What does it actually feel like to reach pushing stage?

[Ididivfama]

I’ve never got that far and really want to know! How long does it take and what helps?

Oh and it felt like I needed a huge poo and felt like my bumhole was turning inside out is the only way to describe it! I think I was shouting that at one point 😅

Huge fullness in your pelvis as baby moves down, after the pain of contractions it was a relief to push. I never got the burning sensation that others have described. I did however get horrendous shakes after each of mine for about twenty minutes (teeth chattering, the works). My labours were all quite quick though maybe it’s linked.

This is a really interesting read, thanks!

I've only done it once as my first was elective for breech. With my second, I sat in a chair for a few hours feeling pretty bloody good on diamorphine (before that the pain was out of this world), and then suddenly my body was pushing. The diamorphine was wearing off and I tried to hold her in waiting for a promised top up (they said id be there until the next day as i was 3cm at 9am...), but it wasn't possible. It was like nothing I've ever felt, intense pain/pressure, but I could obviously tell what was happening so was relieved. 12 minutes later, including turning me onto my back and sticking an arm up me to free her from shoulder dystocia, she was out! The pressure eased a lot when she crowned and my water broke (they thought they'd already gone).

As pp said, it's very like a vomiting bug. There is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. I think I pooped during active labour as they changed the mat under me, but I couldn't tell and no one said anything (dp was at home with our first).

I wasn't tired after as my contractions started at 5am and she was out by noon. I did basically nothing once I got to the hospital and had the diamorphine. I was bouncing for days after on the hormones.

Like retching. You can’t stop it.

Yep. An overwhelming urge. I found delivering the placenta much more painful. I’d had an epidural first time round so it was all new and surprising,

I never had the urge to push first time round which was annoying, it was fairly long and my waters didn’t break into the end.

Second time I was induced and it was a fast labour, I got in the pool after a long walk and the MW said she had to leave the room for a minute. As soon as she did I felt the urge, very definite, like you need an urgent poo! DH had to pull the red cord so they came straight back 😆

Actual pushing wasn’t really painful for me, as PP said it’s like your body takes over and you can’t control it, it just does it, amazing really. Crowning however is an absolute bitch, genuinely felt like my bits were being torn in two and was the one time I nearly lost it. Luckily it only lasted a few minutes.

Yeah when I needed to push I pushed. The midwife kept telling me to stop as it wasn’t time but my body wasn’t listening and I just pushed. Tore badly because of it

@Ididivfama
For pain relief -
For first birth, I was given codeine for first 48 hours which didn't even touch the sides of the pain, and also an epidural which didn't work everywhere I was feeling pain (maybe it's not meant to).
For second, I can't think what's it's called now - the one in between gas and air and before epidural. Made me drowsy though, and like I said, I remember not being bothered to push, and I missed some 'chances' as I couldn't be bothered.
I'll read the thread further than your question now and maybe find the word I want.

For me it was like an urge to have a massive poo. I had been given pethidine because I was only 3cm dilated and finding it hard to cope as the contractions in my back were very intense. The pethidine put me to sleep and I woke up three hours later and my contractions had stopped but I felt this huge amount of pressure that I mistook for needing the toilet. The midwife came in to examine me and was shocked to discover that I had progressed from 3cm to 10 in the three hours I was sleeping. She advised me to get into a comfortable position to push and I remember saying "I best just have a poo first"to which she laughed and said "it's not a poo that's coming!" I'm not sure if it was because I was high as a kite on pethidine but I never felt the crowning sensation, my DH and midwife had to tell me I had birthed the head! A lot of people hate pethidine but I would highly recommend!

The actual pushing urge and sensation wasn’t painful to me. It was a big relief actually, after what seemed like hours of pointless, non-specific yet extreme pain. Crowning really burns, but the bearing down and pushing itself was the least bad of all stages of labour for me.

For me it didn't feel like needing the toilet, it was just a very primal urge, and a great relief from the contractions which felt like they were done to me and had no control (and more painful), whereas pushing, felt productive and within my control (despite not being really). I knew when I was transitioning though as I felt sharp pain above my bottom. I had very quick labours.

