Today's old wives' tale - 'Your labour will be like your mother's'...

[MrsBadger]

Heard this at the weekend - apparently had applied to all 8 women in a friend's antenatal class.

Confirm or deny, anyone?

deny

why would you want to talk about labour with your mother?

oh god no

Some truth in it, as we can take on some of our mother's traits. Surprisingly similar in both cases with me.

strangely enuf.. my labour was like my mum had with me.....

deny

My first wasn't, my second was.

deny, and my twin also had a different labour to me and my mum ! so deny deny !

Deny deny deny.

My mother had quick easy labours, each time. She tore with my sister, because she said 'hey I feel like pushing' and they said 'push if you like, nothing will happen', having examined her fairly recently, and whoops, my sister came out, and my mom tore.

My sister had a nightmare labour first time, ending in em cs, elective cs second time around. I had footling breech (elective cs) followed by baby facing wrong way, lots of BH, not even effaced, not even engaged, waters broke, we gave up ("em" cs).

surely some of this can be put down to mothers building their parts up

'that was just like with me'... cue 20 minutes mythering about their own labours

deny - totally different

think you're onto something there Capp

My mother had two planned csections. No. 1 because the baby was breeched. Me, a repeat c.

She never went into labour at all.

Message withdrawn

My labour was very similar to my mum's labour with me (I was her first child) in terms of length of active labour. Only difference was she managed to get me out on her own, I had to have a ventouse delivery as ds was facing the wrong way and just wasn't budging. My mum jokingly said (over the length of the labour) "now you understand what you put me through!".

Totally different in that my mum suffered all 4 labours in bed on her back, feet in stirrups ..... for days (can't imagine why - though she has always listened to doctors and followed their advice to the letter) with my father MIA.
My two were quick (4 and 3 hours start to finish) with me walking and moving around loads and tuning out the midwife who I considered to be there to play catch only unless something went wrong.

Dh was there too - couldn't have managed without (helped keep me focussed).

deny

Mine was, and also like my Grandmas.

deny

Mum - 12 hours, every type of pain relief under the sun, tore from back to front , dry birth (waters went completely before labour established, lots of blood loss, I suppose nowadays that would mean an emergency section), baby (me) in NICU for 4 weeks (prem with lung probs), long stay in hospital

Me - 3 hours, no pain relief, no tear (slight graze), baby 100% fine, me 100% fine, home same day.

Jeez RRRRREally hope not.

My mom was in labor with me for 48 hours. She had two episiotomies, forceps delivery, no epidural and I was almost ten pounds. She never gave birth again as a result. My father kindly told me that story a few years back. Mom won't talk about it. She just says, "things are better now honey."

yep ,i was just like my mum. really fast

My mum had 3 very different labours so basically I´ve got a good chance of having whatever kind of labour and saying ´hey, just like mum´s!´

Glad to say that wasn't true. Mum had one premature baby (DB), stillborn twins (undiagnosed pre-eclampsia - they told her she was just too fat ), OK labour with me, and another late stage miscarriage 6 years after that. I had 3 normal pregnancies and labours. So glad I didn't share that particular inheritance .

I don't know because I had a c-section. But I have read in birth magazines that this can be the case. I hope not as my mum was is in established labour for 48 hours with my sister!