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Childbirth

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

Original poster

Can a labour get 'stuck' at 8cm's dilated.....just wondering as was told this happened to me

29 replies

mimimilk · 15/12/2007 20:59

Was just reading the post on why does childbirth have to be painful and it made me remenber a question I meant to ask never got around to after I gave birth.

I got to 8cm's dilated with just gas and air. Was admitted to hosp at 9pm and was 4cm's already (however had been experiencing painful regular contractions since midday that day).

Somewtime in the early hours was unfortunately told i would have to have Continuous fetal monitoring as they could not do the intermittent due to staff shortages (this was true and I have no complaints whatsoever about the care I recieved but it may have made a difference???)

For this I had to be laying on a bed. Basically did not dilate any further after this and at about 10 am the next day I had drugs via a drip to speed up the labour.
At midday, had an epidural as was so tired just felt I could not physically get through without having a break from the contractions (epidural was great imo,they turned it down once i was 10cm so i could feel pressure as i pushed).

Anyway, I just wondered if anyone out there knows if a labour can really 'stop' at 8cm's, i had been having contractions for ages so maybe my body just ran out of steam. What would have happened if they had not given me drugs to make the contractions stronger and most importantly is it likely to happen again? Am wondering about a bithing centre birth if we have any more but if my labor is just going to peter out I feel i may need another epidural lol!!

OP posts:
beansprout · 15/12/2007 21:01

My labour ground to a halt too. I have subsequently been told that this was because ds was not in a good position and was not applying enough pressure to my cervix to make it dilate any further.

gigglewitchyouamerrychristmas · 15/12/2007 21:03

mine (slow labour, DC3) stopped at 7cm. they broke my waters because so much starting/stopping, and an hour of real labour was all it took

sophierosie · 15/12/2007 21:04

I too stopped at 8cms. I was induced and had been in labour for about 16 hours and was well and truly exhausted. DD was emergency c-section 8 hours later and face up so effectively 'stuck' as contractions weren't strong enough to turn her. I was also continuously monitored so laying on a bed.

Original poster
mimimilk · 15/12/2007 21:07

giggle they tried three times to break my waters and couldnt (its funny in retrospect lol!!)

I remember the midwife with her knitting needle torture tool trying to, and all could think of was the squeaking noise it was making as she was having a go.Thats enough to put me off practising for another eek!!

OP posts:
Ledodgy · 15/12/2007 21:13

This happened to me with my first baby , she was back to back and it took 2 days for me to get from 2 cm to 3 cm even though it hurt like hell they give no pain relief until 3 cm then it took around 17 hours to get to 8 cm then labour slowed down like you they gave me the drip and I had an epidural mainly to sober me up from the diamorphine they gave me at 8 cm which sent me loopy previous to this I managed on gas and air. DD was finally born a couple of hours later.

If it's any consolation my second experience of childbirth couldn't have been more different I was only in established labour for 40 minutes!

camillathechicken · 16/12/2007 18:59

yes, labour can stall or stop for a number of reasons

being scared, suddenly anxious or feel too vulnerable can stop things progressing.

being immobile can slow things

lying down, esp on your back if baby is back to back can really , really slow things and increase your pain levels massively.

were you told why you had to have CFM? in a normal labour, you should not need to have it. intermittent listening should be sufficient.

so, you arrived,in established labour, managing well , dilating nicely, then you are told you must have CFM and that there are not enough staff, so you have to lie on a bed.... and your labour stops...

sometimes labour does pause to give you a break, often it happens at 10 cm, you have the ;rest and be thankful stage, where your contractions stop to allow you to have a breather before your second stage.

perhaps if you had not been immobile for a number of hours, your labour would have got going again without augmentation?

a lot can also depend on the position of the baby as to how effective the contractins are at dilating the cervix

labour does not tend to run out of steam just 'becasue', if you see what i mean, so might be worth going through your notes and finding out a bit more about baby's position and the length of time you were on the bed, how high baby was etc... so you can get a truer picture of what happened.

AwayInAMunker · 16/12/2007 19:02

You can be upright and on the monitor - that may have helped your baby bear down?

Original poster
mimimilk · 16/12/2007 20:51

Thanks all esp. camilla
The only reason I had CFM was because they were so short staffed they could not get into me often enough to do the internittent fetal monitoring with me mobile, hence had to have the machine on constantly (actually i'm not really sure why this made it easier for them as they did have to come in evry so ofetn to read the print out).

I was aware of the fact that laying down would likely make the labour slow but it actually was a wierd experience, my contractions were still just as painful but the machine monitoring them and the baby was saying they were not effective contractions.

I refused to have the drugs to make things speed up as i knew i would probably not be able to cope with the pain levels but in the end everyone kind of 'encouraged' me into it and i suppose i just wanted my DS to be born!!

I had a look at my notes after as had to take them myself to the postnatal midwife, everything seemed to have been 'normal' in as much as i could make ut. My DS was in a good postiton,he was quite smallish, 61b 5oz, i had a tiny tear only and the pushing phase was only about 15 minutes at the end.

Overall the birth experience was much BETTER than expected, up until i went on the bed i was coping 'ok' with the pain, had two birthing partners who made it all so much easier.

