once dilated to 10cm...PUSH???

[swissmiss2584]

Is it really necessary for a laboring woman who is dilated to 10cm to start pushing right away? Even if she doesn't have the urge to push or the baby hasn't descended yet? Is it an emergency to push right away? Is there an issue?

I think many women get c-section because they are 10cm but are not "ready" to push. Especially if they have an epi and can't feel. Couldn't they just wait and push?

Do you think they are given sections because they can't properly push their baby out just because they can't feel their butts? I believe that could be an underlining cause of sections.

There are so many ways to ask what I am trying to understand.:

[alegna]

Absolutely no reason to hurry up and push.

-Angela

[MommyinMN]

With my first once I got to 10cm I didn't feel an urge to push for almost 2 hours. Thankfully I had an OB that just let me rest and push when I was ready. I had an epidural and was still mostly numb when the urge to push happened yet I still only pushed for 20ish mins and I skipped a couple of contractions that I didn't feel like pushing through.

I don't think that pushing before you feel an urge is effective, just a waste of energy that could be used later.

[Mosaic]

Nope, no need. In fact, oftentimes your uterus needs a minute to figure out there's still a baby in there because there's no longer a butt up in your ribs! You can push when you're ready, or you can "breathe the baby down" if you don't feel the urge, and in theory that helps prevent tearing.

[Mama~Love]

Like the others said, there's no reason to push as soon as you are at 10cm. Wait for your body to tell you it's time.

[swissmiss2584]

The main reason I was asking was because I see on birthing shows, OB tell the mothers to push right away and then they need a c-section. I was just wondering why they wanted them to push right away. I didn't think that there was a real reason to do that.

[spu]

you are so right!!! In fact, I've read that this is a true and factual 'stage' of labor that sometimes occurs after reaching 10 cm, and before the urge presents itself. It's a resting phase that allows for a number of things to continue to happen, such as further descent of the baby, rotation of the baby, and allowing mom to get more energy from a rest. All of these factors come into play to help establish that urge.

On the flip side, I've read that sometimes a mom will not feel the urge, but to me, if the urge isn't felt, then something isn't ready yet and things are still progressing to get to that point. Doesn't mean failure to progress... progress is happening even after the 10cm mark.

There's a book called Active Birth : The New Approach to Giving Birth Naturally which helped me understand more about what's happening aside from dilation and pushing.

good thinking!
susan

[barefootpoetry]

That's what happened to me. Epidural, on my back, got to 10, was told to start pushing. I said no, I didn't feel ready - I really didn't - and they got up in my face and ORDERED me to. Pushed for four hours, wound up with a cervical laceration and a C-section.

A friend of mine who homebirthed said she actually TOOK A NAP when she reached 10 cm. The MW came in about an hour or two later and whispered, "Can I check you again?" because she'd never seen someone fall asleep once complete before. Calm before the storm I guess!

[spu]

as dramatic as they are, try to avoid the tv-style birthing shows, and rent some good birth videos instead. You'll learn (and see!) a lot more.

[meowee]

The time I had an epidural the baby came out on her own! Once they realized she was coming out they started saying "push!!!" but there was no need to. She would have come out all the way on her own.

I don't think there is any need to push the second you get to 10cm unless the baby is feared to be in distress.

I saw a documentary about a paralyzed woman whose baby also came out on his own... if the baby is decently positioned, the uterus will do the work for you. In the early 20th century hospitals used to knock women out cold during labor, and the babies would still come out.

[DBZ]

You wouldn't know you were at 10 cm unless someone did a VE. With my last labor I had no idea I was even dialating until I got the urge to push. And then I didn't push. The baby came on her own.

[yeahwhat]

With my first, I had an epidural. My dr. checked, said I was 10cm and asked if I needed to push. When I said no, she decided to let him "labour down" a while and came back 45-60 minutes later. So no, even in hospital, attended by a dr., there is no need to push at 10cm.

