Fetal Ejection Reflex

[PearlSupernova]

I feel compelled to share my birth stories and see if anyone has experienced similar.

with DS1 I had a very long, slow and painful labour. I wasn’t coping well (to say the least). Evebtually I was given an epidural. When I was fully dilated , I was told when to push, but because I couldn’t feel anything and I didn’t know what I was doing, nothing progressed. This continued for an hour until the midwives intervened and I had a very unpleasant forceps delivery.

My second labour couldn’t have been more different. Everything happened really quickly (5cm on arrival to baby born within 1hr 15 mins). My body pushed the baby out completely involuntarily. I didn’t have an urge to push, in fact I didn’t even recognise my body was pushing as it was completely out of my control. I recall saying to my partner that I thought something was wrong, because at the end of my contractions my body was ‘seizing up’ of its own accord. I was just a bystander. At this point he pushed the emergency button and the midwives all came rushing in. I still had my leggings and knickers on!
I asked for an epidural, but was told there wasn’t time as they could see the baby’s head! I was completely bewildered as I was only 5cms just a short time before.
The midwives said next contraction baby’s head would be out, but again I didn’t do any pushing. I was laid on my back. I distinctly remember feeling very far away, inside myself. Baby’s head came out on its own. I didn’t experience any crowning / burning pain. My partner said I was silent at the end.
I have since learned my second labour could have been FER, but have also read this is very rare? The experience was totally bizarre, but far preferable to all the unsuccessful pushing and straining of my first.

Op did you have any tearing the second time round?

Wow

They said I had ‘grazes’, although they didn’t feel like grazes to me! I didn’t have any stitches 2nd time around though. It still burned terribly when I peed for about two weeks afterwards

Interestingly I feel like the healing process for my episiotomy was actually easier. Although that may have been the location of my episiotomy compared to my grazes, which were closer to my urethra

Both of my labours progressed quickly (second baby was 4cm to birth within 20 minutes!) and on both occasions my body just started pushing. It felt like an involuntary thing, like when you start gagging to vomit or something, totally out of my own control and it would make my whole body judder. However, I did also push alongside it, and I did experience pain. I just assumed this is the same for everyone?

I had similar to you with my first birth, almost exactly the same only it wasn't particularly unpleasant. My second was a straightforward, normal delivery. My third (planned home birth - where I was completely relaxed) was like yours; my body just took over, I had no control over what was happening, no urge to push because I didn't need to. DC3 was out in three contractions within five minutes, I had no choice in the matter. It was bloody amazing actually, one of the best experiences of my life, just incredible. No stitches required either.

Yes! Once my body started ejecting the baby on its own, he was out in about 4 contractions in just a minute or two.
I was filled with dread initially when the midwives said I didn’t have time for an epidural, but it was completely fine because it was over so quickly

With my last I didn't push him out. He just plopped out onto the bed.

Was it a very small baby? My 3lb baby came out in a similar way, but my 7lb baby I had to put effort in to push, it was horribly painful but I had to do it, pushing "controlled" but didnt lessen the pain and it felt like an instinct to do it, I'm not sure I could have not pushed if I'd tried, but I was definitely actively trying to.

Gosh, 3lbs is small. Were they very premature?

Not particularly small, no. My first was 7lbs7 and my second was 7lbs10.

To clarify, my contractions were painful (but manageable 2nd time around), but the actual birth / crowing wasn’t painful. First time around I was in another dimension with the contraction pain.

I find it so fascinating that two births can be complete chalk and cheese, whereby with my first I had a lot of medical interventions and everyone screaming at me to PUUUUSSSH, and not a lot happening. Whereas with my second, no medical interventions and my body did it all by itself. I wouldn’t have believed me capable before, but as others have said, I had absolutely no say in the matter.

I experienced the fetal ejection reflex with my last baby who was born at home and over 8 pounds. It felt like vomiting downwards. I tried to push with it but couldn’t catch it up! I was always behind. The whole labour and delivery was completely painless.

I have never heard that term before but yes, that describes two of my births.

So glad you posted this, OP. It’s always puzzled me that media representations of birthing involve such concerted pushing as when I had dd, I remember saying to the midwife ‘if you want me to stop and just breathe, you’ll have to give me something’. I had no control of her coming out. I couldn’t stop it even if I’d wanted. I look at tv scenes of birth and think ‘why is everyone shouting ‘PUSH, PUSH’ …

My contractions beforehand were painful but fine and manageable. The crowning really stung. But I didn’t push her out. I didn’t need to. It was an involuntary muscle ejection. And out she slithered.

