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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

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Original poster

Anyone had a physiological third stage??

74 replies

karmamother · 29/10/2005 16:07

I'm planning to have a physiological third stage & I'd love to hear from other mums who've had positive (& negative) experiences. Also, how long did it take to deliver your placenta?

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princesspeahead · 29/10/2005 16:11

yup. it was fine. had one after my last home waterbirth. took a couple of hours to deliver, but came out v nicely and not a single drop of blood lost (seriously - we kept expecting it - but nada!)

Busyalexsmummy · 29/10/2005 18:47

hey, ditto karma, this is what I am going for also

suedonim · 29/10/2005 20:25

I had a physiological third stage with my last baby. I can't recall how long it took but I think it was less than half an hour. I did lose quite a lot of blood but then I also lost loads with my previous managed third stages. I found it much better than having that jab.

rubles · 29/10/2005 20:39

I had a home water birth too. My third stage took about 30 minutes, and this took place in the water, but I don't know if I would do it all in the water next time, it is cleaner but I had to hand dd over to my partner because I couldn't concentrate on holding her properly to keep her warm.
It wasn't particularly relaxed in that after a while my mw asked me to stand up and try different positions to push it out - I think that next time I will get out and get into an appropriate position, hold my baby and chill (unless there is something to worry about).

franke · 29/10/2005 20:56

Can't remember how long mine took, but certainly less than 30 mins. I just sat cuddling ds and then out it came. A non-issue really. I remember vividly the young doctor examining it really carefully which I found very reassuring. I suppose I'd have been a bit twitchy if it had gone on too long with a no-show.

princesspeahead · 29/10/2005 20:58

I stayed in the water for a while rubles, then got out, sat in a chair cuddling ds and having a glass of champagne.
very civilised!

hunkerpumpkin · 29/10/2005 21:00

Yes, I did. Have no idea how long it took - not ages, but not overly quick. Lost quite a lot of blood, but not scary amounts.

Would do it the same way again - I figured I'd done the rest drug-free, so why not try with the placenta? Not that I'm averse to drugs in labour or for placenta delivery.

Original poster

karmamother · 29/10/2005 21:08

Thanks for the posts. I'd love to have a water birth, or at least labour in the pool for pain relief so it was interesting to hear about your experience, rubles.

BAM, if you deliver before me you can fill me i all the gory details!!

I also read on a birthing website that the third stage can be a bonding time, starting with delayed cord clamping, letting the mum be the first to pick up her baby & helping the third stage with breastfeeding. It all sounded like an emotionally fulfilling experience.

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Original poster

karmamother · 29/10/2005 21:14

Hopefully blood loss won't be an issue as my Hb is 14. I'm trying to weigh up the pros & cons of this as I don't want a manual removal of placenta, obviously. The ergometrine part of the injection closes your cervix which may lead to a retained placenta but I wonder if this is more likely or not with a natural 3rd stage. Might see if mears has any research.

OP posts:

franke · 29/10/2005 21:20

This maybe of interest. Michel Odent may be a little new-agey for some, but he gives a good account here of the hour following birth.

princesspeahead · 29/10/2005 22:26

my midwife said that in her experience there was overall less blood loss with a phys third stage. she felt that the injection caused a very quick contraction of the uterus, closing down the blood vessels very quickly, and ensuring no immediate blood loss, but that when the injection wore off the uterus often relaxed a bit, causing bleeding later, and often once the birth was "over" and midwives no longer watching out for it (once you were back in bed or wherever). with a natural third stage she felt that the uterus contracts more slowly and naturally, but stay contracted, causing less blood lsos overall. She said that she would rather use the injection if and when she thought there was a problem with the uterus not contracting down naturally fast enough, and then monitor carefully afterwards, than use it every time.
Made sense to me.
Also the cord wasn't cut until my placenta was out by which time of course it was empty - I like the idea of the blood being in the baby not the cord, where it is meant to be!

Socci · 29/10/2005 22:36

Message withdrawn

Original poster

karmamother · 29/10/2005 23:00

Franke, thanks for that link, I've been wanting to read Odent's views on the 3rd stage for a while.

