Pushing before 10cm

[ATJ]

Hey,
I was just wondering if anyone else pushed their baby out before you got to 10cm?
With my second I was only 8cm but had the uncomfortable urge to push and she was born 20 mins later. Have I caused myself damage in the future?

Haven't been in your position, but I think a key factor in our evolution is the ability to have kids. If you felt the urge to push that probably means the time was right. If not no amount of pushing would have got her out, never mind in 20min.

But IANAD, so you should mention your worries to a professional so that he can reassure you.

*or she

When your body pushes, it pushes - it's not something you control in my experience!
The judgement of how many cm you are is just a guess by the midwives, it's not like it's an exact science.

I had an epidural after a very long first labour. There was a problem with my baby's heartbeat and I was to have an emergency c section but the hospital was very busy at the time..
9 months after a snow day..
anyway, I was told I was 9cm and to try pushing. It saved my son's life.
Previous poster said it's not an exact science and it's so true, I'm sure there is a fair amount of error in measurement and sometimes needs must.
If the baby can get through then it wasn't too early to push??
Interested to hear about this also.
My third was born so fast that he had lung problems because he wasn't 'squeezed' through the birth canal enough..

Generally speaking when it's not your first baby things can change so fast, literally in seconds. Especially when that advanced in labour. When you felt the urge to push, baby's head had probably just dropped and that in itself can suddenly make you fully dilated, which Id imagine you were. Unlikely to have caused damage but if you wanted peace of mind you could book in with GP or women's health physio for an assessment.

Fully dilated or 10cm just means you can't feel any cervix at all anymore when examining. Essentially it's all been pulled up and outwards. Very small babies can pass through a cervix that isn't fully dilated.
It's different if it's a first baby and progress is (usually) much slower. If for some reason a woman on her first baby feels the urge to push and is pushing against cervix for quite a while, it is possible to cause problems like cervical prolapse. I always find when someone is that advanced in labour, like 7cm+, it can all change so fast so usually have become fully dilated in the meantime.

I didn’t have any vaginal examinations so I have no idea how dilated I was, but baby did tear a chunk of my cervix off on the the way out, so it was possible I wasn’t fully dilated.

I think you would know if it had caused damage.

Thank you all for your answers.
She wasn't small at all, she was 9lbs 5oz. Hopefully it hasn't done any damage, I had a second degree tear but I did also with my son. Apart from that I don't feel any different.

how do you know you were only 8cm? you can dialate the last 2cm in minutes. My second I had been stuck at 2cm for three days, then 2 hours to get to 4cm when my waters broke and then born half an hour after that. wasn't examined between the 4cm and birth but obviously did dilate so unless they checked you after you had the urge to push i have no idea how you would know.

It was a very quick birth, I got to the hospital in a rush as I was needing to push at home. The midwife checked me and said I was 8cm but I said I need to push now, so I started pushing and she was born 20 minutes later.

I went from 3cm to 5cm in five minutes, so I'm assuming you could have easily gone from 8-10 in a very short amount of time. I was examined and told 3cm, and then I got a really strong urge to push, the consultant examined again and said I was fully dilated/fully effaced, so your fast transition from 8cm to pushing sounds feasible