The Story of the Long Labor

It’s amazing to me when women come to the birth unit and have a baby shortly after walking through the doors. They have usually spent the last few hours trying different positions and activities to get comfortable while they labor. Some take baths or showers, some sleep (or try to), some clean or cook, they eat and drink, spend time with their family and friends, and most of the time they move, move, move.

Compare that to a woman who is having an induction of labor, or comes to the birth unit very early in labor. These women often spend most of their time in a bed, in a very small room, connected to machines by very short cords. Because we limit how women in labor move, where they go, who is in the room, what they eat and drink, and what they do they are unable to follow their instincts that help ease labor and help it to progress.

Know your rights as a patient. You have the right to consent or decline any suggested interventions. This is called Informed Choice.

Position matters. Yours. Baby’s. During pregnancy. During labor.

During pregnancy being active keeps muscles strong, eating nutritious food with adequate levels of protein, calcium, vitamin D (etc) keep tissue and muscle pliable and able to change and accommodate the growing uterus. Body mechanics in pregnancy create posture, and as the baby grows posture guides the position baby settles in once baby is head down. Malnutrition, immobility, and spending much of your time reclining, and sitting with your pelvis tilted forward swing your baby’s back to your spine.

Want more information on Optimal Fetal Positioning and how posture effects your pregnancy and labor? Visit Spinning Babies

WHY? Why does this matter?

Let me tell you the most common scenario. Woman: 39 weeks pregnant getting induced for elective/social reasons. She is 1cm dilated and 80% effaced, with a Bishop’s Score of 6. Because her body is not ready for labor, we have to manipulate it with a Cook Catheter cervical dilation bulb, Cytotec, artificially removing the barrier between the baby and bacteria, and pitocin.

The body is amazing! That woman in the first paragraph, her body has been working for hours, maybe days, to prepare for active labor. However, the signal that started her body’s preparation…..was her baby. The baby starts labor. By communicating with chemicals sent to the mother’s system, the baby tells the mother’s body that it is ready to be born.

During induction we are forcing the woman’s body to labor, mechanically forcing the cervix open, making the uterine muscles contract, opening the membrane protecting the baby from outside bacteria, and creating a time limit for baby to be born. The process of labor is often slow, sometimes taking a day, two, or more. If at anytime in this process the baby or the woman’s body becomes stressed, or if the induction doesn’t produce active labor within a certain time frame surgery is performed to remove baby.

If you have had a surgical birth (cesarean) and would like support, information, or research visit ICAN

Back to posture.

If during pregnancy, labor or birth your baby assumes a position that prevents it from tucking its chin, flexing its neck, the head is sideways or baby is facing your front and not your back, labor could be long, extremely difficult, and regardless of time and effort your birth could end in a surgical birth.

There is still a chance that things can work out. Position to the rescue!

If you, your nurse, or provider know about optimal fetal positioning we might be able to, with hard work and patience, change your baby’s position. We may use the bed, chairs, the toilet, blankets, pillows, birth balls of all shapes and sizes, stretches and positions that feel foreign and uncomfortable to help change the shape of your pelvis and use gravity to help your baby change its position. As long as mom and baby are doing well with labor, we can try almost anything to help your birth go smoother, and help you achieve a vaginal birth.

Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, surgery is the best option for birth. However, the more you know, the more you can make choices that are best for you and baby through informed choice. No matter how you birth your baby, feeling empowered is a right, not a fantasy. You have the right to be as involved in your birth as you desire, and no one can take the right away from you!

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