Was your third labour quicker than your second, especially at 39?

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We’re thinking of having our third baby and I’ll be 39 at the time of delivery.

I’ve had two previous natural births with no complications. First was an induction, second started on its own. Both pregnancies were straightforward and births went fine overall.

What I’m a bit worried about this time is how fast my second labour was. It was about 5 hours total. I went into hospital when contractions started, and by the time I was 5cm they were about to offer an epidural—but I went from 5cm to fully dilated in about 20 minutes after they broke my waters. The pain was absolutely intense and things escalated really quickly.

I genuinely think if I’d followed NHS advice and stayed at home longer I would have ended up giving birth on the kitchen floor, because I didn’t really feel much until I was already quite far along.

So I’m just wondering—if your third labour was your fastest, how did it compare to your second? Did it end up even quicker, and did you have any complications because of the speed?

Any experiences would be really helpful.

My 2nd was 90 minutes and my 3rd was 2 hours 15 minutes. My 3rd was meant to be an induction but there were delays so by the time they were ready for me I was 5cm dilated so I said not to bother with the induction.