The practice of "delayed pushing" (waiting for the baby to passively come through the birth canal) has been studied as an alternative to start pushing at 10 centimeters. If you and your baby are doing well, a one-to-two hour period of "passive descent" is safe and may make your pushing more effective.
However, there are still times you might be told not to push. Labor is the process that prepares a woman to deliver her baby into the world. Doctors tell a woman not to push during labor because she is not ready, there may be a problem with the baby or she may have had an epidural.
The most common reason for telling a women not to push is that her cervix is not fully dilated. Often when a baby is in an occipito posterior position the woman will feel the urge to push before the cervix is completely open.
Laboring down is the practice of not pushing for one to two hours immediately after the second stage of labor begins. It may help your baby descend into the birth canal more naturally and reduce the overall time you have to push.
Tell your health care provider if you feel the urge to push. If you want to push but you're not fully dilated, your health care provider will ask you to hold back. Pushing too soon could make you tired and cause your cervix to swell, which might delay delivery.
But if you're close to 10 centimeters dilated the research suggests it's not an issue. Evidence suggests it's more of a theoretical fear that just adds additional stress and in some cases results in an epidural (or a higher dose of epidural) to mask that urge.
For first-time mothers the average length of pushing is one-to-two hours. In some instances, pushing can last longer than two hours if mother and baby are tolerating it. Normally, the baby is born with his face looking toward mother's back (referred to as an anterior position).
Until recently, women have been asked to start pushing as soon as the cervix has dilated to 10 centimeters, but as long as you do not have a fever and your baby's heart rate is normal, there are many benefits to waiting to push until you feel the need to push.
While slightly more than half said having contractions was the most painful aspect of delivery, about one in five noted pushing or post-delivery was most painful. Moms 18 to 39 were more likely to say post-delivery pain was the most painful aspect than those 40 and older.
Pushing Can Feel Like Relief
Your baby's head may press on nerves that desensitize the pelvis, and many people report feeling a numb sensation before the "ring of fire" (when the baby's head begins to emerge from the vaginal opening, a stage known as "crowning"). Some even say it feels good, similar to orgasm.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists considers 3 hours or more (especially with a first time mom and/or those with epidurals) to be perfectly normal.
whatever feels right to you. If you'd like the nurses or your coach to guide you by counting to 10, that's fine, or not — there's no magic formula. Do what comes naturally. Follow the urges you feel to push, and you'll deliver your baby.
No urge to push during labor
When the cervix reaches full dilation the baby is ready to start its descent but it might take a bit of time for the pushing stage to start. A fully dilated cervix means just that. It also means the first stage of labor is complete and the second is about to start.
According to a new study in JAMA , there are two common approaches as to when to push. Both advise waiting until full dilation at 10 centimeters. The first method is to start pushing when fully dilated along with uterine contractions; the other is to delay pushing to allow for the fetus to spontaneously descend.
Some physicians even double-book appointment slots to provide as much care as possible. That's why doctors make you wait so long in a waiting room, lobby, or exam room. They're trying to keep up with a slammed schedule every day, and that's just not sustainable.
Doctors now know that newly born babies probably feel pain. But exactly how much they feel during labor and delivery is still debatable. "If you performed a medical procedure on a baby shortly after birth, she would certainly feel pain," says Christopher E.
Second Stage or Active Labor
The second stage is the most painful stage of labor. The baby passes through the cervix, through the pelvis and birth canal, and out through the vaginal opening. On average, it takes one to three hours from the time that the cervix becomes fully dilated to the birth of the baby.
Pushing can be one of the most intense and exhausting parts of the labor and delivery process—and it can take anywhere from several minutes, up to a few hours to push your baby out.
What is the second stage of labor? The first stage of labor ends and the second stage begins when your cervix is 10 centimeters dilated. This is usually the most difficult stage of labor because you start trying to push your baby out. It can last anywhere from half an hour to several hours.
Delayed pushing had some adverse consequences. Four percent of women who waited to push had excessive bleeding after delivery compared with 2.3 percent who pushed right away. The delayed pushers had more bacterial infections: 9.1 percent versus 6.7 percent of the women who pushed immediately.
Some people describe the feeling as being like intense period cramps, others say it feels like a tightening or pounding feeling in your uterus or across your belly, others describe the feeling as being like very intense muscle cramps, while still other people describe contractions as being like the sort of wrenching ...
The urge to push is initiated by the position of the baby's head within the pelvis (Roberts et al 1987). Therefore, the cervix can be fully dilated without the baby descending deep enough to initiate an urge to push. Alternatively, spontaneous pushing can begin before the cervix is fully dilated.
Stage 2: Pushing and Birth
The second stage of labor begins once you are fully dilated to 10 cm. Your provider will let you know that it is time to start pushing your baby out. This stage can be as short as 20 minutes or as long as a few hours.
The second, pushing phase of labor continues after the cervix is fully dilated (open) to 10 cm until the delivery of your baby. It averages 4 to 8 hours but can be as short as several minutes.
Purple pushing, coached pushing, holding your breath, all mean basically the same thing. Mothers being instructed on pushing causes them to hold their breath and push down into their bottom. Another more normal and less exhausting option would be “breathing or bearing down” working with the contractions.