Who had a straightforward, birth? and how did yu manage it?

[JTN]

Last time i did yoga swimming etc etc and ended up with ds in wrong postiiton after 2 days of trying and an emergency cs. this time round what should i do to increase my chances of a straightforward dilate, pop it out type of birth, did you eat / do anything that you thought helped? that you would reccomend trying?

Spent lots of time on forearms and knees with bum waving attractively in the air to turn breach dd.

Me too Katemum. Did lots of weeding the garden (gloves on of course) and reading, watched tv with bum in air. First three were all straight forward and turned in final few weeks. DS4 didn't and had cs.

Did lots of walking & swimming.

Lots of time on hands & knees as baby was back to back.

Took raspberry leaf tablets.

Had a text-book labour though fairly long second stage. Don't know if it was anything I did specifically but I think being fit did help.

Like the others, walkng, at home spent time on all fours , my floors never looked so clean ,

Also did perineal(sp?) stretching, though this did involve DH !

And during labour I kept moving, kept upright,walked up and down stairs,

I didn't lie down at all except to be examined, as I had all mine at home this was easy,

but if I had a hosp birth I would plan ! to not get on the bed at all and would ask for the bed to be taken out of the room and just the matress left on the floor.

I never had any inclination to lie down during labour and Ihave read somewhere that when a mother is on her back the space the baby comes through is reduced, by as much as 30% I think, and you are effectively pushing the baby up hill !

My last ds was 9lb 11oz and I delivered him with only a tiny tear, no stitches, I'm 5 foot 4 inches and pre pg about 8 1/2 stone so for me he was a big baby.

I had three straightforward births - the last one faster than I'd have liked but I'm not complaining. I didn't do anything specific except took raspberry leaf with the first and did a lot of walking with all three. Just very lucky I think.

Sometimes you can't do anything to prevent the "wrong" position I think - my last turned breech during the night at 37 weeks - I had been doing yoga, bum waving etc beforehand. Luckily the ob managed to turn him around again.

JTN, I think having a straightforward birth is more a question of luck than anything else, and there is not that much you can do to make it any different. I know that this opinion flies in the face of all those antenatal classes (especially the ones favouring various natural birth methods) and magazine articles with headings like "How to get the birth you want".

However, most of the things which have a big impact on the birth are external factors which you cannot influence: how big the baby is, how big your pelvis is, size of the baby's head circumference (which most doctors think is more important than weight), your age, your genetic history.

I did everything I possibly could to have an easy natural birth: 2 lots of antenatal classes, healthy eating plan, exercises on birthing ball to encourage optimal foetal positioning, daily perineal massage with almond oil. None of it was any help and I still ended up with an emergency c-section.

I felt very down about this for some time after the birth, but I now accept that because of various physical factors (massive baby, biggest head circumference hospital had seen for some time) I could never have given birth vaginally. I wish there was less pressure on women to "achieve a good birth", because in most cases it is outside your control. When I hear women smugly recounting their quick, easy labours, I am jealous of how lucky they were - but I also notice that the babies are usually tiny 6 pounders!

Sorry JTN, that is probably not what you wanted to hear! But it's something I feel strongly about and I had to give my opinion on this.

Tutti,

Sorry that you have had to work through some sad feelings associated with your birth,

You are quite right, it is often down to luck, Looking back at my post I hope it didn't come across as "smug", I certainly didn't intend to.

I often say to others that you can never tell how it is going to be, especially not looking at the mother, I'm tiny on the hips but my internal pevic cavity (?) must be large in comparison as my last ds head circumferance was off the chart but I only had a tiny tear.

But then another mother with "good birthing hips" may well have difficulties with a tiny baby, you are very right just don't know. All we can do is prepare as well as possible, just as you did.

I do feel that, unless circumstances dictate otherwise, moving round, keeping active etc both before and during the birth can do no harm and often seem to do some good.

Kitty4paws, no you didn't come across as smug at all! I didn't mean you, sorry if it came across wrong.

I agree with you about what the maternal hips look like - they often bear no relation to pelvic cavity and ease of birth. My own hips are quite big but they couldn't manage it! My cousin on the other hand, who is a ballet dancer and a small size 8, gave birth to 3 babies in less than half an hour each, and one was born on the back seat of the car because they didn't make it to the hospital in time.

Also agree that good preparation is a good idea, but I think more women should be aware that the best preparation in the world is no guarantee.

My tip would be to think positive - panicking never helped anybody!
And take labour as it comes - so what if you need an epidural / c section / stitches / etc!
You will have a beautiful baby at the end and that is what counts.

(FYI I have 2 sons, and was fortunate to have 2 relatively easy births - and I would recommend raspberry leaf tea to wash down the positive thinking!)

A friend of mine who's a midwife swears by 'Optimal Foetal Positioning' - ie getting the baby into the optimal position during labour - theres a book by Jean Sutton called 'Let Birth be Born Again'.

