Please, please can any Doulas answer me a question about pain in the bladder during labour?

[whatwouldyoudothen]

When I was in labour my contractions were totally different to what I had been expecting - I was expecting period type pains and pressure in my bottom.

What I got was intense pressure in my bladder - as if someone was stamping on my bladder very, very hard and then I would pee myself

Tried to explain this to the m/w when I was in labour (shortly after I'd had an epidural).

I felt totally unable to cope with the pain - at antenatal classes I was told to expect the contraction to peak then the pain to ebb away. What happened was that the contraction peaked and then at the end of it was this unbearable, intense pressure/pain in my bladder.

The doctor delivered the baby with forceps in the end and said his head was in the wrong position and couldn't have been delivered naturally.

I guess my question is - if you had been my Doula in this situation would you have considered it totally normal? What advice would you have offered? (I'm guessing I needed to be in a better position - but I was walking around still at this point).

i don;t feel qualified to answer, but i would not thikn this was 'normal' and would expect a MW to offer some advice. i would have encouraged you to use pain relief and tried different positions, but would also have ensured that a MW was aware of this, as i would have felt it was not within my remit to ignore or dismiss your concerns and something that does not fit with my experience of labour.. it might be something that is ok and not to worry, but would want a MW to offer that reassurance

if the baby had his head in teh wrong position, that might have had something to do with the pain

also, did you empty your bladder during labour, did you have a catheter with the epidural?

was the MW supportive and able to explain things and support you?

it sounds like you need to debrief as you are upset/concerned/puzzled by what happened, and need to know if it was ok or not

agree with all Lulu said

The m/w was lovely, I have to say. I started off with a really intimidating and quite unpleasant m/w but thankfully the shift changed and the nice lady came on about an hour after my epidural was administered.

We were chit-chatting really and I sort of tried to talk to her about the pain I had been experiencing but she just sort of looked at me a bit strangely as if she didn't really know what I was talking about and I decided to shut up because the epi had done the trick anyway (for the time being!)

The reason it's come up is I'm pregnant again and TERRIFIED about having another vaginal birth for this reason. I hoped I would be able to cope with the pain and work with it but it just felt so WRONG, and so counter-productive. Then I had the epidural and I guess the whole cascade of intervention thing began.

I'm just so frightened that if I get that pain again it will take me over and I won't be able to work with it and the whole thing will happen again.

have you got a Doula on board, and a supportive dh/p?

Does your partner know of your real concerns about labour?

When you peed yourself prior to the epidural, was it usually a small amount or fairly normal....as far as you could tell? Did you use the toilet frequently prior to the epidural? Did midwive or nurse check your bladder at anytime? Did you require a catheter after birth for a period of time?

Sometimes a distended bladder can happen, go unnoticed, and will cause pain. I agree with Lulu, might have been the pressure from the uterus during contractions and inturn pressure because of baby's position.

Might have helped with a hands and knees approach, drapped over a birth ball, or on knees and leaning forward against the back of the bed. Hard to say without trying them out to see if there would have been any difference.

I don't have a doula, we can't afford one

DH was there - he knows about the pain I had, how weird it felt - it just felt like the baby was trying to push forward - out above my pelvic bone, rather than down and back, if that makes any sense.

I had to go to the toilet at the end of every contraction in the early days, then I couldn't even manage that. It was a fair amount.

I wondered if it was my waters but m/w said they were intact when I arrived at hospital. Don't actually remember them breaking there though.

I had a catheter once the epidural was in, but not after birth.

Trainee Doulas charge £150. You can get gift vouchers from Doula uk, people could get them towards thr price for you.

Have you read Dick Grantley Read - Childbirth without fear?

Imo, you need to fully debrief your last birth, then put it to bed, and move forwards, with a new perspective.

This is a new pg, and will be a new labour and birth. TO go into it with a positive frame of mind will set you up in the right place.

Talk it through with dh again, write it down, all this stuff does help.

Can you see your notes from last time, have a look what mw wrote about you letting her know about your pain.

THanks everyone, thanks liah.

I've got my notes. They don't say anything.

They don't say anything about his head being in the wrong position either - even though the Dr who delivered him came and told me that personally.

You're right, it's a new pregnancy.

I'm not sure I can face a VB though.

I have to go now, can't bear to think about it.

Thanks again all.

wwydt.

Please come back when you are feeling a little more positive and talk some more. it's not good for your soul to sound so beaten.

You can email me on

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You might have had a urine infection, which can cause intense pain. If you had a full bladder or some urine retention when having contractions it could have caused 'extra' pain. Have you got a sister, mother, female friend who could be around to support you whilst you are in labour? It will probably be totally different this time.

The first thing that comes to my mind is a pelvic problem/malpresented head, this sort of pain is quite common with that (as is your birth outcome). I would suggest you visit a chiropractor ASAP to get your pelvis checked out, often this leads to a hugely different labour!

Re. doulas, www.doula.org.uk also have a hardship fund whereby you can effecively get the service of a doula for free if money is a real issue.

wwydt, this is wierd because this exact thing happened to me. I felt like I was going to wee myself during each contraction and I kept going to the loo to pee. I was sure i had a urine infection and kept saying that to the midwife (I didn't as I had tests straight after the birth) It was an awfully painful labour, much worse than dd1. The contractions were totally unbearable, pain in the bladder. Anyway, to cut a long story short ds's head was presenting sideways on and I ended up with rotational forceps in theatre.
Could this be what happened with you?

Hello everyone, thanks for replies.

Liahgen that is really kind of you, I am feeling much better about it all today.

CCE - interestingly I have been seeing a chiropractor for about 18 months and he said I do have an issue with a twisted pelvis, which he keeps on correcting for me - he adjusted it about 2 weeks before I gave birth and I don't remember it being out when I went back straight after the birth. He did adjust it again though recently.

Nosleep - that sounds exactly like what happened to me. All I know is his head was in the wrong position - he had a large heamatoma for about 8 weeks which was sort of towards the back and right of his head. The dr said he should have been chin down but wasn't - I know the Dr twisted his head into the right position with the forceps because she told me know. As I say though, there is very little in my notes.

Does anyone know what I can do in terms of positioning to prevent this happening again? DS was also very big, almost 10 pounds and whilst I know that this doesn't necessarily mean a complicated birth, having already had a complicated birth with a large baby I am quite worried!

Nosleep, the thing I found most unbearable about the contractions is that they seemed to peak twice - once in the middle in the way I was expecting, then finising with a far, far more intense pain. Was that how it was for you?

Was it your first birth that felt like that, or a subsequent one?

Positioning wise.....try to stay off your back for the most part. Let gravity help you out....stay mobile, sit to rest, use a birth ball, rotate sides if you use the bed. If you can, avoid an epidural, or at least wait until baby is well down before having one.

If they suspect another good sized baby...consider giving birth on hands and knees, or while squatting. Consider a water birth. Do you know if they have a birthing stool available? Might be another option to try if they do.

Again the double peak (AKA "Coupling") is another indicator of malpresentation. Have a REALLY good read of this website:

www.spinningbabies.com

I really would seriously think about a doula too, I've helped out at a couple of births with malpresentation and think that in that sort of scenario doulas really are incredibly worthwhile.

When in labour with DC4 I kept having to wee, but couldn't bear to sit down to do so, and in fact only managed a few drops each time anyway. I dealt with it by running a bath and kneeling in it, as it was easier to wee that way. It may have been a positioning problem as the baby was breech.

I'd second all the advice about getting a doula if you can