What is the perfect labor length?

[Artisan]

For *YOU*, of course. There is no magic formula for everyone. But if the birthing fairy waved her magic wand, and you could choose the length of your labor, what would you pick?

And sorry, the birthing fairy does not help the baby magically appear in your arms with no effort whatsoever. :LOL

[AugustLia23]

My labour was 29 hours start to finish, and honestly that was okay. Next time I could do without the 10 hour stall though, so I guess 19 hours would be nice for the intensity of the labour I had.

[busybusymomma]

4 hours was good, but I started out at 4cm stretchy, 90% effaced and bulging bag of waters. 4 hours would be too quick if you started at 1cm I think. :wink

[Mallory]

My first was over 30 with almost 4 hours of pushing and it was too long.

My second was 10 hours and maybe 3 pushes, and it was perfect!

I hope this one is like my second in lots of ways. The most important being that it started about 5 in the morning, so I did start out on most of a nights sleep, my first started about 10 at night so right off the bat I missed a nights sleep.

[danav]

Both of my labors were a good length, I think. First time - water broke around 5 am, baby born at 12:35 pm. Second time - walked around 3-4 cm and effaced for weeks, labor started gradually after my morning midwife appt, knew I was in labor by 6 pm or so, baby born at 10:16 pm.

I'm having daydreams this time about waking up a little crampy, having my sister (who is a midwife and hopefully will have flown into town just in time) check to find I am nearly fully dilated, and giving birth an hour or two later. Wouldn't that be nice? Or maybe being on our way to the birth center for a regular appt (it's 1 1/2 hrs away), and my water breaking on the way, starting labor...getting there in time to get in the birth tub and give birth shortly after. :)

Actually my perfect labor length this time will be either VERY short (like an hour or two) so I know for sure there is no time to get to the birth center and decide just to stay home with my sister (this includes here getting here from out of state in time). OR...labor clearly starting but being mild enough for a couple of hours so we can get to the birth center before active labor kicks in, then birthing within a couple hours of arriving. The main point is that I don't want to end up being in the car in transition, or giving birth in the car!

[bri276]

an hour would be nice!

I did 13.5 hrs incl. 3 hrs of pushing. too long. Realistically 2-3 hrs of good solid contrax with like 10 minutes of pushing would have felt ideal- not long enough to get impatient, but long enough to feel like I'd actually experienced it.

[ZeldasMom]

If the birthing fairy were waving her magic wand for me I would ask for labor to start at 8am after I had a good night's sleep and to have the baby in the late afternoon/early evening.

There is something nice about laboring in the quiet of the night while everyone else is in bed though too...

[Storm Bride]

I've never pushed a baby out, so I don't know how long I'd want to spend pushing....I'll say two or three hours as that seems to be a fairly standard length and most women seem okay with it.

I had about 21 hours up to transition, and that was great. So, let's say 24 hours, including about three of pushing. I think that would work for me.


Honestly - I've had all three babies by c-section. I think any length of labour that didn't end surgically would suit me fine.

[orangebird]

5 hours sounds good. With a nice gradual buildup. My last birth was too fast. The second, 15 hours, was nice but it could have been shorter, I was up all night in early labor, I would like to condense that part.

Mine were:

5 hours with 2 of pushing
15 hours with 20 min. of pushing
1 hour with 10 min of pushing

[CarolynnMarilynn]

I think that about five to six hours all told is quite perfect -- I actually polled the other midwives in my practice on this very question and that was our consensus. I think that shorter can feel quite overwhelming, and longer can feel indeterminable! I am projecting my own experiences of course! In the six hour scenerio I would imagine a slow progression of contractions starting about 5 mins apart and a cervical dilation of around 3-4 cm (if checked). Then progressing to longer, stronger and closer together contractions over a few hours. Then, I would like to be feeling some gentle pushing feelings that build, and a baby to be gently eased out over a few contractions, thus sparing my perineum (always have a second degree tear -- can't seem to make myself slow down). Baby up on my chest, and a placenta that plops out after a few contractions!

That is my answer and what I aspire to if we have another baby!

[philomom]

I had a mere hour and a half last time. That's too quick. My dh said he was "behind" on all the cues I gave him from the times before. What a ride! A little too intense when it's that short.

Three to four hours might be right on.