Also a website I think at www.homebirth.org.uk

I strongly believe that your body becomes better at giving birth so subsequent births are usually easier and more straightforward than first births.

That was certainly the case for me. My first birth was very difficult (forceps delivery) as ds1 was quite big and facing the wrong way round.

Second and third births were straightforward and fourth birth was slightly delayed at the pushing stage but it turned out he was the same size and same weight as ds1, yet he still came out easily enough (just not as easily as the MWs expected) so that it was clear to me, my body was better at giving birth by the time I got to No 4.

Incidentally, I gave birth to my first three children lying on my back. I was told when pg with No 4 that that was the worst possible position to give birth in, and I was determined to try another position. Well, I tried standing, kneeling on all fours, etc and baby was clearly a bit stuck so MW suggested lying on my back and guess what? he popped out straightaway! So just goes to show, you never can be sure what will be best, but listen to your MW and be prepared to try whatever they suggest.

I kept active during labour. I think some of it is just luck though. there's no reason to think your second birth will be similar to your first. My four were all very different.

Yoga and swimming are good, even if you felt a bit betrayed by them first time around.

Good luck with it.

I was just lucky, I always presumed it was mind over matter, but the more I know about other peoples births the less I believe that...
I just always believed it would go the way Sheila kitzonger told me it would in her book

My DS was always in a good position, according to mw, so don't know whether my standing up a lot, sitting on a ball when watching TV, etc did any good. I did some swimming. Laboured in water, long labour about 8 hours in water, DS was born outside water on a Dutch Birthing Stool.

No tears, no stiches, but lucky as 2nd mw was excellent, an expert and very kind. First one was a sarcastic cow, which made me miserbale throughout. When the 2nd mw arrived, I had DS in 50 minutes !

Conclusion: there are things you can do, i.e. stand up a lot a few weeks before birth, massage perinium with olive oil, do pelvic floor exercise every single day, do some exercise, stay upright during labour, lying down is not good, etc...a good mw and a bit of luck go a long way too !

Hi. just finding my way round mumsnet. Had first child in January and birth was amazing - short labour and pain free all due to hypnobirthing - it was fantastic cannot recommend enough.

Sorry, lol at the thread title

In all seriousness though - I didn't choose to have a difficult birth the first time and an easy birth the second time. It just happened with no great master planning / input from me.

Oh and stood semi upright (both times)laying over bed with both feet on floor - big believer in gravity

With you there Piffle - gravity helps alot. With 2 of mine used a birthing stool. Was really great as it opens up your pelvis so baby sort of falls out!! Found it helped to keep moving as much as poss. Good luck!

Nothing other than keeping active.

When I was in labour the midwife encourage me to walk around as much as possible, including crab walking up and down the stairs.

I used a birthing ball (marvellous thing) too for about a month before the birth. Apparently leaning over it and rotating your hips gently helps the baby move into the correct position for birth?

Labour was four hours, gas and air only. DS was 8lbs5 and OP. The only odd thing with my labour was that I had to have a fair few midwives assist just before he was born to assist with a procedure because they thought his shoulders might be a bit big for me to deliver naturally. All was well, delivered him without a stitch.

yeah Piffle, I believed it would be like Sheila Kitzinger said, until I ended up on the operating table having an em cs .

I had done all the same stuff as TuttiFrutti and found it difficult to come to terms with my "childbearing hips" having proved not so useful as they looked.

I've read since that the difficulty lots of women have delivering big babies (ds was 9lb 12oz) is more to do with the fact that the baby will find it hard to manoeuvre out of a bad position because it's got so little room.

I also had SPD (reasonably mildly, no need for crutches etc) which some people think can give you a misaligned pelvis which can also lead to the baby's head getting stuck.

So I'm hoping next time round will be different...

I went very half-heartedly to Active Birth classes and did the barest minimum of easy yoga. The women there annoyed me (control freaks imo) and the teacher didn't inspire me.

No raspberry leaf tea beyond the odd cup. No perineal massage, no OFP, and a mother who had had two late babies, big ones, and baaaaaad labours.

I was really ill at 35 weeks, spent a week in hospital on a drip, no food. Thereafter my already crap exercise regime (er, walking a bit, if I needed to) disappeared and I sat on the sofa, mostly, until 38 weeks, when I went into labour.

What was odd - I cannot explain this - is that I felt no fear. I felt extraordinarily calm about labour, despite my mother's history and knowing that I had been ill and had not put anything into "optimising".

When I went into labour, everything went very smoothly, I managed the contractions well, dilated well, and with the help of a wonderful midwife (I do not underrate her input btw) everything went well.

I put it down to endorphins and luck.

Yeah do not believe the childbearing hips bit I got told loads I would struggle to give birth with my boy hips...
Load of old cobblers :)

Carolina... i have SPD and a misaligned pelvis... osteopath sorted me out, had easy birth