Anyone here had speedy labours? I have questions :)

[Narketta]

I'm not PG and me and DH aren't even trying to conceive yet mainly because i'm petrified of what will happen if we decide to have another DC.

We have 2 DC age 3 and 5. DS was born in an hour and 15 mins and DD was delivered at home by DH after a 44 minute labour.

I consider myself very lucky to have had 2 easy quick births.

BUT my fears are that I will either have another stupidly quick labour and something will go wrong or I will have a terrible time of it and need intervention (The MW on the way to the hospital after DD's birth told me that 3rd labours are trick and your body can forget what to do)

I would like to talk to a midwife about my concerns but as i'm not PG I don't even know if this would be possible.

So I would like other peoples experiences of there 3rd labours.:)

TIA

My labours have been 4.5 and 3.5hrs, so if I were planning a third I'd be wondering about this, though with somewhat less urgency than than OP!

I've heard, and I don't know whether this is borne out by evidence, that labours of an hour or less tend to have extremely low rates of complications. Does anyone else know more?

I had my DS2 in 40 mins and had him accidently at home. We are just starting to think about TTC DC3 but I am terrified of another fast birth. I was also 3 weeks early so I don't think I would be able to leave the house for months if we decide to have DC3.

I'lll let you know in April how quick DC2 comes, DS was four hours labour, only in hospital 2 hours before he was born. If they do get quicker as people always say, I may rent a flat opposite the hospital...
Cant have a home birth as under consultant care for DC2.
Interested that I could possibly be induced though, wouldnt have thought of that :)

I've warned my MW that there are going to be a lot of false alarms with #2, I will be going to the hospital at the slightest twinge!!

i was worried about the 3rd labour being totally different but the only issue i had was that it took a couple of days to get going properly. i planned an unassisted home delivery after 2 very straightforward and fairly quick labours. the midwife was parking the car as the head was coming out, despite being very aware i was in labour and would be quick! i am very close to a good hospital but was still worried about a last minute drama.

BeyondtheLimits - I can't comment on your personal circumstances, but being under consultant care does not automatically mean you "can't" have a HB. Depending on the reason you're seeing the consultant it may be inadvisable (and depending on the comfort levels of the individual consultant you may be told "NO" regardless of the research available), but as a mentally competent adult it is always down to the individual woman whether or not she chooses to accept medical advice.

Sorry - pet bugbear of mine is HCPs in general and (seemingly) consultants in specific who make blanket statements with no supporting evidence and then get offended and aggressive if you dare question their advice (or, indeed, point out that it is only "advice"...). As I say - I know nothing of your personal circumstances and they may be such that a HB would be extremely risky, but from my experience risks can be difficult to quantify and compare - and if you are at serious risk of delivering at the side of the road then a planned HB would be a safer option and one that could be worth considering. Planned induction also sounds worth investigating - but it might be worth having a backup plan, just in case your baby decides to come before the induction...

Oh dont worry its not them saying I cant, its me, I'm very forward with the HCPs over my care
DS got distressed by my quick labour last time and had to be delivered by ventouse (transfered from MLU to CLU half hour before birth), which has now left me with a prolapse. I'm researching and umming and ahhing at the mo (plenty of time to decide luckily) over whether I should push for an ELCS, or whether that actually wont help...

(Although part of me is curious whether DS would have gotten distressed if I were at home, but dont think I'd risk it to find out...)

Oh good - another... assertive... patient :o

No doubt you've also come across the consultants who present their "advice" as "the way the world will be" - and the women who therefore believe they can only do as their consultant advises :(.

Fingers crossed things are less fraught for you this time round and you get support from your HCP's without having to fight too hard :)

DS1 was 4.5 hours, DS2 was 1.5 hours and DS3 was 2h 14m. The GP thought ds3 would come in 45 mins max and the consultant offered me an induction. In the end I agreed to induction after my waters broke and nothing happened. After much stopping and starting and waiting for a bed on labour ward I eventually got told I didn't need to be induced after all and ds3 arrived 2h 14m later. It felt like forever at the time though after expecting a 45 min labour.

My midwife said exactly the same to me when I was expecting DC3. I had Speedy labours with my first 2 and I was really nervous about the third after the midwife said that and she was even easier and faster than the first 2. DC4 was speediest of all I was lucky a local midwife living nearby had switched her phone on for an on call shift early and made it to my house as the hospital midwife didn't arrive till after she was born. I would say don't worry about it you've done it twice before, you can do it again.

1st labour: 7 hours with a syntocin drip
2nd labour: about 4 hours
3rd labour: 1h45

3rd was the least painful, quickest and least stitches.