[Undercover Hippie]

My last was just under 4 hours and that was about perfect. The labor itself was lovely--moved quickly but wasn't overwhelming. It was all manageable, including transition, until about the last 20-30 minutes which were very intense. I hate pushing, so getting it done in 8 minutes with no tearing was all right. However, if the pushing could be more calm and enjoyable then 30-45 minutes of it might be a little easier on everyone. Then if I could make the placenta come out quickly with no excessive bleeding, instead of an hour of trying to get/keep the bleeding under control, it would be perfect! :thumb

[Artisan]

Interesting replies!

I had one labor that was 5.5 hours, and one that was 3.5 hours. I would pick a sixish hour labor if given the choice. It allows time for the gradual progression of labor without things dragging on forever and ever. 3.5 hours was rather overwhelming. I went from 3cms with a posterior baby and contractions every 7-10 minutes to transition a couple of hours later.

[chiro_kristin]

I think 5-6 hours sounds lovely, although I'll be thrilled with anything less than the 55 hours I just experienced with my ds! :) tho it was totally worth it

[Belle]

I was actually pretty happy with my 11 hour labor. I got plenty of sleep before I went into labor and pushed for a little over an hour. I wouldn't have any problem with a labor that is that long again.

My mom's been telling me about her 36 hour labor with me since I was born. I was pretty relieved that it wasn't the big ordeal that she went through.

[jerawo]

I just had my first with a 9 hour total labor, and it was pretty good. The first 5 hours were spent in early labor which I could breathe though while on the toilet. Hard labor and transition occured during the next 2 hours, which was hard but happened so fast I didn't have too many tough contractions to get through. I pushed for an hour, which seemed long and exhuasting, but I know it could have been a lot longer. Next time I'd like less pushing, but everything else can stay the same (or be shorter). My MW made it for the last hour, so I'd like to make sure she arrives before the baby is born in the future.

[applejuice]

Four to Six hours would be optimum for me.

Wonder what an obgyn would say?

[MamaTaraX]

Wonder what an obgyn would say?
It'd probably depend whether or not the OB/GYN had given birth herself or not ;)

I have no idea what I'd want the labor fairy to give me! My first was 24 hrs total but only 2 hrs were hard and that was fine with me. Pushed for 30 minutes. My 2nd I had prodromal labor for 12 days followed by 8 hours of very hard labor. I swear it went from peace to transition and lasted the whole time (he was posterior untila couple minutes before birth). I liked that labor too, for different reasons. FOr this birth, since the moment of conception, I have dreameda 6 hour labor. I go to bed, wake a couple hours later in labor, it's around midnight-1am. The baby is born in the sunrise about 6 hours later, in the water. I dreamed this when I conceivedand it has held. We'll see come January.

Six hours sounds good to me, as long as it's not 6 hours of slamming into me like last time. That was SO INTENSE and I didn't even have the usual posterior baby back labor. it was a great labor though, they both were really and I'm looking forward to doing it agian in about 4 (!!!) months!

Namaste, Tara
mama to Doodle (6), Butterfly (2), and Rythm (due at home 1/06)

[Undercover Hippie]

Just a sidenote to MamaTaraX--I think those labor visions can be very powerful! I had one and the actual labor really did follow the important/strong elements of my vision. Hope yours does too, it sounds lovely! :)

[jmhammond]

0-pushing in 5 hours. A bit intense, maybe 7 hours? but it felt so good to push after such intense labor.

[valeria_vi]

If the birthing fairy were waving her magic wand for me I would ask for labor to start at 8am after I had a good night's sleep and to have the baby in the late afternoon/early evening.

There is something nice about laboring in the quiet of the night while everyone else is in bed though too...
to me, laboring at night always sounded perfect, because I associated the night's darkness with more security.
I did actually went into labor in the evening, labored through the night and had my baby in the morning.

Ideally, I woudl liek to go into labor in the afternoon and have my baby at night.

My labor was 14 hours and it didn't seem ong at all. So I would not protest if labor fairy brought me a 14 hour labor with another baby.

[the_lissa]

Mine was 36 hours. I would like 12 hours or so, but really up to 24 was okay.

[WinterBaby]

Mine was 36 hours. I would like 12 hours or so, but really up to 24 was okay.


What she said.. okay, ideally, I think 8 sounds great. And if transition can be measured in minutes rather than hours, that would be Great! :thumb

[ldsapmom]

My last birth was 8 hours from first "different" contraction to baby, including such variables as a posterior, asynclitic babe who weighed 9 and 1/2 pounds and 90 minutes of pushing, and being stalled at 9.5 centimeters for a couple of hours.

