Failure to dilate during labour .........why?

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Can anyone explain why this happens (I'm sure there's a myriad of possible reasons), but I've never really understood what happened when I had ds2 (tried a vbac). Midwives said I should have been dilating given that I was having good, strong, regular contractions over a long period of time (felt like forever ), but I never got beyond 2.5 cm. I was 2.5 when I was admitted on Saturday morning (waters had broken Friday morning) and was still 2.5 when I had an emergency cs at 8.00am Tuesday morning.

I started to use gas and air v late on Monday night. Was transferred to the main labour ward at 2.00am Tuesday (birth centre midwife v concerned and said I needed to be moved). Given an epidural at 4.00am. C section at 8.00am when baby's heartbeat disappeared (he was ok when he came out though ).

I have tried to research this myself, but can't seem to find much info as to why a cervix doesn't dilate despite a woman's body working very hard to make it.

I know it's said that epidurals can halt dilation, but I'd been having strong, fast (few seconds apart) contractions for a long time before I had one, so if anyone can tell me about other possible reasons I'd appreciate your input .

I had a section with Dd1 and was due to have one with dd2 also but went into labour at 34 weeks and she had turned from her breech position so they said i could have a normal delivery.
My contractions were very painful and coming every minute or 2 but i did not dilate one bit, not at all, and dd started to get distressed so i had another section.

In my case my consultant said it might have been to do with my misformed/shaped uterus. I have a bicornuate uterus and apparently this can sometimes effect the cervix too.

With dd I had contractions every 5-10 minutes for 48 hours and got to 3cm, then had absolutely excruciating contractions every 1-2 minutes for over 8 hours and only dilated another 1cm. At this point they told me that the baby was posterior, and that was why I wasn't dilating. So I ended up with an epidural, and syntocin, and from then was very very lucky that I did eventually dilate and baby came out with no further intervention. So I guess in my case I was given a physical reason why I didn't progress faster.

Pupuce - I'm really interested in what you say about Ina May Gaskin - I'm just reading her Guide to Childbirth at the moment and finding it very, very inspirational. Wish I'd read it first time round. Now I want this baby to stay put till I finish it (I'm due tomorrow !)

Maybe if I'd been given syntocin, like you Pidge, then I'd have fully dilated, but the hospital's policy (rightly IMO) was not to use these drugs during a vbac, because the risk of rupture is greater.

Glad you were able to carry on and not get stuck at 2/3cm .

I was given synotocin on dd2, with hindsight I shouldn't have been but didn't query it at the time.

I was induced at 10 days overdue (a bit later by m dates) and after 2 days of it I still never progressed beyond 2/3cm.

Hulababy, you birth sounds like mine. 2 weeks overdue, never dilated past 3 cm either. I am in the process of requesting copies of my notes from last birth so I can have some idea what went wrong. Would like to try for VBAC this time if possible.
Chip monkey, I would also like to know what happened to women who didnt dilate 100 years ago. What happens to women in third world countires with out medical care? I wonder where I can find this information.

How do you go about requesting a copy of your birth notes? As I am TTC for #2, it would be interesting for me to have them to read through - when deciding what birth to go for if ans when I do ocncieve.

hi there, very interesting reading all your messages I am new member and wondered if anyone knew if it was possible to be told by one midwife I was 8cm dilated then another MW (new shift) to say I was only 4cm. When baby was delivered after going into destress by c-section after 12 hours.
doctor told me the head was not in pelvis and position was oc. his actuall words were "you would have never got this baby out your pelvis is to small" I am 4ft 11in tall. so wondered if my request for another section was a bit paranoid. This request is met with a lot of resistance from my hospital?

I wrote to the hospital where I had DS requesting medical notes, they sent me a form to complete. They will photocopy them and send them, I think it costs around £10.00

Thanks cori - thisnk I may do that then.

Some hospitals charge up to £50 - it's a disgrace and you CAN complain to the trust!!!
Make sure you photocopy your notes when you have your next baby!!!

Hula - there's a great midwife at the Jessop's whose job it is to explain your notes! She came round and visited me for around two hours when I was pregnant with ds2, and gave me lots of support (moral and practical) for decisions I made about his birth. (Ds1 was em cs after failure to progress, distress etc)

Just checked - Jo Costello. There is a lot of jargon and abbreviations in the notes which I would have struggled to understand. Good luck.

What is the Jessops?

Sheffield - maternity wing of the Hospital I believe Hula and I delivered at (I mean of course, I know I delivered there...)

She's called an 'afterthoughts midwife' and I believe most hospitals provide this now. She did sort of gently discourage me from asking for a copy of my notes, but I was so pleased with the time she spent explaining them, I didn't really feel the need to have a set.

I didn't dilate naturally despite regular strong contractions for hours.

Afterwards I asked the midwife what would have happened without medical intervention. She told me that I would have either suddenly started dilating after a few days, died of exhaustion, or after a few days my womb would have ruptured and killed me.

Thanks jamiesam - I am going to make this my mission to look into once we move. No point until them as we could end up missing info due to wrong addresses, etc. I never knew abiut all this.