I’ve given birth six times and had this each time. I’ve never once pushed and wouldn’t know how to, or want to! Read up on the science of it, it’s fascinating and makes perfect sense. I try and talk about it to help educate people.

I am wondering now if me feeling very far away, but inside myself (rather than an out of body experience, I suppose) is some form of disassociation?
I could hear the mid wives around me saying things like ‘okay, next contraction the head’ and then ‘breathe now, we’ll done, heads out’ and thinking it couldn’t possibly be so because surely it was meant to hurt and I wasn’t actively doing anything. And Then a few seconds later being told to open my eyes and being really surprised that the baby was being placed on my chest. It felt like it was too easy.
All in all, it’s given me the confidence that, if I ever had another child, I could do it on my own / at home and trust in my body, which couldn’t be further from how I felt after my first birth.

i wasn’t making any conscious decision to push. No one could have told me to push harder, as it wouldn’t have made a difference. It was just happening, but it was pushing in a downward straining/vomit sensation. Is this what you mean?

I also felt a degree of disassociation both times. I came back in the room as soon as the baby was born both times. But prior to that I was in an animalistic other dimension

The only way I can describe it is a full body tensing / seizing, that was completely involuntary that occurred at the end of each contraction. At the time I didn’t recognise it as pushing, because pushing was something I thought you had to actively participate in. The midwife even asked me if I felt an urge to push and I thought ‘No’ (I couldn’t respond to their questions verbally at the time). My body ejected the baby all by itself, with no conscious pushing done by me. I was just along for the ride.

Op this is a such an interesting thread. I do wonder if there was less intervention and pressure on women that perhaps there would be more positive birthing experiences like this? If we were taught how to work with our bodies and supported. Given time and the space to birth.

I’m a midwife and mother of 6 (all homebirths) this is not unusual at all, in fact I don’t recall ever instructing a woman at a homebirth to ‘push’ this is normal physiological birth. As for not feeling the ring of fire, didn’t feel it with my first but did tear, felt it with the others whom didn’t tear with, mostly with baby with the biggest head circumference!!

Yeah I only pushed with first, the others my body did it all. Women in comas have given birth.

Its fascinating stuff.

Yes as a midwife I find most media representations of (non medicalised) births ridiculous, my DH sick of hearing me say ‘why are they telling her to push, they don’t need to?? And in reality most women make a lot less noise!!

💯

I’ve had this with all three - 30 min labour with my first, head in my knickers and tights on arrival at the hospital, other two home births on midwife advice as couldn’t risk attempting to travel. No pushing, involuntary movement. Also very disassociated/far away in my mind. I think this is normal, and what hypnobirthing “aims for”, total state of physical unity with no interference of the mind.

I had a similar experience. First Labour very long and agonisingly painful as baby was back to back. I kept being told my contractions were unproductive and denied pain relief. Was eventually allowed an epidural and encouraged to push for 2 hours with no sensation and nothing happening before a forceps delivery. I was so anxious about a repeat second time around and was very reluctant to go to hospital because first time round I'd been made to feel like a nuisance for being there and being in pain and not progressing (until a lovely midwife explained baby was the wrong way round, quite huge and was slowly trying to turn with his massive head already part wedged in the birth canal and then suggested the epidural). Second labour dh literally dragged me to the car and I gave birth almost immediately I arrived. I recall that I kept saying I'm not pushing but the baby is coming out and I could feel this weird scraping sensation as the head was being forced out of my pelvis. I could feel the cronwing and that was the only time I got the urge to push.....and that was when I was told not to push but it just felt like I couldn't control it. I did have a tiny tear but only a few stitches unlike the first time.

Isn’t “fetal ejection reflex” just “contractions”?

My experience is similar to yours OP. Difficult first birth, very rapid no effort second birth.

My understanding has always been that our uterus muscles contract during contractions and that’s what pushes the baby out. Not voluntary pushing. I do remember being encouraged to “get her out” with DC1 as she was in distress but there was damn all I could do about it voluntarily - either my contractions were strong enough or they weren’t.

I was on my back with Dc1 and standing with Dc2 which made a huge difference.

Very relatable op. On arrival to hospital I was told I was 0cm (made to feel like they were fobbing my pain off) and told to go home ‘for at least 12 hours’. DD was born 2 hours later. Also was told it was very rare, especially for a first birth. Grade 2 and also grazes & a stitch on my urethra. My wife gave birth to our first and had a similar experience, although not as quick. I found it hard to believe it was so rare given both our experiences until I went for birth stories and went over it all.

ETA, due to the disbelief I was actually in labour by the midwives. I got absolutely no pain relief. I distinctly remember saying it was barbaric 😂 the midwife who received me 20 mins before the end of her shift was brilliant though.