PPH, thats kind of confirmed what I thought to be the case. Having this knowledge gives you a level of confidence to ask for these things in labour. I would like to delay the cord clamping until the cord has stopped pulsating but I think I might as well leave it until the placenta's out.
The only concern now is if I'm induced & need syntocinon then a physiological 3rd stage is contraindicated. I'm hoping if I just have an ARM & labour naturally thereafter then I can have a drug free 3rd stage.

OP posts:

princesspeahead · 30/10/2005 09:59

glad that was helpful. I think all of this is pretty much predicated on having a drug-free birth (gas and air excepted). once they start pumping in syntocinon etc you have to go with the medical protocols because one thing all affects the other - has knock on effects - and you have to be safe.
If it is any consolation my first 2 were induced hospital births (dd by ARM, ds by pessary). In both cases they said my contractions "were not effectual" because I was contracting strongly but my cervix wasn't opening as fast as they wanted - so wanted me to go on syntocinon. Both times I refused - couldn't believe such strong contractions weren't achieving anything and I hadn't been in labour very long before they asked each time - about 4 hrs. Both times I then went from 2cm - 10cm in about an hour and delivered nice and quickly so was v glad I hadn't gone with the syntocinon!

I think just go with your instincts and what your body is telling you and you will be fine

QueenVictoria · 30/10/2005 10:05

Ive just realised - i wasnt even asked what i wanted with my 2nd! They just jabbed me and done it. It still took ages to deliver though - they were a bit worried at one point.

beartime · 30/10/2005 19:38

I'm trying to decide whether to do this at the mo - one story of someone having a PPH after doing it put me off, but then I read it properly and they had clamped and cut the cord before placenta delivery which might have contributed.

You might have been there already, but the homebirth site www.homebirth.org.uk has some interesting articles, if you scroll down their homepage - 'Postpartum heamorrhage and home birth' and 'The third stage of labour' It also has birth stories of people who had a PPH at home and how it was managed.

rubles · 30/10/2005 19:39

Princesspeahead - can I ask how you arranged things for your third stage in the house? I intend next time to do what you did and try for a while in the pool to deliver the placenta, and then if we need to I will get out and sit & wait.
What angle did you sit at and what did you sit on?
Thanks a lot - (hope this is helpful for you too karmamother as this is your thread!)

Socci · 30/10/2005 19:47

Message withdrawn

beartime · 30/10/2005 20:12

socci, which drugs?

Socci · 30/10/2005 20:15

Message withdrawn

tessasmum · 30/10/2005 20:16

Glad you raised this Karma as I hope to try the physiological route this time too. All details please from the first of the due in Nov ones to get there!!

bonym · 30/10/2005 20:17

Planned for physiological 3rd stage. Had a home birth, laboured in birthing pool, got out to deliver. All fine.

Still in a lot of pain after giving birth and 45 minutes later still no sign of the placenta so asked midwife to give me the injection. When the placenta came out a lot of blood had built up behind it (hence the pain I was experiencing) and I lost one and half litres - classed as a post-partum haemorrage. I had to go into hospital and be monitored overnight (as this is a potentially life-threatening situation). I was fine though and home the next day, but it was all a bit shocking.

In retrospect wish I hadn't opted for natural 3rd stage but it's impossible to predict what's going to happen and it seemed the right decision at the time.

hunkerpumpkin · 30/10/2005 20:18

Socci, I read that you had a PPH as a PrincessPeaHead - had to think for a mo to work out what you could've meant!

bonym · 30/10/2005 20:18

Just read beartime's post - cord was not clamped and cut in my case until after placenta had been delivered.

spidermama · 30/10/2005 20:20

I've delivered the placenta naturall four times. It has always taken somewhere between half an hour and 1.5 hours. No problems. Splat! Into the bowl then into the fridge, next day, tip it into the hole dug by dh and plant a tree or bush on top.

Very nice.

MWs get a bit twitch IME because this is the last point at which someting could go wrong, though ti very rarely does. They can't completely relax until it's out so they put on a bit of pressure to get the whole thing over and done with.

Shame really.

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