Labour not progressing - Day 3

[2020mumtobee]

Hi, I wondered if anyone else had experience of this. I've been having contractions for 3 days. Not Braxton Hicks, actual contractions confirmed by my midwife. But they've not started dilating my cervix yet. So I'm 3 days on pain into this horrendous experience and 1cm dilated. Contractions are very frequent. 4mins apart but only about 30seconds in length. Is there anything I can do to force the midwifes to intervene? They sent me home with paracetamol and advice to have a bath..... am 40+3

Sounds like my first. Contractions stopped twice as well.

Turned out my girl was not pushing on my cervix properly and was sunny side up.

Due to other health problems I couldnt keep going so by day 3 I demanded they did something and broke down. They ended up giving me an epidural which after several hours made me dilate more but still not enough. After pushing they had to take me into theatre but managed to turn baby with forceps so I could push her out.

If you are in pain and the paracetamol isnt helping then demand help however they may not be worried and prefer you to be at home due to covid risks.

Have you got a ball and a tense machine to help you?

Oh and go for some walks to keep things moving. Rock on your hands and knees too.

Good luck and hope you meet baby soon

Thanks for replying! Gosh you sound like you really went through it.

My mum has just bought round a tens machine and it's an absolute game changer. I can't believe not every pregnant woman isn't given one!

Thanks for the advice. My contractions are now every 3mins and lasting a minute, hopefully they'll admit me now.

I feel for you. My labour started on a Tue morning but didn't really regulate by late Wed night I was beside myself so my DH rang labour ward even though I told him I wasn't at the hospital stage, when I spoke to staff she reluctantly said come in for check up even though I could tell by her tone she was thinking and we'll send you home again but when I got to hospital they did a urine test and I was so severely dehydrated they admitted me anyway. I spent another night and day labouring without any progress before they decided to induce me on the Thurs tea time this also didn't go according to plan and by the Fri morning having only reached 5cm I more or less demanded an EMCS which thankfully went swimmingly and I was holding my DD just after 10am.
The above reads like a terrible birth experience but it actually wasn't I think of it positively as I was able to advocate for myself discuss options with medical staff and I felt very much a part of the decisions made about my care so I'd say don't be afraid to speak out and be honest about how you're feeling. Good luck this will nearly all be forgotten when you hold your lovely squishy newborn.

P.S. I liked my tens machine but not nearly as much as I loved the epidural!

I spent 36 hours in labour, contractions every 5 mins and never stopped just increased in intensity. Baby was back to back and wasnt dilating.
At 30 hours in I was 2cm, 6 hours later I went back into hospital in agony. I was 10cm and pushing, 20 mins later was born. I couldn't believe how quickly it happened! Hopefully the same will happen for you too :)