Ideally, I think 5-6 hours would be good -- maybe I would have had that if my guy had been in a better position. I would even take another 8 hour if it were spread well -- I had a doula client with a precipitous birth and boy, even though it was under 3 hours, she was slammed! I would not want that :).

[cathicog]

I would say, about 3-4 hrs is nice....I had my first in 4 hrs, second in 2.5 and third in 11 hrs(bigger baby, also posterior labor but turned and came out) I have had clients who had 2 hr labors,start to finish, and it is very draining for them. But so are the 24-30 hr labors I have doula'd at....

[Crunchier]

I had 19 hrs of labor, 12 magnificent, 7 horrible and full of interventions to speed things up, then 4 pushes.

I'm preparing for a 30 hr labor this time, maybe a bit more. My first 12 hrs were intense, 3 min apart, but slow and painless. I'd actually like to do it for a very long time, if it can stay that way, then I'd like transition to be very short--I'd prefer to skip it, but I hear that you can't, so I'd like it to be no more than an hour. I wouldn't mind pushing for more then 5 minutes, but not too much more.

[EmmalinesMom]

My first was 19/20 hours and I did get a bit tired. With my second, labor started and stopped several times for about 12 days before she was born. (She was in a funny position, among other things.) When labor finally started for real, it was about 13 hours and that's just about right for me I think. My body had plenty of time for the hormonal shifts and I had time to enjoy early labor. :)

[lactavia]

I had about an 8 hour labor - first time. However my water was broken for 38 hours with no labor starting so I had to be induced. So, 8 hours total with 1 1.2 hours pushing. I think that was just right.

[KKmama]

Long enough to push the baby out.

Z's was almost 40 hours, which was fine. T's was 0, because he was an emergency cesarean. I preferred Z's. (Okay, the 1st 24 hours were fine, the rest of the labor was not fun, but honestly, better than the alternative. So there, Britney.)

[USAmma]

Both of mine were 8-10 hours long and I thought it was perfect. Of course that being said I had the epidural. I still enjoyed the process of knowing I was progressing, and being surrounded by friends.

[kerikadi]

I have had 4 labors ranging from 45 minutes to 22 hours and I think my third which was 6 hours was perfect! :thumb
But I have to say that I am glad that other Mamas that had SUPER fast labors feel the same way I do :yikes: WAY too fast! People think that those of us that had labors shorter than 2 hours got off lucky. My very fast birth was honestly traumatic and would have been so much worse if I had planned a hospital birth.
Thank goodness we had planned a homebirth and I made my DH call the MW BEFORE I had my first contraction, I just knew it was coming, it was like I could hear the train but not see it yet. Did anybody else experience this?
If we had planned a hospital birth my DD would have been born on the side of the road and I know I would have been wigged out and stressed if I were trying to get to the hospital.

My MW told me not to let people tell me that my labor was easy because it was so fast. She said "You experienced 12 hours of labor, it just happened in 45 minutes" There was no time to think and my body and my brain were fighting each other the whole way. I went from being asleep to holding a 9 pound 8 ounce baby in less than an hour.

My first was 12 hours and that was fine too. So anywhere between 6-12 hours.

Keri

[burke-a-bee]

My first was 8 hours...
Second was 3 hours...
Third was 35 minutes ( I took castor oil so I had some warning.)

My last birth, I was 5cm for a week and hadn't felt a thing. I'd take that again. Although I'd really like to have a waterbirth this time around so a hour or hour and a half would be nice. I'd have time to prepare the tub.

[crysmomofthree]

I had my first labor at 2 hours too fast, 2nd was 4, 3rd was 5 hours which was too long (induced, posterior) and baby #4 came in 4 hours on the dot

I like 4 hour labors they are short enough to not lose hope but long enough to get organize :)

[arimama]

my first was 37 hours. WAAAY to long!

The second was about 6 hours. It was totally managable. I labored from about midnight till almost 6am. It was enough time to settle in to being in labor, but it was over before i started to get sick of being in labor:)

[henhao]

My labor lenght was perfect--about 6-7 hours. I would want to push more, though, to reduce the tearing. One push is nice that it doesn't hurt while you do it, but it hurts for weeks afterwards!!

[ABand3]

I've had three, the middle one was the best
#1 - 40 hours of labor, 5 hours of that pushing; no one would ask for that!
#2 - 11 hours of labor, last 1 hour pushing - Great!
#3 - 5 hours of labor, last 1 hour pushing - too intense for me.

[Sharlla]

Both mine were roughly 4 1/2 hours start to finish. I don't think I could handle any more than that :LOL Call me a baby