"Rule of 10" vs primal wisdom

[Avalon]

Am curious to know what others' experience of this (if at all?) is/was, and if your midwife and/or doula had her own ideas about it.. also your own thoughts!

The "Rule of 10" Versus Women's Primal Wisdom - by Lydi Owen

xoxox

[kadownie]

I'm not a midwife, and not a highly experienced doula.. but my gut feeling is that women know what to do in labour- and should not be instructed not to push..

I know in my own vb.. there were two kinds of pushing.. one during labour.. which I thought was my body pushing.. but when my body actually pushed (as in fetal ejection reflex) it felt much much different..

just my opinion

[lcorteen]

Interesting article.

I only have my own experience to go by... and I have no idea if I was 10cm or not when I started pushing but it was an overwhelming urge. I had a 3rd degree tear with #1 so fought with all my might to not push... but my body did it anyway. I guess rather than 'not pushing' the feeling was of trying to slow things down and gently breathe her out. The feeling was definately primal and I also believe that the body knows best.

I can't comment on labour # 1 as I was dosed up with drugs by the time it can to push, so didn't feel that urge. I believe that after the first bub, the urge is a lot stronger and it was just overwhelming for bub #2

[Nyree]

This is one of the things that really stayed with me after having DD. I got to hospital at about 10.30am & was 6cm dilated. After lots of unnecessary jabbing & monitoring, I managed to get some time in the shower. Much of the afternoon was spent going between the shower & the toilet. I felt the urge to go to the toilet, but nothing ever happened. I just know it was a comfortable place to be.

Mum asked the MW when she thought DD might be born. I think it was about 5pm by this time & the MW thought DD would be an hour & a half away, so Mum went for a walk. Just after she left, the MW looked & me & asked what I was doing. I managed to say "pushing", which my body had been doing of it's own accord for some time (half hour, hour - not exactly sure, but a lot longer than anyone realised ). The MW freaked out & she & DH hauled me off the comfy toilet to get up on the bed so she could do a VE & check the dilation. I wasn't keen on having DD in the toilet, but having to move at that time was hellish! Turns out I was 10cm dilated anyway, so she gave me "permission" to push & started telling me when to. Her advice seemed to contradict what we'd been taught in antenatal classes, so it was a confusing, frustrating time - been told one thing, but feeling the need to do something else. When she told me to give a huge push, I said "I can't", which she took to mean I was too exhausted, but I knew that if I pushed too hard at that point, my perineum would tear (I was too deeply in labourland to verbalise effectively). I had to ease DD's head out at that point - bugger what the MW said!

Having had that experience, I know that next time I will specify "no coached pushing". I will birth at home with a MW, but on MY terms. I had a lot of fear the first time, not knowing how I'd cope, but that has gone now. I was only saying to DH last night that I wish I'd not had so many fears the first time, and that they lead me to listen to people telling me what I "had" to do, rather than letting that primal knowledge lead the way. I guess if anything, I should look at the experience as a learning one, and be thankful that I know things will be better next time

[Avalon]

Thanks Ny, I shall add 'no coached pushing' to my birth plan!

[kadownie]

interesting.. I also wanted to add.. that women shouldn't be told to push either..well, if they are having a unmedicated birth.. bit different if a woman has an epidural in place..

I know as a doula I find the pushing bit of labour difficult- the women often don't want coaching, however most midwives seem to include this in their everyday practice.. it doesn't seem to make much difference what the women specify.. I usually have ended up whispering in a woman's ear to just trust her body, push as she wants etc etc.. it's tricky.. I know there are times when maybe it's necessary to be guided to push (emergency etc)

[lcorteen]

Yes, I just completely ignored my midwife and did my own thing. Strangely it didn't annoy me - I just blocked it out really. But certainly I didn't feel like I needed/wanted coaching

[Avalon]

So far my middy has been fairly.. hmm.. indifferent is not the word.. she's been fine when we've said we wont do XZY tests or whatever the case, even though she thought we should. My blood glucose, for example.. there is a bit of diabetes history in the family, and I just dont feel like Im heading towards that path, so I dont think I'll have the tests done. So hopefully she'll be fine with me wanting to do my own thing. Im gunna anyway

[Jasziza]

During the 'pushing' stage of my labour I felt completely unable to stop my body from pushing when that's what it was doing (that ejaculation reflex kadownie mentioned?). I also felt completely unable to push when my body wasn't already pushing! Basically it was an involuntary motion. I remember feeling that the pushing contractions were like waves, and I was a surfer. Couldn't surf when there was no wave, and couldn't help but be moved by it when there was a wave. I felt supreme confidence in my body at this stage because it felt like it was calling all the shots!

I also had a midwife who seemed to get this - I told her "I'm starting to push now" (probably in a very surprised voice! ) and she gave me the confidence to go with it.

[bubly]

With DD (homebirth) I had no VEs so not sure if I was fully dilated or not, but I didn't push at all - DD and my body did all the work, and there's nothing on this earth that would have stopped that baby coming! In fact I was worried she was coming too fast and felt that I was going to tear. Instinctively I put my hand on her head in some sort of attempt to slow her down!

With DS2 (hospital birth) I was fuly dilated except for the lip of the cervix, so had to wait till that disappeared to push. In hindsight though, the inital pushing urges (before lip had gone) were just niggles, and after the lip had gone (which I instinctively knew and made the MW check me only minutes after the first VE) was when the urge was overwhelming. So my body did know, I just maybe needed a little help to listen patiently!!