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Childbirth

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

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Original poster

the pushing bit.....what's that like?

85 replies

marymillington · 10/01/2007 18:10

my midwife hasn't actually had a baby......tell me what it was like for you.

(my contractions stopped at 10cm with DS, 8 hours later I had a C/S. 36 wks pg right now)

cheers

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

TheArmadillo · 10/01/2007 18:12

you know when you are desperate for a poo? Well the urge to push is quite a lot like that, but stronger. Very difficult not to push when you get the urge.

Like a big force wanting to push down.

DOes that make any sense?

goingfor3 · 10/01/2007 18:15

With my girls I felt like they both stretched my hips apart on thier way out. For me it was also very fast and I felt like my body was telling me when to push and they probably would have come out just as soon without me pushing as I really didn't have very much control.

DizzyBint · 10/01/2007 18:18

do you mean the urge to push? that's just like the armadillo said, or it was for me anyway. it was just like..ooh i'm doing a big poooooooo...and your body just pushes uncontrollably. it's not horrible, just a bit weird. i was saying to the midwife 'its making me push, i can't not push' and she just said go with it.

SmileysPeople · 10/01/2007 18:20

For me, it just felt like a huge heavy force pushing down inside me, and the urge to go with it and push it on it's way was impossible to ignore.

mellowma · 10/01/2007 18:21

Message withdrawn

misspinkcat · 10/01/2007 18:21

When you feel the urge don't PRETEND to push just shout "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW" and push.

(Three mins for ds.)

Original poster

marymillington · 10/01/2007 18:22

making sense.....do the contractions still really really hurt at this point or don't you care?

OP posts:

colditz · 10/01/2007 18:22

Like chronic constipation X 1000 + someone fat sitting on your stomach

WigWamBam · 10/01/2007 18:23

I didn't get the urge to push - the midwife had to tell me what to do. I found that as long as I was breathing and pushing properly, the contrations were far less painful while I was pushing than they had been before.

I pushed for three hours and still ended up with a CS though!

misspinkcat · 10/01/2007 18:23

You dont care. I found rocking and walking very good.

colditz · 10/01/2007 18:24

Yes they hurt, but you are more bothered abouty getting the baby out

Twinklemegan · 10/01/2007 18:26

3.5 hours for my ds with no pain relief. Not saying this to scare you, just to illustrate that the pushing itself is perfectly manageable if bloody hard work. My contractions faded away which is why it lasted so long. Like misspinkcat said, making lots of noise definitely helps as long as you stay focussed on the actual pushing. Don't worry about how you might look/sound - not that you will anyway.

kittylette · 10/01/2007 18:26

the pushing bit didnt hurt as i was so busy pushing, and the pain of the contractions seemed to stop as i was bearing down,

the urge was incredibly strong

Twinklemegan · 10/01/2007 18:27

The contractions still really really hurt, but it's a different kind of pain. Mine was a back labour though, so it was particularly bad. The pushing almost acts as a kind of pain relief IFSWIM.

misspinkcat · 10/01/2007 18:28

Yes howl like a wolf! I am silent in labour, apart from that, I find concentrating really hard can akmost induce a trance.

DizzyBint · 10/01/2007 18:28

for me i was getting contractions as well as this urge to push, so sometimes it was a contraction, then sometimes it was an urge to push. then when the urge was really huge and i was going nnnnnnnnggggggggghhhhh etc etc the midwife tried to 'manage' the pushing. so she'd get me to push harder than just going with the urge if that makes sense. so if you think of doing a poo, you could let it come on it's own, or you could push it along. well the midwife was trying to push the baby along.

there is some evidence about not 'managing' the pushing, or not 'coaching' it (think of american birth programmes where they say ok push, 12345678910, now stop pushing...AWFUL). i had this in my head at the time but quite honestly in the midst of it all i was glad of the midwife 'managing' it for me. she was a star, looked after me really well. i didn't push for long, she let me go with it for as long as possible, and i didn't tear, baby was nearly 9lb.

PoppiesMum · 10/01/2007 18:32

I found my body felt like it was pushing on it's own. I told the m/w and she said to just go for it. Contractions v painful at this point. When m/w said she could see dd's head and told me to push with the next contraction the pain seemed to lessen, prob because I was concentrating on pushing down.

Head crowning, THE most painful bit (still makes me wince to think about it) but very shortlived - waited for the next contraction (can't even remember feeling it!) and pushed rest of baby out. Pain Stopped!

30 mins from reaching 10cm to baby out.

Good Luck!

Twinklemegan · 10/01/2007 18:36

My m/w called this involuntary pushing and was quite excited about it when it happened to me. Unfortunately things didn't progress so well from thereon in, but we got there in the end.

misspinkcat · 10/01/2007 18:38

I remember getting the head out and asking her if she coudln't just pull him out!

Celery · 10/01/2007 18:43

It's like doing the biggest ever poo imaginable. ( And if there is any poo inside you, that just comes out too, because the baby's head forces it out ). The head crowning is the worst bit - it STINGS!!!!

Not the worst bit of labour for me, it's less painful than the contractions leading up to it, but doing a big poo in front of my husband and the MW's is the most humiliating experience of my life. And that ring of fire as the head crowned was pretty awful too, but atleast you know it's almost over at that stage.

PoppiesMum · 10/01/2007 18:48

marymillington - bet you're glad you asked now....

lulumama · 10/01/2007 18:59

pushing was against my will almost ! i had wondered if i would recognise the urge to push , having had c.s with DS..

oh, there was no mistaking it! my body was pushing anyway, i was along for the ride

it felt good to be doing something though!

i recognised that the pain needed pushing through, sort of through and down, so hard to explain, and it felt better , pushing, than the first stage....

the sensation of pain, as it were, was different in the second stage, to the first. more of a massive pressure

it emanated from under by boobs, and it felt like every cell in my body was going 'puuuuuuuuuuuush'

agree that the counting and coaching is not necessary....your body will guide you

when her head was crowning, it was quite an intense burning and stinging, and i did the classic 'just get it out NOW!!!" screech.......and then DH made me look at her and feel the top of her head as she was being born..and then she came out with a big slithering gush with the next push !

lulumama · 10/01/2007 19:00

30 mins of pushing...just getting into and there she was ! don't remember pushing the placenta out

PinkTulips · 10/01/2007 19:03

my entire torso suddenly starts rushing downwards and i feel like i'm about to do a humongous poo

not an urge to push so much as my body is pushing the baby out and i can either join in or be in agonising pain but that baby is coming out either way. the act of pushing isd just pain relief really for me.

Kif · 10/01/2007 19:07

kind of a non-event for me... I had an uncontrollable urge to get the whole thing over and done with, rather than an urge to push. . I knew which way the exit was, and I just wanted the baby out safely and to sit down with some tea. They came out fine both times - about half an hour for the first one, ten mins for second.

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