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Original poster

How much pain were you in at 1cm dilated?

156 replies

whatsthetimemrwolf · 24/11/2009 23:12

I am currently pregnant with DC3 and am trying to decide whether to go for a VBAC or ELCS.

DC1 was delivered by EMCS as undiagnosed breach. I only ever reached 1cm dilated before they got me in for a EMCS but was in tears with the pain. I always believed that I wasn't dilating properly as DC1 was breach, hence my pain. However, I have had a consultation with an expert VBAC midwife this week who told me that I was in no extra pain because DD was breach, I was just being a first time mother. I would love to go for a VBAC but am scared about the pain and wonder if I just have a really low pain threshold! I would be very interested to hear how ther people felt at 1cm dilated. Thanks.

OP posts:
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StarExpat · 02/12/2009 08:17

MrsGreatBritian I got that, too!!! In the pushing stage, the midwives (went through 2 during pushing as shift change - that made my 5th midwife of the labour!) anyway, they kept saying "less screaming, more pushing" I kept asking if they had any babies of their own and told one to mind her own business

madmissy · 02/12/2009 08:38

i really hate that
"have a bath and paracetamol"

with dd1 i had cx every 2-3 mins and was in agony and was 1cm!

with dd2 i was 2cms before labour started

by the time i got to point where i really felt i needed help it was about 7/8cms and then other than gas and air its pretty much too late for anything

duchesse · 02/12/2009 09:07

I wish I knew why UK midwives insist on directing the pushing! Anybody who's had an unmedicated (by which I mean no augmentation or epidural) second stage knows that once it starts, there's no way you can not push properly- your body's doing it for you, there's no conscious thoughts involved in it. All the directed pushing does imo is cause birth injuries. Second and third babies just eased themselves out- I kind of laid them iyswim rather than expelled them. The only direction I got from my wonderful midwife was NOT to push but to pant while they were crowning- no stitches for either labour. First labour in hospital on my back with with directed pushing and I was lucky to get away with only 4 stitches frankly.

madmissy · 02/12/2009 09:10

gosh i was pushing for ages before they were saying to like you say your body just does it. amazing really

StarExpat · 02/12/2009 09:24

first pushing midwife kept saying "PUSH-PUSH-PUSH-PUSH-PUSH-PUSH-PUUUUUUUSH!!!!" yelling like we were in a very competitive race. I kept yelling at her to STOP IT. But she kept doing it anyway because it's all she knew
I really hated her.

ladylush · 02/12/2009 10:04

I had no waters during both labours so I think that contributed to the extreme pain at 1cm dilated. I suspect dd may have been a quick labour as she was 10 weeks prem but I had a c-section so didn't labour for that long. I just think all women and all births are unique so it is more to do with that than low/high pain thresholds. Also as another poster said, I coped with c-section pain really well and was mobilising 12 hours later.

JamesAndTheGiantBanana · 02/12/2009 11:21

Starexpat we must have had the same mw. I had a consultant and a mw in the room, the consultant was very happy with my progress and kept going "I'm happy for her to labour at her own speed"

But the crazy mw decided to panic me by going "PUSHPUSHPUSH! You have to get this baby out now! PUSHHH!!!" So I panicked and forced it out in a couple of enormous pushes and surprise surprise got a nice big tear - but the baby was fine, perfectly alert and mostly pink, he had apgars of 9 and 9, so what the bloody emergency was I have no idea.

Scillybee · 02/12/2009 11:30

it's true about the pushing - with dc1 I started pusing way too early & exhausted myself - midwife:"do you feel like you want to push?" me:"I don't KNOW!" then pushpushpush for hours, nothing. then came the intervention/inteference...
with dc2 (& better midwife) it was a case of not even thinking about pushing until your body can't help but do it.

EffiePerine · 02/12/2009 11:44

Very little at one. Became noticable at about 5, needed pain relief at about 7/8 cm with DS2 (no pain relief for DS1, quick and rather panicked labour)

EffiePerine · 02/12/2009 11:56

and totally agree with teh mws telling you to push, led to an episiotomy with DS1. Left me well alone with DS2, far far easier. I LOVED that mw (she was a homebirth mw who had been drafted in for the holidays).

Flame · 02/12/2009 11:59

Don't push until absolutely necessary. My first two I pushed when I felt I had to and ended up with stitches and it was much harder. The third my midwife somehow talked me through not pushing until my body sort of got on with it itself - so much easier and no stitches despite her being 9lb 10 with an arm by her face.

Original poster
whatsthetimemrwolf · 02/12/2009 13:18

Oh my goodness, I've been away from MN for a few days and can't believe how many people have posted, thank you!

Reading all these stories has been a real confidence booster to me as its clear that I wasn't being an absolute wimp being in excrutiating pain at 1cm (which is what I thought after conversation with MW!).

