Please share experiences of a natural third labour!

[addictedtofrazzles]

DS1 was a Looooooong 21 hours (from the point of admission at 4cm....I rate it closer to 40 hours!), failed epidural, into theatre for spinal and vontouse.

DS2 I had an IM, was very fearful and my only request was to get an epidural at an early stage that worked! I got the epidural at 10 cm, ended in theatre with a vontouse.

Am now pregnant with DC3 and for some inexplicable reason, I find myself considering a waterbirth either at hospital (probably my preference) or at home with the same IM.

Has anyone successfully delivered their 3rd with no medical intervention...i know I can get to 10cm (barely) but don't know what to expect the other side of it IYSWIM. I know one of things that has not helped delivery is that I have been so immobile - perhaps being in water will aid the process but I am still fearful of the pain.

Can anyone share any experiences, good or bad (but be gentle!) on delivering DC3 'naturally'?

Many thanks

I can't answer you're question directly (I'm still expecting DC3, apart from anything else!), but I do have a couple of points that you might want to ponder:

• you comment that you were "so immobile". Was there a particular reason for this? Was it down to the epidural, do you suffer from a condition that makes it hard for you to keep mobile, or did you feel most comfortable lying down?

• did you have any kind of post-birth de-brief with your IM? Does she have any insight as to why you struggled or at what point you started to struggle with DS2?

• when you didn't get the epidural during most of the 1st stage for DS2, how do you feel you coped?

IMO, if you're seriously considering home water birth with the same IM (or any MWs, for that matter), it would be well worth sitting down and asking her honest opinion about why you needed ventouse with both your DS's. I'm no expert (and according to one HCP I must have "a pelvis like a bucket" [hmmm] given my personal history), but intuitively it could be down to your anatomy, it could be to do with immobility, it could be to do with anaesethisia - or it could be something completely random. You IM has had the chance to get to know you and has seen you labour and so is best placed to talk things through with you in terms of what happened last time and how doing things differently might have changed the outcome, and help you decide how likely it is that you'll be able to give birth to DC3 a) without spinal anaesethisia and b) without assistance.

I don't think that it will necessarily be an easy conversation - to be worthwhile you'll both need to be pretty candid, which might be quite hard - but I do think its the best shot you've got at geting a professional, experienced opinion on how you'd cope without an epidural and at home.

For what its worth, DD1 was a planned home birth - I coped with TENS up until I neared transition, at which point I had a major attack of "I can't cope with this anymore". So I got in the pool. Which was bliss! Water can be a fantastic source of pain relief.

I had a "good" (not sure you can call labour that!) textbook natural delivery with DC3, no stitches and went home 12 hours later. Only downside was my waters breaking at 11.45pm and him being born 4 hours later so I was knackered throughout labour having looked after 2 kids all day, so physically it was hard. I had gone to bed for an early night but forgot to tell him that!

DC1 they called my labour 9 hours as apparently the previous 8 hours the contractions were regular and painful enough! Had a haemorrhage as she tore my cervix on the way out, stitches and needed a D&C when she was 12 weeks old to removed retained placenta.

DC2, just over 4 hour labour from them manually rupturing my waters, was already 4cm but not in labour. Few stitches but then a trip to theatre and GA as retained placenta again. I would have said this labour was physically my easiest as it was morning and I was fresh from a nights sleep.

All three I have had with gas and air only and I don't have a good pain threshold. I am not allowed in water during labour as I had a haemorrhage with DC1. But I have always used active labour techniques and refuse to lie on my back in bed in labour apart from final pushing stage. For DC2 and DC3 I sat on a fitball till the final pushing stage.

Can you ask for an internal right before you get given the epidural if you get to that stage? With DC3 I went from 6 to 10cm in 4minutes. The midwife said she would have not have believed it only she did an internal as she wanted to know how far along I was as his heartrate dropped but she wasn't sure if the monitoring belt had slipped or it was his heartrate. She decided as I was 6cm they would put the probe on his head so called in the senior midwife to do that, she came in immediately, lifted probe, sat down and looked and went "you are 10cm this baby is coming out now!" So for me third time round my body did things faster.

