal women.
My labours were pretty fast, my first, 5 hours, 2nd, 3 hours, 4th; 45 minutes, 5th; 7 hours (5 1/2 of those were pushing, he was anything but lined up properly), 6th; 20 minutes (I almost missed my own birth), 7th; 3hours. My mom birthed all 4 of us in less than 2 hours. My DD laboured for less than 5 hours. So, genetics is a big factor, baby in a good position another. Walking lots.

[amymaew]

Originally Posted by mamallama

My doula clients who have had quick births have all been regular recipients of chiropractic care. The fastest labor I've personally heard of was the wife of a chiropractor. The fastest labor I've attended was 2hrs--I barely made it. The mom got adjusted weekly. She also mucked stalls and rode her horse up until her birth.

I think the chiro care I had with #2 had something to do with how fast he came - 4.5 hours from water breaking to baby, with only 1 hour of contractions during that. I was seeing the chiro every other day b/c Henry was persistently breech. He turned about a week before he was born.

[khaoskat]

Originally Posted by lillysweets

My biology mind tends to agree with this. I think that the length of labors depend alot on position of the baby and high movement / low resistence in the mom. Also imagine how this is compounded with a rupture of membranes: a hard boney baby head is a more efficient mechanical dilator of the cervix than a swishy bag of waters. When the "stars" align, babies are born fast!

My last baby the only thing presenting in the cervix was bow. My DD2 could barely be touched w/ the tip of the OB's finger. I was fully dialated and effaced for at least a good 2 hours before water broke. Also, absolutely no painfull contractions until shortly before water broke (maybe 30 mins). Only indication I had I was in labor when I woke up was that I had discharge and blood running down my leg and it just kept coming for an hour. Oh, contractions never got closer than 4-5 mins apart lasting 40 - 50 seconds until shortly before my water broke.

With previous baby, DD1, She was breech, not quite heads up, not quite transverse, stuck somewhere in between. Again, showed up not knowing this, and was 10 cm per nurse. Again, no real contractions. I just got that "I cannot do this any longer feeling".

[swellmomma]

my mom and friend were on their way to meet me at the hosp to deliver my baby girl. I called them on my cell as we arrived, too late, baby was born in the ambulnace en route. I was only 6 cm when we left hospital A 15 minutes before. I never had a "proper" contraction through out, just pain no tightening. Some babies just come fast. My last 2 labours only lasted 3 hours. this one only took one push, my one before 30 minutes. I think as your body gets more used to knowing what to do it works more efficiently getting it done. This was my 4th, she basically fell out. I swear if I have a 5th I may as well plan for a UC lol

[Anglyn]

You can google it, I did after mine. Its supposedly pretty rare and does seem to have a genetic componet. I've had it twice. My last baby was born an hour and a half after the nurses told me I was most definatley not in labour and tried to give me a sleeping pill. It sounds good on paper, labor in under two hours, but the contractions tend to be MUCH more intense and hard to handle. So says the research and so was my experiance fwiw.

[Stacymom]

:

DD#2 was born after a 45 minute labor, start to finish. We were planning a hospital birth, and ended up with an unplanned birth on the side of the road.

Good to know that one super fast birth doesn't mean all the rest will be that fast.

[homewithtwinsmama]

I had a first timer who literally had no contractions or noticeable labor and there was five minutes of ambiguous energy change (I happened to be at her house for another reason at the time) and then she just started to push. So five minutes of "labor" and then bam! Turns out her mother did the same thing both times and didn't bother to tell her that :

[Jane]

Fast births are like slow births - sometimes you might have an inkling why they went so fast, but most of the time it's a mystery.

I do think it's important for every pregnant woman to feel prepared to have the baby by herself, if thats the way things go for her. There are just a few basic things to know - one, don't push on the toilet - the baby gets really cold if it lands in cold water, two, don't pull on the cord, three, don't panic.