I went to the hospital a few hours before I was 1cm and was told I wasn't at all dilated and could have days to go (this scared the life out of me as I was already in a lot of pain!). At home after a few hours my waters broke (with meconium) and the hospital then discovered DC1 was breach and quickly got me in for an EMCS. The pain I experienced pre EMCS was the major contributory factor in me deciding to have a ELCS with DC2. I've got 10 more weeks to go with DC3 and have been told I have a 40-50% chance of a successful VBAC. I would love to "experience" childbirth as this will be my last chance but still feel very scared about not coping with the pain. When I had my first 2 children I'd never even heard of MN and can't believe how little I knew, compared to now from all the experiences people regulary share here on MN. I shall continue to read your posts with a great deal of interest, thank you!

I hope all you pregnant ladies out there who did suffer from extreme pain very early in your previous pregnancies have a different experience this time round (there are many posters on here who have!). I also hope that these stories don't scare too many first-timers!

OP posts:
sparklycheerymummy · 02/12/2009 13:40

i was 3cm dilated with dd when my waters broke and had no pain at all till the evening when i was 5cm and it started to ache...... it did hot up and ended up with an epidural though!!!!

figrollinthehay · 02/12/2009 13:42

Duchesse - I know what you mean about the pushing - maybe I was lucking, but there is no way my body was keeping those babies in me (esp with last two) - it was pushing them out whether I liked it or not.

Good luck OP- I hope you get the VBAC you want.

Igglybuff · 02/12/2009 14:23

I have no idea when I was 1cm - I wasn't "measured" during my labour at all. I had been advised that that is the best approach otherwise you're too focussed on "targets" and women dont dilate at the same speed. I had an independent midwife who believed the same and only told me when she thought I was fully dilated (but without examining me).

yangymac · 02/12/2009 15:17

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yangymac · 02/12/2009 15:21

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diddl · 02/12/2009 15:22

With my 2nd I was in hosp as waters had broken.

Went to toilet & there was blood, called midwife & found out & was 8cm.

Had felt nothing up to that point!

Claire236 · 02/12/2009 15:54

With ds1 I was 7cm the first time I was examined. Had ds2 on Saturday & was in absolute agony only to discover I was only 2cm when examined. Can't begin to describe how depressed I was. Having had ds1 with no pain relief at all ended up having everything going with ds2. Even had an epidural which I'd always said I'd never have.

2ChildrenPlusLA · 02/12/2009 18:05

yangy All things being equal a birth is much more painful if the waters are not intact to cushion the pressure on the cervix. However, that isn't to say that your birth wasn't painful. I'd be inclined to think that your baby wasn't in the ideal position, possibly undiagnosed OP from what you describe.

Pollyanna · 02/12/2009 18:08

I think I'm permanently 1cm dilated actually . (after 5 children).

IMo it depends on the labour - my back to back labour was excrutiating throughout, but with the others, I don't think I was in that much pain until a long time after that.

AdoraBelleDearHeart · 02/12/2009 18:12

whatsthetimemrwolf-

My first thought is that you experienced such bad pain because your body was telling you something is not right and you need to get help fast. That is the purpose of pain.

I also didn't experience significant pain at 1cm dilation. Between 2-4 cm - hours of intense pain; and excruciating at 7cm. No difference between the birth with waters broken and the birth with intact waters.

mum2RandR · 02/12/2009 18:21

With my first baby I had my waters broken at 5cms because they were bulging, I was having regular contractions and was having pain, but not too much.
With my 2nd baby I was induced and at 1cm they accidently broke my waters while they were trying to put the gel (cant remember the name!) on my cervix. I went from being in no pain to the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life, it was a million times worse then my first labour.
I ended up having about 5 hours of agony before they rushed me off for a emergency caesarean, I had been fully dialated for ages but her head was too high and she had got very distressed.
Personally I do believe that the reason I had so much pain was because something wasnt right, either with me or because she wasnt in the right position, and it was probably the same for you too. Hope everything goes well for you x

ladypanda · 02/12/2009 18:32

Hi,
I had been in full-on contractions and agony for a good 12 hours to be told I had... "softened".... ie not even dilated!!! 48 hours later my darling one was born, naturally and with no drama. Because I was a home birth I was allowed to go on for so long, and it certainly was "challenging" as they say, what did really help was the bit of hypnobirthing prep we'd done. It in no sense takes away the pain but it did help me hugely with breathing, visualising what was happening and rationalising the pain, which somehow made me able to cope with it.
That, and a birth pool.
Good luck whichever way you go xx

mummymeister · 02/12/2009 19:15

3 children - 3 completely different labours and 3 completely different amounts of pain at different times during. I actually think it is most painful when you don't know whats going on or you are anxious. My best advice -take in someone with you who will ask lots of questions on your behalf so you know where everything is. Too old to have any more now but would have 100 times the pain to have another one!