With my other 4 unmedicated, midwife attended births, there was only one that I wanted to push at 10cm and didn't have a resting stage between transition and feeling the baby descending and thinking about pushing.

[mommathea]

Originally Posted by swissmiss2584

The main reason I was asking was because I see on birthing shows, OB tell the mothers to push right away and then they need a c-section. I was just wondering why they wanted them to push right away. I didn't think that there was a real reason to do that.

Yea, that's because they have an epidural and can't feel when her body is ready to push. And the sooner the baby is born the sooner the ob is done with their job.

I firmly believe the only time a woman should be 'coached' to push is is there is real distress and should come out to avoid problems.

[2+twins]

I'll take it a step further and say there's not usually a need to even "know" that you're 10cm. When your body is good and ready, the baby will come out in most cases (and of course there are some less optimal fetal positions which would change this scenario, I do realize). My last 3 births were proof of that for me. I never knew how dilated I was. I just kinda figured it must be time b/c out they came w/o any conscious pushing effort from me!

[swissmiss2584]

Originally Posted by spu

as dramatic as they are, try to avoid the tv-style birthing shows, and rent some good birth videos instead. You'll learn (and see!) a lot more.

Actually, some of the birthing shows are showing more birth center and home births. I started watching those and delete the epi ones. I also have a video my midwife made called, "Birth". It's used in midwife studies and I believe some OB studies/teachings and childbirth classes. It's old but very informative.

[Nan'sMom]

I know a couple of people who this happened to. The OB told them the baby just wasn't coming out and they had c-sections. easy way to avoid this is to refuse vaginal exams. They generally don't tell anything useful, I've heard they are uncomfortable (I don't get them in labor or pregnancy), they can cause labor to stall and they can introduce infection.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by swissmiss2584

The main reason I was asking was because I see on birthing shows, OB tell the mothers to push right away and then they need a c-section. I was just wondering why they wanted them to push right away.

Why? Because they no nothing about physiologically normal birth.

[starshine1001]

With my first (hospital, OB birth), I got to 10 and was told to push. I felt no real urge to push, I just did because I was told to. 45 min. later with little progress landed me with an episiotomy which tore past to a bad 3rd degree and a Dr's hand inside of my pulling my babe out. Not to mention that he pulled out the placenta seconds after which made me hemmorhage and left peices inside that became infected 9 days later...

With my second (birthing home, midwife birth), the last time I was checked I was 9cm. A few hours later, I was still laboring when my midwife suggested that I get up and try to use the bathroom, then she'd check me again. As soon as I stood up, he was coming. He was 10 lbs, 1 oz with a nuchal hand, so who knows how dilated I was?? 10 cm?? 12 cm?? My body pushed without me, and he was born in about 4 contractions. Nobody ever told me to push, or held my legs up and yelled in my face. It was wonderful!!! I felt totally in control, but out of control at the same time. I paid attention to my body and worked with it. That's all a mama needs to do...listen to her body, not an OB, especially a male who has never been even close to what she's experiencing.

[BrooklynDoula]

IME the vast majority of women laboring in hospitals are coahced to push. They are also more likely to have tears and damage afterwards. In home births (and some hospital MW or OBs) there is not coached pushing and the babies are still born, still healthy, and mom is more often intact. There are always exceptions to any trend, no doubt, but coached pushing is overwhelmingly common in hospital births and almost always unnecessary.

[soso-lynn]

I think vaginal exams in labour should not be done routinely. The only use they serve is to set timelines for further interventions. I find it very hard to believe that, given all of the variations in all other measurable parts of the human body, every woman would dilate to exactly 10cm.

I never got checked while in labour but I assume that I was fully dilated for a while before pushing. There was no real break as it was all very fast, but the whole time was a little bit of descent and involuntary pushing so I don't see how there is supposed to be a clear distinction between dilating and pushing. The model of 3 stages of labour is just that, a model, an ideal-type. It serves the purpose of better understanding labour and having words to talk about it, not force some pattern on a labouring body.