Anterior Lip (Cervical)in labour ????Help

[laughaminute]

I have had 2 children and am pregnant with third!!!I am due to give birth in 10 weeks and am already worrying because I have had very painful anterior lip with both labours (Very painful!!) my midwife says that it is likely to happen again due to how my cervix is.Can anyone advise on reducing this (I have looked at midwifery sites but no true life situations really available)I am worrying about -Q.Should i just have an epidural on arrival to hospital if possible or is this the chickens way out?or do I wait until fully dialated before making this move as I did in previous labour, this second labour eally traumatised my husband as he felt helpless and I really don't want to get to the 'stuck' again point if I aan avoid it.Websites suggest to move position a lot if possible which I didn't realy do before (Too busy sitting on my arse supping gas & air!!)

Don't have personal experience, sorry. But, fwiw, epidural is not chickens way out. If you can prevent an extremely painful labour then i say go for it!

Radical midwives page on cervical lips....

and four links I have bookmarked (dunno if I had anterior lip but I certainly found my body pushing at approx 8/9cms:

Rest and be thankful stage
push!/don't push!
pushing for first time moms
Birth Without Active Pushing

I reckon getting off 'your arse' would make a huge difference to your impending birth, not least because if you're upright or on all fours your pelvis has the capacity to open up to 28% more! Reclining or sitting on your coccyx prevents this.

on all fours, or knee to chest to get pressure off your cervix.. iirc, doing one or two contractions on left, then back, then right, then front can help. or that might be for something else

an epidural when fully dilated is, IMO, like locking the stable after the horse has bolted, it can prolong the second stage and it would be really hard to site it with ctx on top of each other

pethidine is a muscle relaxant and can help you to cope with the pain and aid dilation

pushing on an anterior lip can lead the lip to swell more and make descent of teh baby harder

anything that takes pressure off your cervix is good!

an epidural is good, but there are more downsides to it, and the risks for me outweigh the benefits here,where there are other non invasive things you can do

of course, it is abslutely your decision !

have oyu thought about a doula to support you both this time?

Realise I am a year out of date with this post, but reading laughaminute's concerns is exactly like reading my own mind. I, too, am pregnant with my third child, with 18 weeks to go, but I am already thinking about the labour as, with both my previous labours, I had a very stubborn anterior lip. I had pethidine in my first labour to try to relax and aid dilation but to no avail; with both deliveries I had an epidural in the very late stages (galling as I had been through so much pain already, needing to push but being told not to for hours, and I had arrived at hospital already 9cm dilated with second pregnancy). In my first delivery, this late epidural was managed very well. It was administered at a low dose and then withdrawn for the pushing stage, allowing me to still feel some degree of control. For the second delivery I had a high dose that left me feeling nothing for the pushing stage, which resulted in ventouse delivery. I was active and upright for as long as possible with both labours and different methods were tried before resorting to epidural, including the midwife pushing the cervix lip back with her fingers - very painful...

I am terrified that this will all happen again so would welcome any advice or anecdotes that may help!

I've recently read in Ina May Gaskin's 'Guide To childbirth' that the body/ mind thing can make a huge difference in terms of the way your cervix dilates. She tells the story of a woman who repeated a mantra 'I'm going to be huge' throughout her labour. Her cervix apparently expanded beyond normal levels. So, as well as the advice above, I'd suggest you work at strengthening your mind - through hypnobirthing (Maggie Howells' CD is great) and do try that mantra, as well - I'm planning to for my birth.

At the risk of sounding like a spaced-out hippy, when you say things like 'I had a stubborn anterior lip' that is in itself a mantra, which, whether you like it or not, will have an effect on (a) the way you view your body, and (b) the way your body responds during labour. You sound like you would benefit hugely from transforming your thinking to a more 'empowered' view - your body has been brilliantly made to give birth. Often exterior factors, such as influences on your mind, the atmosphere/ presence of particular people in the room, can transform a woman's labour for good or bad.

I can't recommend Ina May's book highly enough for helping to change your outlook - I bought it v cheaply on Amazon recently, and started reading it at around 30 weeks, so you have plenty of time to benefit from it.

Good luck!

Hi, our Yoga teacher recently recommended that if we find we are having problems with a swollen anterior lip during childbirth then a good position to adpot is on your knees with your head down on the floor on your forearms and your bum in the air. Apparently it helps to stop the baby's head pushing against the cervix and causing further swelling. Sorry this info is second hand but might be worth researching further... good luck...

agree with speedy..totally agree

labouring in water might help, you can move easier and might find it less difficult to get inot a better position

you might want to learn some breathing/hypnobirthing techniques to help you breathe and avoid pushing too soon or on an anetiror lip

read my post lower down ! (lulumama)

I had the anterior lip with both my dc's - but with the second one things moved quite quickly when I got into the water, and the mw examined me in the water. She said she could feel the lip, and did I want her to move it? I said yes, and within a few minutes ds, 9lb 13oz, was born. Am now pg with third, so am guessing have to be prepared for that issue to arise again. Always seem to be told the head is high, and unfavourable, whatever that means...

I too had anterior lips with both labours, 1st one after 30 hours labour and an hour of pushing, I had epidural at a low dose, pushed for a further 2 hours, and an episotomy and forceps delivery, 9pound12oz girl, head swollen twice the size and two cuts on face where each forcep had been. 2 years later witha posterior pregnancy i had a 4 hour labour, pushed for 2 hours while doctor tried pushing the lip back with her fingers during each contraction, which was absolute agony! Finally after an episiotomy and a metal ventouse extraction my 9lb5 son was born. His head was bleeding, swollen and was scabbed for 2 months where the metal cap was. Pregnant with 3rd and freaking out!!!!!!

Why not just ask for C section? far less pain and no prolonged labour.