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Childbirth

Need to get this homebirth labour progressing or it is the hospital within 2 hours - help!

23 replies

zazas · 19/10/2007 09:09

My friend's DP has just called to say that she has been in established labour all night, contractions 5 mins apart but only 1 cm. The midwife has been with them all night. Unless she dilates more within 2 hours she is to be moved to the hospital. They are having a home birth (their 1st baby) and I have been helping them prepare for this. They want me to come over and I am just thinking through ways of helping her to encourage dilation.

Any suggestions welcome.....please - walking around to get baby's head in a better position / homeothpathy, visualisation / and ?????? Thanks

OP posts:

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meemar · 19/10/2007 09:12

poor her - surely the pressure to 'diltate more' can't be helping her?

I think walking around, will help put pressure on the cervix. Does she have a ball she can sit on and rock?

NoNameToday · 19/10/2007 09:16

zazas, it sounds like your friend is having a long latent phase rather than being in established labour.

This phase can be very wearying and frustrating, especially difficult with a first labour because the expectation is that labour will progress.

zazas · 19/10/2007 09:22

hmm that is what I feel - she is really in latent labour and under pressure. I hope to just go over and remind her that she is doing great as she is and to accept that what is happening is 'her labour'.

I am no expert, just have had 3 babies and a VBAC at home 5 months ago so I can only second guess why physically things are the way they are but I believe mentally you can do a lot - at least that is my experience. I hope that I can give her some support.....

OP posts:

themildmanneredaxemurderer · 19/10/2007 09:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

littleducks · 19/10/2007 09:29

maybe not mention this to friend atm but my latent phase was from mon to thurs, followed by a shorter active labour.

walking and staying upright help but dont let her get tired as she will need the energy.

NoNameToday · 19/10/2007 09:34

That's one of the reasons women find the documented length of labour so different from their interpretation of how long labour lasted!

Established labour is usually classed as starting when the cervix is 3cms dilated, the contractions are, regular, increasing in strength and frequency, and there is descent of the presenting part.

If your friend's membranes are still intact and baby's heartrate is fine, I would recommend she takes whatever form of pain relief she has available, Paracetamol, TENS etc. and try and relax using deep breathing technique, anything she finds helpful.

Getting stressed and anxious although very understandable will only add to her discomfort.

Mintpurple · 19/10/2007 09:35

zazas - if she is in a long latent phase, why does she have to go to hospital???

If she turned up at the hosp I work in at 1cm and contracting 5 mins apart, I would send her sraight back home to establish in labour!

This is not established labour and if she goes to hosp she risks intervention to speed things up. Unless there are other factors here that we dont know about, my advice would be to stay home. In fact, why has the m/w been with her all night?

NoNameToday · 19/10/2007 09:41

My thoughts also Klaw.

Maybe a less than confident/experienced midwife

NoNameToday · 19/10/2007 09:43

Sorry Mintpurple, I was echoing your sentiments.

Where are my specs!

Mintpurple · 19/10/2007 09:46

this is her birth to decide if she needs to go to hospital for pain relief or something - its really quite wrong to drag her in for no real reason other than that she is in latent labour.
As has been said by another poster, it can go on for several days, but isnt part of the reason she chose a hb, so that she can have some more control and not be subjected to hospital rules and protocols?

She would be better off telling the m/w to go home and get some sleep, while she rests and saves her energy.

Mintpurple · 19/10/2007 09:48

great minds noname?

This kind of pressure makes me quite annoyed though. Sounds like the m/w is looking for an excuse!

NoNameToday · 19/10/2007 09:52

You have definitely met the same type of midwife as I have Mintpurple

lemonaid · 19/10/2007 09:54

I agree -- the hospital where I had DS wouldn't have treated contractions 5 mins apart and 1cm dilated as established labour, and would probably have sent anyone in that condition home again unless there were some other risk factors. I don't see what moving her to the hospital is going to achieve (other than making it likely they'll try to augment the labour in some way, which I presume she doesn't want). This could go on for ages yet and still be perfectly normal.

97PercentGingerbread · 19/10/2007 10:08

I had a part-homebirth (transferred during 2nd stage due to stuck baby) and it took from the evening of the Wednesday to midday on the Thursday to get to from the latent phase to 'established labour'. My contractions were very regular and lasting a minute but I just knew that it wasn't happening for quite a while. My midwife was happy to leave me and come back later. So, latent stage of 15 hours, 4 hours of established labour, 5 hour second stage, transfer, episiotomy, ventouse and em cs. The decision to go to hospital was all mine as the baby was fine and thriving and I figured 5 hours of pushing and a baby not moving a mm was a sure sign that somebody was stuck (well and truly tested the hypothesis that you can't come out ear first).

NoNameToday · 19/10/2007 10:11

Ouch!!!! 97%

They left you sense of humour intact though

Santasmissyontheside · 19/10/2007 10:12

Birthing ball speeded me up. Keep her moving

Notquitegrownup · 19/10/2007 10:18

Being in water speeded me up, both times. I know, I know it is supposed to do the opposite!! A bath is always nice anyway, and she might just be awkward like me!!

MeltingandScreamingIcarus · 19/10/2007 10:19

Is the baby posterior? That can lead to an intense latent stage which very much feels like labour but isn't counted as it.

I took about 24 hours to get to 3cm with a similar sounding labour. The next bit was quite quick though.

Personally I would send the midwife home and go for a walk. Staying upright birthing ball and gelsemium, pulsitilla caulophyllum.

These helped ,e greatly in my second fab home birth.

kali carb if baby is posterior.

They might find that if the midwife goes away and they try really hard to just carry on with normal things (walk, sort baby things, tidy up, cook etc)removing the pressure she will progress and find the contractions more bearable.

zazas · 19/10/2007 13:55

Hi, phew just came back after being with my friend for 4 hours - needed to bf baby, anyway as you have said she has been in latent labour. But the midwives swapped and the new one was much better and dismissed any transfer to hospital for reasons you have said. Baby fine and in good position. So helped my friend to get moving again, suggested some pain relief tricks and helped with her emotional state and things have now since kicked off! Don't know if she is in established labour (as had to leave as mw was examining) but contractions pretty regular and pain upping although I could tell from my own experiences - she still has those really big ones to come

Poor thing the 1st mw really frightened her - df was quite worked up - aaahhhh

Anyway I am on call to go back to help - her dh has taken quite a battering - the woman needs to cut her nails!

OP posts:

kitcoffey · 19/10/2007 15:30

gelsemium, pulsitilla caulophyllum what are these?

Lulumama · 19/10/2007 15:32

homoepathic remedies

good news zazas, 1 cm is not established labour,, glad new midwife has got things on an even keel. good luck to your friend

zazas · 19/10/2007 15:59

The funny thing was that when I was there the new midwife did go away for a couple of hours and during that time things picked up. As soon as she came back things slowed down...I felt that my friend was without meaning to stopping herself progressing. She did mention that she can't even think that there might be a baby at the end of all this, that it all seemed unreal to her. The mind is a powerful thing....

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Crocky · 19/10/2007 16:16

My waters broke with my first and I went into the midwife unit in the middle of the night. Contractions kicked in early morning and were getting really painful.
Only problem I had was every time the midwife came along to check me they stopped altogether! She didn't believe i was in labour and by 2pm she had called an ambulance to have me transferred to the hospital.
As they were waiting to move me I finally got a bit bolshy and refused to move without having an internal as i was convinced i was in labour. She eventually agreed and I was 8 centimetres so wasn't transferring anywhere.

Anyway that essay was to say that, yes for some people a midwife can slow down labour.

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