I do feel its a bit of a shame that I made it to 8cm with just Gas and air but then had lots of intervention, people say the last few cm's are the worst pain wise so I still dont know whether i would have coped with that too as had the epi lol!!!

Interesting to hear other peoples experiences,it seems to be not an uncommon thing.

OP posts:
MrsJohnCuSackFullOfPresents · 16/12/2007 21:25

mine (2nd) ground to a halt for hours at 6cm - when I got into the bleeding pool (Had arrived at hospital at 5cm and no pain). I was gutted! Had to get out after 4 hours in the pool (had waters broken after 2, made no difference except hideous increase in pain) and have an epidural because I was so pissed off (it didn't work but that's a whole other story)

we think he moved and got a bit stuck (he was 10 lbs 5 though). same thing happened first time round with DD

so I gave birth lying on my back on a bed AGAIN. I am so perverse. Next time round (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA) I WILL give birth in a pool/standing up. MAybe I should have stayed at home

interesting thread minimilk and congratulations.

Original poster
mimimilk · 16/12/2007 21:34

Mrs John,
10 1bs 5!!!!!!!! Heavens, and again I say heavens!!!! Thats heading for two of my DS lol!

OP posts:
mumbear · 16/12/2007 21:56

Yeah I think things can slow it right down, I was admited to hospwith high blood pressure I had pessary to kick start labour and was 5cms in a matter of 2-3 hours (having only had 2 paracetamol) I went to the labour ward had to be hooked up to a monitor so I was on my back for the rest of the time, knowing what I know now the baby was posterior and resting on my back making the contractions unbearable and I was told not to get up at all or to get in any other position meant that four hours later I had progressed no further. I would definately think it was the position you were in that slowed labour.

Ledodgy · 16/12/2007 22:04

Standing up doesn't not always help labour progress quicker in the labour I mentioned earlier I had stood up swaying for nearly 8 hours but because of dd's position all it did was make my bits swell up and if anything hindered labour. I could see my vaginal lips when I finally laid down, from that position, that's how swollen they were!

mumbear · 16/12/2007 22:11

Ouch! Poor thing, I trust theyre back to the original size

Ledodgy · 16/12/2007 22:12

Oh yes and hopefully they'll stay that way I'm 37 weeks pregnant and hoping labour will treat me and my fanjo well this time!

runnyhabbit · 16/12/2007 22:15

only read the op, but yes, with ds1 labour "stopped" at 9cm. ended up going on a drip, and then it was a ventouse delivery. have no idea why it happened.

mumbear · 16/12/2007 22:18

Best of luck ledodgy!

meepingaroundthechristmastree · 16/12/2007 22:20

took me 50 hours to get to 9cm! Stayed that way for another 5 hours! Never felt the urge to [push Had done the walking about - waters had broken - ended up on drip & epidural - then emergency c-section. Even reading all of the above, it does seem that dd was well and truly stuck (back to back - ouch!)

colabottle · 16/12/2007 22:36

hi. my induced labour stopped after 18hours at 5cm and had to have e c section. was told baby was o p still dont know what that means.

Sabire · 17/12/2007 09:19

With my third I stalled at 8cm for 24 hours. I was at home with an independent midwife and neither she nor I could work out exactly what position my baby was in - except that he wasn't where he ought to have been!

My contractions spaced out and I started to get very tired (third day of active labour by this time) and I transferred in for some synto.

Once I got to hospital I stood next to the bed being monitored - nobody tried to make me sit down (I couldn't sit down - my bum hurt too much!).

Once I had my waters broken my labour just took off and I was going great guns. Fortunately 3 days of labour at home had left me with sky high endorphin levels and I was able to cope with just gas and air.

I had my son 2 hours after starting on the synto - straightforward birth.

HairyMaclary · 17/12/2007 09:33

This happened to me too, I was at 8sm after 4 hours of labour, thinking great, baby born by lunchtime, then it stopped completely. down from 90sec to 2 min contractions every 2 mins to nothing, it was quite nice to have a rest but ... As I was only on gas and air the wonderful midwives told me to eat something, I did, promptly threw up and labour started again - much more powerfully. i got to 9cm in about 15 mins! they then broke my waters and DS2 was born 20 mins later. Not quitw sure why the eating helped, but it made all the difference!

camillathechicken · 17/12/2007 10:34

eating can help, gives you a boost of energy..... and throwing up can actually help you dilate, according to ina may gaskin and her sphincter law, as you cannot tense your bottom or mouth when you are throwing up, and being tense can slow things.....so that is probably why !

Sabire · 17/12/2007 16:56

"eating can help, gives you a boost of energy..... and throwing up can actually help you dilate, according to ina may gaskin and her sphincter law, as you cannot tense your bottom or mouth when you are throwing up,"
Ha ha - I'm also a great believer in the benefits of a good yak during labour!

OhGiveUsAPruniPudding · 17/12/2007 17:17

It's very common, getting stuck at 8cm - changing position or moving around a bit can help, as can, frankly, a bit of tlc, apparently - not possible when the midwives are shortstaffed

OhGiveUsAPruniPudding · 17/12/2007 17:17

God I love IMG's sphincter law - it is invoked often in our house!
It makes such perfect sense!!

Rolf · 17/12/2007 17:20

what is a sphincter law?

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