[adon]

i'm just wondering if anyone has any experience with this. DS was almost 4w "overdue", and this time around i'm certain that the amount of stress i have will bring on labor early, but then i was thinking maybe it will do the OPPOSITE and stall it......anyone have any experience with this? i'm a LOT more active this time around with 3yo "spirited" DS

 

[sg784]

Well, I havent "researched" this but it is my initial THOUGHT that it would stall it, because....

Any other mammal, when in nature, will not go into labor or birth a baby until all stress is gone and they are in a comfortable atmosphere. If you have a dog for example, and they are birthing on their own and you rush in with 4 others admirine, talking loud, carrying on, etc and the dog is disturbed and uncomfortable, it will stop labor until the environment is "birth friendly" again.

Same as say a tiger in the wild. Not going to go into labor when there are stressors around.

Just a thought.

Edited to add. There is positive stress and negitive stress. Perhaps negitive stress would stall it, but positive stress could encourage it?

 

[barefootpoetry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sg784 Well, I havent "researched" this but it is my initial THOUGHT that it would stall it, because.... Any other mammal, when in nature, will not go into labor or birth a baby until all stress is gone and they are in a comfortable atmosphere. If you have a dog for example, and they are birthing on their own and you rush in with 4 others admirine, talking loud, carrying on, etc and the dog is disturbed and uncomfortable, it will stop labor until the environment is "birth friendly" again. Same as say a tiger in the wild. Not going to go into labor when there are stressors around. Just a thought. Edited to add. There is positive stress and negitive stress. Perhaps negitive stress would stall it, but positive stress could encourage it?

Yup, I was about to say all that. I've seen it happen firsthand: I used to clean condos at a local resort, and there are LOTS and LOTS of semi-tame deer that wander the grounds. There was a mama deer behind one of the condos I was cleaning at that time, giving birth. Some people from the next condo over came out and started pestering her. She got up mid-push, with the fawn literally hanging out of her, and walked away into the woods to finish birthing. I was so mad at the people for bothering her, but at the same time I was amazed that the deer had the capacity to leave the situation.

My own birth stalled because I was so nervous in the hospital setting. Of course that was diagnosed as "failure to progress," and out came the scalpel.

 

[adon]

oh boy....if all this is true....this babe is NEVER gonna come out

:

. i better figure something out quick!!

 

[user_name]

I dunno -- it makes sense to think stress would stall labor for a mother-to-be in danger, but my personal experience (FWIW) is the opposite. My first was born prematurely amidst much family, vocational, and living situation stress. When pregnant the second time around (and more aware -- read: paranoid -- of the signs of labor for me), I was able to tell what was happening. We tried to prevent me from getting stressed about moving by putting me up with my grandmother and having DH take care of everything. But alas, I'm a control freak and he was not getting stuff taken care of the right way -- read: my way.

Our plan backfired b/c I was in the hospital to halt labor as DH was driving the moving van to our new hometown (at about 2 in the morning!). DD held on until past 40 weeks, though, so all was well.
Hope things go well for you, too, and you can soon *relax* with your little babe in your arms!

 

[jlc3333]

I don't know about this one, I was really stressed w/ ds and went into labor @27 weeks... He did hang on until term... But you do always see in the movies the pregnant woman who witnesses something tragic or extremely stressful that grabs her stomach and screams because the baby is coming...

I guess it could go either way...

 

[AlpineMama]

I think BODY stress could cause prematurity, while general mental stress that doesn't affect the body too much would delay it.

i.e. If the baby was in danger due to really high blood pressure, or other effects of stress... then it would come out sooner, because it "needed" to do it. Whether the mother's body tries to expel the child because it subconsciously views it as a liability (mother's self-preservation instincts) or because the baby senses that it's more dangerous to stay inside.

However if it was a different kind of stress where the mother feels like she's not ready for the baby, it might stay in. The hospital scenario is a good one; if she feels like she is threatened by strangers, darn sure she's not going to want to present a newborn to these scary strangers. So she'd stall her labor. Or if her nesting is not done (in the middle of a move or something) then that might affect it... etc.

 

[aikigypsy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by truemists I think BODY stress could cause prematurity, while general mental stress that doesn't affect the body too much would delay it.

That's what I would think. They say that women who exercise regularly go into labor sooner (in the 38-42 week range) and I'm pretty convinced that fear, anxiety, etc. can make the cervix close up.