I am currently working out what is in store for 4th time round in December : ) Hope you can get the delivery that you want.

Thanks so much for your responses!

Both boys were 9.10lb+ and I am 5'4" which I think explains why it has always been a bit more tricky to get them out. I was immobile because I was a)knackered and b) really struggled to move my limbs (also not helped by complete immobility in the last month of pregnancy as could barely walk).

With DS2, at 10 cm I was given a spinal so that they could site an epidural properly (I am hypermobile so it makes it a bit trickier). All was going well until this point but the moment I had the drugs, DS2 turned back to back. I understand that this is what slowed things down.

My intention is to call IM and properly discuss options (am only 10weeks), but I am just trying to sort my own mindset out. I feel like I haven't been able to the first two times so I am less likely the third. But then I have never intended to do it naturally up till now. I am wondering whether if I have the right mindset, focus on breathing, keeping mobile etc whether I really could do it without the intervention!

Those are huge babies : ) If you do decide to use active birth skills the book I use the skills from is called "Birth Skills" by Juju Sundin.

www.amazon.co.uk/Juju-Sundins-Birth-Skills-Pain-Management/dp/1741750970

She is an Australian lady but the book describes what your body is trying to do and why you are in so much pain for non-medically qualified people. She also gives a variety of skills to basically use your bodies senses ie. touch, smell, sight, noise to distract yourself from focusing on the pain. Different skills from her book work for different people based on what my friends and I have found. She is not anti-drugs as she had them herself she just talks about taking your body as far through labour as you can get yourself.

DH has already said make sure you read that book again before December!

DC3 was born less than 2 hours after the midwife insisting I was in labour - I was convinced was still a warm up. Had about an hour of really hard and fast labour - extremely powerful, body shaking, couldnt move type thing. Out in about 2 pushes (I didnt even realise he was out!).

Fantastic water birth.

Easiest of the three!

I had a really similar experience to you first time round
18 hr labour, failed epidural which was thankfully followed 15 minutes later by one that worked, and then ventouse delivery (followed by theatre to stitch me all back up again and sort out pph)

however, i did it differently second time round! went for homebirth, in water. was so totally lovely. 6 hours start to finish.

first baby was 9lb 1, second was 9lb 5.

I honestly think that my second labour was so much better because I was far more active. I listened to my body more trathre than just thinkijng "i;m in pain i'm in pain i want it to stop". I KNEW I couldn't have pain relief other than gas and air (which hadn't arrived yet) so I just had to go with what felt best, which was walking around.
I delivered ds2 kneeling up over the sofa. he was back to back as well, which didn't help

ds3 was born at home as well, in 48 minutes. 9lb 11.

Obviously I can't say for definite that being at home helped, or that it would have been differnt in hospital, but I do feel quite strongly that having a lot of pain relief with my first birth led to it being drawn out and prevented DS1 moving into a good position which is why he eventually had to be sucked out.

Do talk it all through with your IM... I truly believe that how and where you labour are incredibly important. You need to feel comfy and secure and you need to be able to listen to your body and do what feels right

hi there,
i dont have any personal experience as i am only 20weeks with number 2 and had a very traumatic and horrible labour the 1st time round, but my mum was kind of in your position with me (1st born) she had long labour with forceps (spelling?) with ALOT of stitches, 2nd labour EMC and 3rd labour she had completely normal, so it is possible to have ur 3rd be a nautural birth! i hope this helped a little.. Goodluck :)

Ds1 was emcs after 50hr back to back latent labour-4cm. Ds2 was fairly scary VBAC-no attention in reception till 8cm then lots of panic and morphine. Ds3 lovely, calm waterbirth of g&a. Did hypnobirthing cd which I think also helped and on my knees in pool throughout except for pushing on back in pool. Mine only 6-8lbers though (I'm 5ft1). Go for it -wb was fab!