Pethidine! That was it. I was just given a tiny dose because I was already at 9cm but it made me want to go to sleep which wasn't helpful when I was supppsed to be pushing.

It's like vomiting but slower and the other direction! When I was pushing with dc1 his head went backwards a bit after each push. I didn't realise that was meant to happen and I kept telling the midwife to stop pushing him back in! With dc3 I knew what I was doing so it was easier. Dc2 was back to back and I'd had too much gas and air. I was only in Labour for an hour before I started pushing and I was a bit out of it. I was convinced that if I kept my dressing gown on then it would stop hurting, goodness knows why. Crowning is like having a poo the size of a melon but further forward. It stings so much that you don't want to push but you also know that if you keep pushing it won't last much longer.

Like others have said, my body just took over and I had this overwhelming urge to push, even if you wanted to, you couldn't stop it. I was stood up in the pool and it was the strangest feeling, it was like I could feel the head crowning between my legs and then after, I can't remember how many pushes, he came sliding out and the relief is immense

I also found delivering the placenta and the after pains worse than the actual birth

What gets me about all these comments, is that clearly every birth is very different, and yet, birth seems to be the only time I've ever been to the doctors when they seem to think they're the ones to decide if I'm in pain or not. 'You're not 4cm yet so you can't be in pain.' 'Well, I can assure you, I am.'

This is fascinating

I wonder why! I don’t even think of this bit

Like when you have really bad diarrhoea and you have absolutely no choice about your body pushing it out.

I don’t remember it hurting. I remember thinking “oh shit I haven’t had an epidural, this is going to hurt” but then the need to push overrode everything else in my brain.

I had an epidural with my first after a long long labour getting nowhere (I remember THAT pain) so with my second the pushing bit was new, and I was very impressed with what the body does!

With my first i had an epidural before the pushing stage so I couldn't feel it

With my second DC, my labour was under two hours from the first contraction to him being in my arms. I wasn't even aware that I was pushing though. I was lying on the bed on my side, 5 minutes before I had been examined and told I was only 4cm dialated (although my contractions were back to back with no break)

The midwife was just pottering around the room and she looked over at me alarmed and said 'your pushing, your body is pushing!' I said 'no I'm not'
But I obviously was - it was just a reflex that I couldn't stop or control. My body just completely took over. It was painful but It felt natural like my body just knew what to do (which I didn't feel with dc1)

My first words were when I got to that stage was I need to poo😂😂🤣, my midwife repeated “ you need to push” looked at me and said yes you do and we began pushing. I got my girls head out and they told me to take a break and wait for next contraction. My partner was like whaat? Then she came out. I had pethadine 1 hour and 40 mins before she was born so I was high and can’t remember much inbetween asking for the drug and the sensation of needing to push. I fell asleep almost instantly and had to be woken up but it truly does feel like you need to poo😂😂

I second this. I quite enjoyed the pushing stage. Much much easier than contractions while dilating.

I expected to push but actually felt like my baby was being pulled out of me. I listened to hypnobirthing cds in the final stages of pregnancy and was completely relaxed. I remember saying to my midwife that I wasn't doing anything and she told me to go with it. I later read about the foetal ejection reflex in undisturbed births.

There's no better feeling when your baby finally sort of slip tumbles out. The relief, the adrenaline, the excitement... I would love to do it again, plus the newborn stage and first year because it's awesome. I had no pain relief withDc2 and it was easier than DC1 purely because I went from zero to pushing stage in about two hours. I'll never forget trying to not scream from the contractions as my two year old was in the back of the car as we thundered over the Thames to hospital at 5.30 - I didn't want to scare him and it happened so quickly my friend had to meet us at hospital to look after him as we had to leave home in such a hurry she wouldn't have made it there in time. Ah such a magical time.

It's weird, the contractions just changed over to that feeling like when you can't stop puking, but pushing instead. The most incredible feeling. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Newborn baby stage, not so much. And the after pains, owowowowowowowow, way way worse than labour