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Original poster

Labour more difficult when lying in bed?

32 replies

happyspider · 13/05/2003 22:46

I have read an article today on the Evening Startand saying that women having their babies lying in bed in hospitals have more difficulties during labour than women who are left to walk around. Apparently this is because the baby doesn't get the chance to be gently rocked and moved in the best position.
The article was blaming the hospitals in the UK for the rise in emergency C sections when all of these were not always necessary.
As my labour is approaching (ouch!) I wonder what second time mothers think...

OP posts:
pupuce · 13/05/2003 22:52

100% true!

mears · 13/05/2003 22:53

Definately

pupuce · 13/05/2003 22:53

Hi Mears
Do we have disagree ?

mears · 13/05/2003 22:54

Not so far

sobernow · 13/05/2003 23:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LucieB · 14/05/2003 10:24

Doesn't the lying down in bed position for labour come from Louis XIV who wanted to watch his wife/mistresses give birth? Might be an urban myth?!!!

Manfwood · 14/05/2003 10:42

I have only had one but gave birth upright on my knees. We were taught in ante-natal classes thatit is best to be upright for a number of reasons the main one being gravity! Also aids the opening of the pelvis etc etc Unless there are compelling reasons to be strapped to the best you should be able to move about and be in the position that is most comfortable to you.

Good luck!

Meid · 14/05/2003 10:42

I always thought that the majority of women ended up giving birth lying on their back because, as Sobernow says, they were strapped to monitors etc.
This was certainly my experience as my dd's heart was monitored for 24 hours before I actually gave birth. I'm sure that had I been on the move it wouldn't have gone on so long but, if there is even the slightest hint of a problem, the midwife has no choice but to monitor the baby because she will be the one blamed if a problem isn't picked up on.

SoupDragon · 14/05/2003 10:52

Just to be difficult, I couldn't stay upright as my legs gave way with each contraction I did manage to be on my side 2nd time round though, not my back. It was the best I could manage.

What I needed was a harness to suspend me from the ceiling

milch · 14/05/2003 15:31

A harness - yes exaclty! I saw a picture somewhere of a woman labouring draped over a home-made 'swing' to help her keep upright. Just what I needed. Didn't have, so made do with draping over a birthing ball.

Certainly my contractions were far more painful lying down.

Jaybee · 14/05/2003 15:36

I agree too - both mine we sort of standing squatting position - lots of walking around and rocking and swaying of hips during contractions.

Original poster
happyspider · 14/05/2003 15:47

my mw advised to take up belly dancing to get the baby to turn in the right position, jaybee, seems like you tried already your own version

OP posts:
Original poster
happyspider · 14/05/2003 15:49

did it work?

OP posts:
JanZ · 14/05/2003 16:08

Jaybee - I did the same as you - used a birthing ball to try to keep as upright as possible. I was exhausted and couldn't stay on my legs any more and my midwife (the second one, as I'd gone through a shift change) wouldn't let me use positions which involved dh holding on to me "as we hadn't practiced them"!

Dh did take a picture of me using the birthing balls that the physiotherapists now use to illustrate that it CAN be useful!

Still ended up having forceps though

JanZ · 14/05/2003 16:09

Oops - meant milch, not Jaybee

Tortington · 14/05/2003 19:18

i read that it was good old henry 8th who started it as he wanted to see what was going on so made his wife lay on the bed on her back, and so the tradition followed.

if you think about it the birth canal goes up at the the end so you fight gravity , whereas if you sqat gravity helps

but to have gravity on your side - you have to have someone on each side of you to help you squat and also for safety reasons - and obviously cant do it with an epidural - as feeling your own feet it tres important obviously!

dont know hospital policy but would imagine for insurance purposes, if your gonna squat they wont give you drugs

also if you think about it maybe its becuase of insurance purposes we all stay on out backs.

dunno
hth

( waits for nurse to put me straight on medical bits now)

milch · 14/05/2003 20:41

I saw a 'birthing chair' in a medical museum once, it was a bit like a big wooden armchair with a disconcertingly large chunk of the seat missing. Didn't look very comfortable, but I suppose it might have been padded in places while it was being used. I think the village midwife would have had this chair and the husband would help her lug it over when he went to fetch her once labour had started, and helped her return it afterwards. The chair was handed down through generations of midwives. The impression I got was that it had been the 'standard' way to give birth over a good few hundred years - at least in that country (sorry, forget which).

Original poster
happyspider · 14/05/2003 21:13

we've been told at antenatal that the standing position is not recommended anymore as the baby is quite slippery and while the gravity helps the baby to come out, it's also true that he/she can come out too quickly and fall on the floor.
The squatting position is more advised as you are nearly on the floor anyway, but you will need at least two people to catch the baby.

OP posts:
SueW · 14/05/2003 21:46

Soupdragon, a harness is not out of the question - I have recently heard of a paraplegic woman giving birth vaginally in an upright position with the aid of a trapeze (or harness) rigged up over the bed.

bubbly · 14/05/2003 22:40

Happyspider I gave birth 1st time lying down long and slow and not comfy in hosp with ventouse. 2nd time at home kneeling on floor leaning on bed very comfy very enjoyable text book homebirth all warm and glowy . 3rd time and you might like to check out the natural childbirth threads for this one, at home baby 43 weeks and posterior. Fully dilated but no contractions as head not pushing onto cervix. Tried running up and down stairs jogging on the spot etc. When it all finally kicked off the back pain was so severe that lying down would have been impoosible so I did it mostly on all fours and at the very end sort of lying on one side with legs twisted at funny angle. Ds was 10lb 4oz and I did tear but I think the fact that I could move this way and that way however I wanted was what stopped me being transfered in from some extra help plus a bloody marvellous midwife. I could hear her voice like a life raft in the storm saying you can do this you can do this. I will never forget her.

Original poster
happyspider · 14/05/2003 22:49

Bubbly, I am impressed, well done.
My baby is big for dates and both from my side and my dh family side, babies weigh normally 10 Pounds... scary or what?

Home birth is advised for second time mums only at my hospital though, which implies the labour should be easier from ds or dd no 2 onwards.
However, after what I have read on mumsnet I am not sure if this is only a urban myth to convince us to carry on concieving....

OP posts:
mears · 14/05/2003 23:13

LucieB is correct about LouisXIV by the way.

Tinker · 14/05/2003 23:36

I was on my knees holding on to the upright bedhead for most of labour and then gave birth whilst on all fours. Must have been lovely for the trainee doctor who was watching

jasper · 14/05/2003 23:41

I am so naturally lazy I WANTED to lie down for the whole experience.
How good is lying on your side as a birth position ?

pie · 15/05/2003 11:29

With DD I wanted to squat. After 30 hours of contactions (labour was 36 total) though I asked for an epidural, one of those mobile ones so I could move around. Bloody anesthetist didn't get the mobile bit right. Just before I was ready to start pushing the MW told me I should empty my bladder. I told her I couldn't feel my legs. She said 'of course you can you were given a mobile epidural'. She only believed me after quite literally pulling me off the bed and watching me fall flat on my face. Took me 20 minutes to get back onto the bed.

Ended up having DD with feet in stirrups and no idea when to push.

I really don't want to be flat on my back again this time, it did feel like I was really working against gravity, and we all know you can't beat that.